Does anyone who has made a lifelong career of the ED still love their job?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

It seems like ED nurses are working in tough times from the posts on this forum. With doctors leaving medicine left and right the ED is inundated with inappropriate and misguided patient problems and a lot of social nightmares. Is there anyone who has worked in the ED a long time who still loves it? I really want to make the transition as an ED nurse, but I don't want to set myself up for failure. I want to look back in 10 years and still love the work I do. I thought for a long time that I was going to be an OB or pedi nurse, but my heart is with emergency medicine and I'm over the internal struggle of where I think I should work vs. where I really want to work. As a disclaimer, I know very well that the ED deals less and less with true emergencies and more like a primary care clinic, but I still feel it's my calling. I like prepping patients for surgeries, love love cardiac cases, inserting IVs, making patients comfortable whether it's through medication or a warm blanket and crackers, and the quick thinking and action that comes with a true emergency. It all sounds so great now, but does anyone still feel this way after a few years? Just looking for some hope. :)

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It's so highly subjective. I haven't made a lifelong career of the ED, so maybe I'm not qualified to answer your question, but for me, I don't want to be an "ED Nurse", a "Cardiac Nurse", an "ICU Nurse", or pigeonholed as any particular type of nurse. I want my nursing experience to be broad and varied, which means trying different specialties and not settling on one. If someday, after experiencing many different areas of nursing, I decide that the ED was my favorite and that's where I'd like to go back long term, then maybe at that point in time I will consider myself an "ED Nurse".

I work with several nurses in the ED who have been there 20+ years, and I don't know if they're still there because that's what they love and it's their passion, or because, like any job that a person invests that much of their lifetime in, they know it well and don't want to go through the growing pains of changing specialties at this late juncture in their career. Maybe there's a little of both going on.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

I think you've missed the whole point of ER's. Chaos is the norm. It's the challenge of the chaos we love. You make all those things (MD turnover, inappropriate patients, etc) seem like something new, transient, possibly temporary. Those are just everyday things in the ER. If not the things you mentioned, there'd be something else causing chaos.

Some nurses thrive in a controlled environment. ER nurses thrive in an atmosphere where they are constantly challenged to change chaos into something under control. ER staff NEED that challenge. I'm temporarily disabled, but after almost 30 years of EMS and ER/trauma center, I can't wait to get back to work.

I have infinite respect for the nurses who can work other floors. I couldn't keep my sanity on a med surg floor, or LTC.

One person posted recently that the difference between ER and ICU nurses was; ER = ADD, ICU = OCD. There's more truth in that than you might believe.

Whoops. Ahem. I'll put my soapbox away. Sorry for the long winded answer. Good luck with your career. My advice is to find what you like and stay with it.

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Specializes in Cardiovascular, ER.

I am not qualified to answer your question either, but here I go - the ER is my niche. I have floated around a bit, never really finding my home until I found the ER. Like the pp said - the whole ADD thing with the ER. I get bored kind of easily with monotony and routine. I don't want to predict (correctly) how my shift is going to go.

I don't want the same pt population over and over. The ER, we get a little of everything. MI, CVA, trauma, eye/nose problems, psych, OB, peds, ortho, etc. It's anybody's guess what's going to walk through the door.

If you like that sort of environment, then it is worth trying - it means a lot of dropping everything you were planning to do to change direction. Most of the people I work with have been working ER for a really long time, and they seem to really like it (or they would prob be somewhere else now).

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I did level one trauma center ED for 10 yrs and I miss it every single day!

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Specializes in ER, OR, Cardiac ICU.

One person posted recently that the difference between ER and ICU nurses was; ER = ADD, ICU = OCD. There's more truth in that than you might believe.

Never have truer words been spoken. I have also heard the ED called "fast food" and the ICU called "fine dining". Works for me.

There is a bunch of crap that comes with working in the ED...but that will be true with any job. I explain to nurses new to the ED that I don't come to work for the 99% of the patients that really don't need me but for the 1% that do. And the best part is that you don't know when that 1% is going to walk in and try to crump on you.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

I think the ADD factor is one of the most appealing features of ER nursing. I like having to be prepared for anything. I like the constant change, prioritizing and re-prioritizing. I like the taste of critical care that comes with starting drips and RSI, but then you get to stabilize and ship to the unit (hopefully). I could list so many reasons for wanting to work in the ED but I'd be here all day. :) Mostly what I want to know is if those of you who have work in the ED for years are still happy or if you're plain burnt. I realize everyone is different so I'm looking for perspectives.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Neopedirn - you said exactly what I feel - that is exactly what I loved in the ER: never knowing what was going to come thru the door next.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

BTW, I realize the ED has always had it's large share of inappropriate visits, however there is an increasing shortage if PCPs which means longer waits for appointments, which prompts more patients to use the ED as a walk-in clinic. I would think this alone causes some compassion fatigue and decreased job satisfaction?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I think the ADD factor is one of the most appealing features of ER nursing. I like having to be prepared for anything. I like the constant change, prioritizing and re-prioritizing. I like the taste of critical care that comes with starting drips and RSI, but then you get to stabilize and ship to the unit (hopefully). I could list so many reasons for wanting to work in the ED but I'd be here all day. :) Mostly what I want to know is if those of you who have work in the ED for years are still happy or if you're plain burnt. I realize everyone is different so I'm looking for perspectives.

I worked critical care and emergency medicine for 32 years.........Emergency Medicine was my first and primary love......even on the most frustrating of days.....I loved my job. I am disabled right now and I miss it so much it actually hurts........:o

I agree......ED=ADHD ICU=OCD......:lol2:

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

This is my third career (ED) or fourth career (Army ED), so I can't say it's been a lifelong choice yet, but I do love it. I took a big pay cut to go from my 2nd career (graphic design/desktop publishing/middle management for 10+ years) to my 3rd career (ED tech), and I've never regretted it. I've worked in an ED setting for more than 6 years now, and I've been doing some sort of emergency medicine (EMT-B, then NREMT-P) since 2000.

Ummmm ... what was that about ADD? LOL. Can you see how much I like change and variety??

At my last ED, I worked with some fabulous nurses who have been ED RNs for 15-20 years and still love what they do. And it shows. :)

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

Funny isn't it that as the PCP shortage worsens, it takes so long to get into your docs office, you're either cured or dead from the problem that you wanted the appointment for in the first place?

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