Volunteer in the ED

Specialties Emergency

Published

I am volunteering in the ED at a busy hospital. Is there anything that I should specifically NOT do. I do not want to piss the Nurses off, but don't want to stand around looking like a moron either. Any advice would be helpful.

Specializes in med/surg & a tad of onco..

Hi. I too (right now) am working as a volunteer RN in our hospital's ED, here in the Philippines. It is a government hospital where help is GREATLY needed and the staff and resident doctors are great inspite of the stress. Anyway, i am enjoying the experience and the staff allow me to do what they usually do (e.g. remove stitches, insert NGTs and fol. catheters, do neuro. assessments, insert peripheral IVs, give IV meds..). Even if they are so busy, somehow there is always someone there to supervise me (as they sort of "take turns"). My question is this. Under supervision, is this acceptable (the responsibilities entrusted to me) if this took place in the US setting?

would that stuff be acceptable in the US? not a chance!! guess that's one benefit to being over there. :uhoh21:

Specializes in med/surg & a tad of onco..

Really..even if done under proper supervision? Okay..i'm a bit suprised. They are aware that it is their license at stake and i wouldn't do anything i don't feel 100% sure about. I mean i have done these procedures before volunteering as i was an employed RN before but just opted to volunteer because i want to give the ED a try and see just how different it is from the other areas of nursing. I am not looking for employee status because i am about to leave for the US and contracts here are at least 1 year and that is why i volunteered. But i must say that in a day, by the sheer number of patients that come in, a lot of procedures are performed over and over and over again and it really sharpens the nursing skills! Yes, i do admit that because resources are lacking, we learn to improvise but the downside is that "aseptic technique" is compromised. My first experience was in a private hospital and they are super careful about infection control and resources are plentiful. Imagine doing a bone marrow transplant in that kind of setting (dear me, the patient would never see it thru!). So would you say that these duties falls under the title of "trainee" over there in the US?

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