Any Trauma Nurses in here?

Just read the Emergency posts. While ER is not as bad as most medical shows. You have to experience it yourself. Like any only unit there are good days and there are bad days. It is an extremely high stress area and burnout can be high. If you cannot deal with the unpredictable go somewhere else. Your skills must be top notch. You must be able to handle gore because there is alot of it. You love it when the residents and interns are ready to graduate and you hate it when the residents and interns are new. Good luck in deciding what to do.

It depends on what size and type of ED you are interested in. If you plan to go to a major trauma center then I strongly recommend that you have some nursing experience under your belt. At least a year of med surg and some critical care if you can get it. I would not recommend a new grad for a job in a major trauma center. Perhaps a smaller ED. And remember, it is not all trauma.

Thank you so much for your input.

Jessica

"trauma nurse" could be in an ED or in a trauma unit. The ICU/Step-down area I work in gets all of the trauma patients. I am actually going to be taking TNCC very soon! I also work on a fire department. Keep in mind that lots of people like trauma, but it only makes up a small percentage of the patients you will see. If trauma is something that interests you, see if you can shadow a nurse in that area.

Good luck on the TNCC!

Jessica

And remember, it is not all trauma.

Don't build your life on what TV land promises.

You want "reality"? Just turn the TV off...

Trauma, even for trauma centers, isn't the norm. "Trauma Life in the ER" doesn't seems to show enough of the frequent fliers, the malingerers, the seekers, the drunks, the abusive drama queens/kings and so on and endlessly so-forth...

It hardly ever seems to focus/show what the nurses do - plenty of emphasis on the docs and surgeons.

Dealing with combative/violent patients seems "cool" on TV - but handling them in real life is a whole different ball of wax.

It ain't all guts, gore and glory ....

cheers,

a very tired and crabby Roy who just got done with a ridiculously crappy row of 3 12-hour shifts - Bypass, Bypass, Bypass... but still they came pouring in!!

PS: As 'grouchy' as I sound in my post, I still love my job. IMO we as ER/ED/Trauma nurses (to paraphrase Robert Heinlein): "necessarily sift a great many pebbles, much sand, for each nugget — but the nuggets are the reward".

I guess what I was trying to elaborate through my winding post was that: we as ED/Trauma Nurses are trained for (and in some cases 'look for') that most dire circumstances to come rolling through our doors - while secretly dreading them because we all too often know the eventual outcome of such cases ... and the heartbreak and torment that follows.

Smart ED/Trauma nurses know the statistics and the facts - but still show up for the 'party' anyway... and give all they've got...

... but there ain't no "stars in their eyes no'more."

"A dream, untempered by prudence and untouched by reality; will always wither away." - Me.