Starting out in ER?

Specialties Emergency

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Does anyone think starting as a new nurse in the ER is a good idea?

One of my final placements as a nursing student is in the ER and I LOVE it. Just unsure about where to apply when I'm done, I've heard conflicting things from nurses about starting in the ER.

Thanks!

I think starting out in the ER is awesome. You get a lot of great experience. You honestly use all of your nursing skills and more when working in the ER. I have been in the ER for 3 years.

I think finding jobs that take new grads in the ER may be a little difficult. Some ERs would like nurses to have at least 6 months of experience prior to going to the ER. When you do start out in the ER as a new grad you will have to go through a longer orientation.

The only downside is how fast new grads are able to get organized and use to there environment. If you never worked in a hospital setting it may be harder to get use to. It is a fast pace environment. It requires you to think quickly and at times use some creative thinking. But you do have a longer orientation which would work out well. Some new nurses are actually able to get comfortable with a new environment quickly.

Hope this helped!

I really love this comment! !!

You should definitely go for it! as long as you have a preceptor who teaches you well and you ask as many questions as you can you can definitely do it! Best of luck!

I think starting out in the ER is awesome. You get a lot of great experience. You honestly use all of your nursing skills and more when working in the ER. I have been in the ER for 3 years.

I think finding jobs that take new grads in the ER may be a little difficult. Some ERs would like nurses to have at least 6 months of experience prior to going to the ER. When you do start out in the ER as a new grad you will have to go through a longer orientation.

The only downside is how fast new grads are able to get organized and use to there environment. If you never worked in a hospital setting it may be harder to get use to. It is a fast pace environment. It requires you to think quickly and at times use some creative thinking. But you do have a longer orientation which would work out well. Some new nurses are actually able to get comfortable with a new environment quickly.

Hope this helped!

Thanks so much! This was very helpful!

I'm a New Grad at a teaching hospital and level 1 trauma center. We are also cross trained in both the adult and pediatric ERs. I think that starting out in the ER is great, but you need to be in the right ER and you have to go in with the right mindset. The ER you start in should have a solid new grad program (from my experience and what I've read, about 4 months with consistent preceptors), and preferably be a hospital that has a culture that accepts new people/students/etc. If you can find a hospital and program like that, then you will find your transition so much easier.

As far as the right mindset to thrive as a new nurse you need to be a self starter, be quick on your toes, and also be okay with man/womaning up and admitting when you need help or don't know your head from your tail. Some people might disagree with me, but I don't think that the ER is a good place to start if you insist on having a "fake it until you make it" attitude. Especially starting out, you need to be mature enough and wise enough to admit when you need help or are overwhelmed, since the flow of the unit and also patient status can change so rapidly in the ER.

In short, if you're up for the challenge and find a place that is a good fit for you, do it!! :) Good luck with everything, and I hope to read about your success as an ER nurse in the future! :) :)

Thank you so much! I hope to get there one way or another haha. Cheers :)

my sister worked in an er for 10 straight years after graduating nursing school, she has excellent skills!

Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

Straight to the ER from graduation. 2 whole weeks Orientation, well sort of, 1 week hospital in general and 1 week in the unit followed by being a "floor" nurse in the ER for patients being held for rooms upstairs. Then to nights and on my own. Sink or swim, I decided to swim. My first night was my first overdose, a weird one that no one had ever seen before and not a single experienced nurse stepped up to help. By the end of my first year the night nursing supervisors would tell the floors to call me for things if they were busy and by the end of my second year they basically stopped coming down for deaths asking me to handle them. I spent 9 years, 4 months and 17 day on nights and left only because I developed a Type 1 Latex allergy.

Success is up to you! Be determined, be confident, ask questions and keep on learning and expanding your own knowledge. I was always told "the only stupid question is the one you do NOT ask." But also learn to say NO when asked to work extra shifts. After the second yes administration expects you to say yes every time.

Even in the ER we develop a "speciality". Some nurses become the Ace IV starter, some are better at burn patients, some at cardiac patients and others, well we just are "Jacks of All Trades and Masters of None". In my ER on nights we had one nurse that was the best at Cardiac but not great at trauma, we had one that could ewal anybody while talking non stop. We each had strengths and at least 1 weakness mine was starting an IV on any child younger than 3 - nope nope nope call NICU.

One other thing the ER is unique. Most often it has two speeds - 100 or 0. You could be empty only to find yourself swamped an hour later so you have to learn to Move, learn the protocols so when you move some of your movements are on automatic pilot, re access the triage patient while placing them the room in case there are changes, and keep Wintergreen handy for the really bad smells (for your coworkers in case they need it) and if you can hear the patient coming up the elevator from the ambulance bay screaming at the medics it is NOT an unresponsive patient, which is what you were expecting.. Debrief every morning after a bad shift, our group would meet on the parking deck after a tough night and talked through everything, cried together if needed and then we went home.

It is a roller coaster fueled in equal parts by adrenaline and caffeine. If you really want it DO it. Remember what Yodo said "DO or DO NOT, there is no TRY"

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