Accident and Emergecy Nurses - one of a kind

[snoopy29]

Have being reading these threads as a guest for some time and thought it about time I contributed :)

Having worked in Accident and Emergeny for years in different hospitals it has come to my notice that A and E nurses are one of a kind and pretty unique however there are certain similarities of type. This post is a light hearted tongue in cheek look at the types:

The alpha's easily recognisable we say "always first in the queue for a trauma last in the queue for a bedpan!!" These are the high flying A and E nurses, they are on point on their ALS and no department would function without them.

The newbies - as an old timer these are my favourites. Newly qualified, excited to be in A and E and keen as mustard. Still finding the world of qualified nursing exciting they see everything as an opportunity to learn. Whichever area I put them in to work they are always pleased and get a thrill out of successfull cannulation. Love them.

The allergic to work - come on every department has one!! They are highly skilled at managing to avoid hard work with a tenflon quality. I will allocate them a patient to assess, turn my back, only to find they have managed to palm the hard graft of assessing, doing obs, ecg and bloods to some poor HCA. They also wear floppy watches and manage to make their breaks last just that bit longer than evryone else's. They seem to possess scarlet pimpernel tendencies and disappear when any of the not so pleasant jobs appear causing me to wonder how its the same old nurses doing the not so nice jobs.

The worriers - always take longer than anyone else to hand over. Their paperwork is usually immaculate and yet there always seems to be this little voice telling them they have missed something. You often get a call at 03.00hours from a worrier who has woken in a panic because they forgot to record a BP.

The oldtimers - I belong to this group so intend on being gentle!!! We just cannot help saying "Ive been nursing longer than you've been alive" and yes of course we know that that doesn't always make us right or better but we just have to say it!! We also have this desperate need to say "I remember when......." and of we go on some memory lane jaunt. We look at our early days of nursing with rose tinted glasses and say things like "life was so much better when our care was not dictated by a 4hour breach transit time"

The matriach - That one Sister or Matron who you respect hugely but scares the pants off you. They are the nurse you aspire to be but because of there manner conversing with them reduces you to a jibbering wreck.

The academic - These are the nurses that not only know what to do for the patient they really understand the anatomy and physiology behind it. A student's dream mentor they can explain the full meaning of their patients ABG, decribe they actual differences between HONK and DKA and whip up a drug calculation in seconds.

I am sure there are many more and look forward to hearing of other Accident and Emergency types. As I say it just light hearted and I think A and E nurses the world over do an incredible job whatever your type:yeah:

[tiddles]

LOL.That is too hilarious and so true! You really have a way with words, Snoopy29.

[livistarr]

What IS an Accident and Emergency nurse?

[tiddles]

It's the ED in other countries (Britain, NZ, Australia). I'd love to work there for a while, just to see how different the attitudes of the patients, nurses, docs etc. are. I recently quit the ED from burnout. Got totally sick of having to be nice to patients who treated me like I was something they just stepped in. Wasn't long before I was going to crack and start telling people what I really thought of them.

Thats how I discovered this forum, while looking for career alternatives.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

We just cannot help saying "Ive been nursing longer than you've been alive" and yes of course we know that that doesn't always make us right or better but we just have to say it!!

LOL! I just laughed so hard I almost lost some of my coffee.

I love my old-timers. They tell me about the days when they had to cook their morphine over Bunsen burners. Love it!!

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

I wish I had time to talk to some of the old timers at where I work, but most of the time its too busy.

[snoopy29]

"I wish I had time to talk to some of the old timers at where I work, but most of the time its too busy. "

That it such a shame. I know that much of my practice has been improved and developed because over the years someone with more experience than me has pointed me in the right direction.

I'd like to think that however busy the department I have always got time for any of my nurses. I would not have stayed in A and E if it hadn't been for the words of advice of an oldtimer.

I was six months into post having moved from surgery and feeling bewildered and overwhelmed by everything I didn't know in the department, after yet another trauma she found me hiding in the drugs cupboard and said:

" All nurses are incredible but A and E and ICU nurses are unique. We face situations that change by the minute and have to deal with the raw face of unexpected grief but in order to not only survive but also enjoy you need to learn it's a marathon not a sprint and by christ are we olympic atheletes.

"You will have days when it all feels wrong - you get abused by relatives, you lose a young patient and you get orders shouted at you by rude and inconsiderate doctors - but these are the sprints, do not measure yourself or how you feel about A and E by the sprints"

"look at the marathon - how do you feel when you know that by your actions or words you have made someone who is terrified and scared feel safe, how do you feel when you are part of a team that gets an output in an arrested patient, how do you feel when you know that all of your patients have been assessed, and treated to the best of your possible care. You are part of a team that the public need and depend on and each of us individually but more importnat collectively makes a difference and that is why it's a marathon! and that is what you need to measure A and E on.

So yes I still have days where I go home and ask myself why but I remind myself they are the sprint and 20 years later am proud to be an A and E marathon runner!!!!!! :)