I'm coming off new hire training at a small local ER after being transferred from Med-Surg/Tele. Being a floor nurse first really did help me put things into perspective when I would get annoyed by minor stuff when getting ER Admits.
1. At the floor you would have a patient cap, in the ER that does not exist.
2. It focuses a lot more on the team focused approach which I'm still not used to. I'm very used to just minding my own business getting my work done and going home.
3. I really feel like I'm betraying my former comrades by doing this but, I'm always under pressure to transfer patients up to the floors regardless if it's change of shift.
4. My former ICU coworkers expect more out of me when I give them report.
5. It's REALLY weird that there is a physician around all the time.
6. I've done more IV's in a month than I did a whole year on the floor.
7. 22 Gauges used to be my best friend on the floor for getting IV's but in the ER they are horrible for getting blood from and kink way too easily.
8. I really still am petrified of pediatrics.
9. lady partsl bleed patients are very difficult for me to assess since I am a male. My female coworkers always get called into the exam room since I can't go in.
10. Going home almost an hour earlier is a HUGE plus.
So far I'm excited to work in the ED now, and a lot of my old preconceptions have been mostly washed away. It's also letting me consider my future career choices from Acute Care NP and ED NP though the Acute Care track prefers having critical care experience and CCRN accreditation. I don't encounter that many critical patients sadly.
