Advice for GN

Hopefully you will be in orientation for a few months! Know who to trust and who will help once you get off orientation! The ER can be very stressfull, be prepared. Also expect the full patient load after orientation. Even thought you are a newbie you will get as many patients as the seasoned nurses. Remember critical thinking! I have been off orientation since Sept. and had 7 patients at one time consisting of Altered mental status, hepatic encephalopathy with BP 0f 93/35, chest pain and asthmatics! THe adrenaline rush is great but school nursing is out the window!

Hopefully you will be in orientation for a few months! Know who to trust and who will help once you get off orientation! The ER can be very stressfull, be prepared. Also expect the full patient load after orientation. Even thought you are a newbie you will get as many patients as the seasoned nurses. Remember critical thinking! I have been off orientation since Sept. and had 7 patients at one time consisting of Altered mental status, hepatic encephalopathy with BP 0f 93/35, chest pain and asthmatics! THe adrenaline rush is great but school nursing is out the window!

Everything you said here sounds good to me! Critical thinking and PRIORITIZATION are important, that is what will save your patients (and your butt!). That assignment described above sounds like a dream to me!! That is the kind of assignment I have on a good night! New grad, get used to assignments like the above and more, because in ER you cant stop them rolling through the door, you can have as many as 15 patients at a time, and they can all be MI's, strokes, whatever. I was a new grad in ER (been working 1 1/2 years now) and I made it through, so you can too!

Hi, I am starting as a GN in the ER at a level II trauma center next month. I am very nervous, but very excited. Just woundering if anyone had some advice or quick tips for my new job. It would be greatly appreciated.

Ask questions and then listen to the answers and learn

otherwise make sure to bring your preceptor Coffee and donuts everyday to give them energy to assist in your learning.

I like my coffee hot black and very strong

Be assertive. Don't let the "new grad" title dictate your actions and knowledge base, if you know what I mean. We've all been there, and you will do well!

Everything you said here sounds good to me! Critical thinking and PRIORITIZATION are important, that is what will save your patients (and your butt!). That assignment described above sounds like a dream to me!! That is the kind of assignment I have on a good night! New grad, get used to assignments like the above and more, because in ER you cant stop them rolling through the door, you can have as many as 15 patients at a time, and they can all be MI's, strokes, whatever. I was a new grad in ER (been working 1 1/2 years now) and I made it through, so you can too!

Wow, I can't imagine having 15+ patients. That seems so unsafe.

I'm starting in the ER next month. Keep the advice coming!!

You will not be expected to know it all, so don't beat yourself up when you make a stupid mistake (and you will). Ask the seasoned nurses how to save time and prioritize and manage time. Very important lessons. Good luck.

Bridge, I'm in the same situation. I'm a GN who is starting in a HUGE (but non-trauma) hospital in the next 2 mo. I'm nervous too, but I think we'll do great! Good luck :)

Thank-you everyone for the advice. I will definately keep all of it in my mind. I'm just nervous because it is not only just a job that I am starting, it is a career. Any and all advice helps.

As a preceptor/mentor for new staff/GNs in our ED--ask questions!! You are responsible for making yourself an ED nurse--Join the ENA-attend your local chapter meetings and all the education that is available. Read the journals. Get your ACLS, PALS . TNCC and/or ENPC are excellent as well. Your education is just beginning...

Review pharmocology.

Make sure you have an adequate orientation/precept period- 3 months is a good rule of thumb for a new grad-

Show initiative-ER nurses cannot stand back and wait for someone to direct them--learn and initiate care per your dept. protocols.

ER nursing is tough, hard work, a little bit of acting 101 and the best job in the world. Some days will be awful-- but when you realize the difference you can make to someone--you feel GREAT!!!

Good luck

Anne

I would have to agree with Anne- I am also a preceptor in the ER and I'm more nervous about the new nurse that doesn't ask questions than the one who asks a million. Although an orientation to the ER as a new grad should be at least 3 months, you NEVER stop learning in this environment. Technology changes, drugs come and go, and sometimes even "best practice" changes as we learn more about different conditions-a good ER nurse stays on top of it with the realization that he or she doesn't know it all.