Duties as an Emergency Room/Department/Ward Nurse

[studentdan]

When I become a nurse I'm going to consider the possibility of working in the Emergency Department/Room (In Ireland we call it the A&E -- Accident and Emergency)

I would just like some insight into this area of nursing particularly from an A&E nurse.

What do you do on a day to day basis? What are your duties? Even just tell of the main things or if you wish tell me everything. :)

Any information will be of great help. Thanks.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Hey Dan,

check out the emergency nursing forum. You'll get a good idea of what er nurses do on a daily basis. Keep in mind that a LOT of venting goes on as this site is a place where folks can blow off steam among their own.

Anyway, one of the primary responsibilities of emergency nursing is being able

to change priorities in the blink of an eye. Most patients are not "life or death" cases. We assess, intervene as necessary based on hospital protocols, initiate treatment as ordered by the docs and constantly reassess to determine if those treatments are working. If the pt is discharged, we teach about illness/injury and needed followups. If the pt is admitted, we get orders from the admitting docs and initiate those treatments.

And you never know what's coming through the door. Those pts who go the icu/ccu? They get stabilized in the er first.

This is 100,000 foot overview with tons of details left out. Hope it helps. Enjoy your journey.