I'm not an ED nurse :(

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I always knew I wasn't an ED nurse, however I had no other job options at the time. I actually hate going to work sometimes. I've only been on the unit 2 weeks( nights) and sometimes it is a drag. I have 3 years LPN and one year of RN experience. My first RN job was subacute then I did ICU. I quit ICU after 8 months due to reasons beyond my control. After that, I was blessed with an ED job.

I really don't want to job hop and burn bridges. My question is: how do you cope with working in a specialty you are not cut out for.

I enjoy the pace of the ED, but I feel like I cannot control the patients that are acting up due to alcohol and drug use. Other nurses and staff are tough as nails. I'm however, soft spoken and bubbly.

I'm constantly paranoid of getting attacked. I'm constantly having to call security, and it takes time away from my really sick patients.

So overall, this isn't my thing. I'm just trying to find ways to cope. My dream job is PP, but I'm willing to go back to ICU, which I was good at.

Anyone else been through this? How did you cope?

[Emilynn09]

I really don't want to job hop and burn bridges. My question is: how do you cope with working in a specialty you are not cut out for.

If the ED is not for you, the ED is not for you. There's no burning bridges, there's no feeling bad about it and honestly, it says nothing about you as a nurse, other than it's just not your thing. In my opinion, life is way too short to waste your time doing something you hate. Get out of there, find something that you will love doing, you will thank yourself later for not staying in that situation.

I would start looking into the options for transferring departments within your organization, that way you don't have to find a completely new job, but if you can't, I'd start looking into other jobs that you might like. Maybe you might enjoy ICU or Tele, or Oncology. There's so many possibilities. Don't stay miserable because you are worried about what people will think, go be great somewhere else, somewhere that you will enjoy and can be passionate about.

[mariahlily]

are there any courses you can take on safety in the healthcare setting? like crisis intervention, de-escalation, etc. it could make you feel more confident, just in case you do get a patient who flips out. A lot of people can be calmed down just through therapeutic talking (unless, of course they're on meth or a psychotic bender, but those courses should also teach you ways of keeping yourself and your patient safe even then). BTW it would be really nice to have more nice people in critical care. It's necessary to have the tough-as-nails personality around, but some patients need a more gentle caretaker if they've just come in with an emergency.