PerfectlyNumb

Latest Activity

1. What Kind of Experiences before ER

   PerfectlyNumb replied to xSoCaLRNx's topic in Emergency

   I did 2+ years in med/surg before taking the jump to ER. Get some codes under your belt (although I know these are scary on the floor). Get used to seeing people crash…hard. I think some of our most valuable nurses came from ICU. Moving to the ER i...

2. Big bad bullies

   PerfectlyNumb replied to ljrn135's topic in Emergency

   Unfortunately, there are always nurses in the ER that will eat their young. New nurses need to ask questions in order to gain competence...and be thankful when you can call any of your co-workers "kind mentors" and they do exist! As for the "bully" n...

3. My PT called 911

   PerfectlyNumb replied to joyful_wanderer's topic in Emergency

   There have been many a 911 calls placed by patients. If you are lucky, they call from a hospital phone and it will be routed to in-hospital security. I've had patients call 911 from their cell phones also, which triggers security to track me down and...

4. Nurse burnout-How do you handle it?

   PerfectlyNumb replied to Nursepreneur's topic in Emergency

   Research found nurses who worked shifts longer than eight to nine hours were two-and-a-half times more likely to experience burnout... I completely agree with the above quote. I previously worked 12 hour shifts and felt burned out all of the time. I ...

5. Come in breathing....

   PerfectlyNumb replied to PerfectlyNumb's topic in Emergency

   Wow, music in my heart…that is what really bothered me. My terrified patient, struggling to breathe, looking me in the eye for comfort, trying to talk to me…then subsequent intubation and cardiac arrest. My last words "try to focus on breathing, we a...

6. How to remember everything, when giving report?

   PerfectlyNumb replied to SeaH20RN's topic in Emergency

   There is simply no time for a brain sheet. Actually, the only time I write things down is during EMS report upon patient's initial arrival….or during a code that just rolled in and the patient info isn't entered into the computer yet. I get my ambula...

7. Come in breathing....

   PerfectlyNumb posted a topic in Emergency

   For some reason it still bothers me immensely when someone comes into the ER breathing (even if gasping for air) and we are unable to save them...although if an ambulance comes in with CPR in progress, it bothers me less if we are unable to "fix" the...

8. "Your ER sucks!" and other pleasantries...how you handle them?

   PerfectlyNumb replied to livingthedream77's topic in Emergency

   Verbal abuse is frustrating, better than patients taking a swing at you though....Some people will never be pleased and seem to thoroughly enjoy degrading hospital staff. I would loooove to hand the disgruntled patients directions to the several othe...

9. Help Me Love My Job again in the ER/ED!

   PerfectlyNumb replied to toniasday7's topic in Emergency

   Personal life can take a toll on you, as well as simply working in the ER. I say take a few days off, get a massage, go out with some friends and enjoy a good dinner and some drinks. Go to the lake, the beach, wherever you can clear your mind. You ma...

10. How different is ER nursing from floor nursing?

    PerfectlyNumb replied to bear14's topic in Emergency

    It's m/s on speed. The patients you transfer to ICU as soon as possible are the people who come to you via ambulance or triage. Think a code on your unit is scary? Wait until your patients roll in the door with the LUCAS pumping. Perhaps a ruptured A...

11. An ER nurse

    PerfectlyNumb posted a topic in Emergency

    Us ER nurses get each other. We know why we react to situations the way we do, we understand reasoning that seems unreasonable, we don't trust anyone, we see things under a skeptical microscope, we know we live amongst an undercurrent of chaos that n...

12. Assaults on staff

    PerfectlyNumb posted a topic in Emergency

    Just curious, are other EDs seeing an increase in staff assaults compared to prior years? Are people becoming more aggressive in your ED related to synthetic drug use/ETOH or untreated mental illness (or a combination of these)?

13. June 2014 Caption Contest: Win $100!

    PerfectlyNumb replied to Joe V's topic in Announcements

    The physical spit of the nice nurse and the mean nurse inside of me…who will take over?

14. Demanding family members

    PerfectlyNumb replied to PerfectlyNumb's topic in Emergency

    Oh Ruby Vee, that's awful. You're 100% correct, if patients/families know they have a way around the "rules," they will certainly over utilize it. It's going in the opposite direction of bringing people back to the reality of necessary medical care. ...

15. Demanding family members

    PerfectlyNumb replied to PerfectlyNumb's topic in Emergency

    You've got that right SweetdreameRN, unfortunately, the squeaky wheel does get the grease most of the time. Rewarding people for their bad behavior just perpetuates the problem. I don't know of many other jobs where "customers" believe they have the ...