Any advice for a new ED nurse?

[al7139]

Hi all,

I am a nurse whose experience is in cardiac stepdown, but now have a job in an ER. I am ACLS and have run my share of codes, so I know how to do that. What I want to know is what advice you all would give to an experienced RN who has never worked ER before? So far, I assume you are sick until proven otherwise from labs or assessment, etc. What are the most important things I need to know as an ER nurse?

Thanks, Amy

[ErinBSN]

1. Eat before you come on the floor

2. poop before you come on the floor

3. Expect the unexpected

4. Things run in cycles. one day is cardiac, one day is ortho, one day is crotch rott.

5. leave work at work, don't take it home.

and most importantly HAVE FUN!

[BrittRN21]

Not at all how I interpreted the above comment. In fact, I thought she was saying the complete opposite. Don't be lazy!! I believe she was encouraging her to be proactive about getting patients from Triage. Can't tell you how many times I have seen nurses leave one of their beds empty when there are triaged pts in the waiting room and then complain the second you assign a squad to their room.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Weird....there are posts missing. I remember replying to this. Anyway, I get what shoegalRN was saying- you empty a room, you grab a new patient if the transport tech is busy or away or you call the charge nurse to see if there's a reason s/he is holding your rooms open (did the bus just let off and they're waiting for triage to see if there are some sicker patients than what's already in the waiting room?). I guess my advice is even when you're new, look for ways to help your coworkers. Build a reputation for being a team player early on and you'll find it easy to get help when you need it.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Weird....there are posts missing. I remember replying to this.

Yeah, we lost a couple of weeks' worth of posts during the transition to the new board. Unfortunate.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

if the transport tech is busy

*looks incredulously at hiddencatRN* "Transport tech"? What's that? You mean you actually have staff members assigned to move people around?

*sound of bone shattering as jaw hits floor*

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Lol, it's not as cushy as it sounds, I promise. We still have to schelp out patients to radiology and the floor all the time. My worst nightmare is a patient who needs a CT with contrast while I have things going on with other patients, because then I HAVE to go and stay with them and those 20+ minutes away from the unit always leave me coming back to workups backed up on my other patients.

[Funnyrunner]

Chart, chart,and chart some more! You can never chart too much or too often on ER patients. It will help save your butt down the line when the unexpected happens or a lawsuit pops up in the future. I teach new RNs to chart on every patient at least hourly and much more frequently on the critical patients. Also, visit your patients frequently. It's sometimes hard to do so but it makes for a much better patient attitude if they know you remember they are there.