ED Nurse Liason

[sChOOLRN48]

I was wondering if anyone has this type of position in their ED?

I recently took an ED Nurse Liason position in a level 1 trauma center in IL and I am the 1st to have this position in a while...it was phased out and recently brought back. So that being said I am still trying to figure out what I am supposed to do for 12 hours...Your help and advice will be so greatly appriciated! Thanks in advance!

Here is what I know....

***It is part service recovery...so sorry you have been waiting for 6 hours for your sore throat...how can I help?

***It is part medical translator...trauma enters I have the nursing background to "translate" from medical jargon to layman terms and help guide families through the steps of what next kinda thing...

***It is part nursing...float to assist...not take my own "team" of patients but as needed help decompress

The department has a FT chaplan, social worker, and a new case manager as well.

Without over lapping and being the most help what are somethings that would be beneficial for the department? for the staff nurse? for the charge nurse?

Thanks!

TD

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

The charge nurse usually performs those duties in my ER. We usually have a float rn as well from 11-11.

As a staff nurse, it's great to have someone readily available to handle service recovery. I like to call it "delegating upward".

Expect to get called for the hard sticks.

I would suggest that when your shift starts, walk around and get a feel for the pt's (who might crash, who's waiting for a bed, who might be high maintenance, etc), the rn's (who might just need a hand d/t tough pt load) and just the general feel of the unit (do you have enough pumps, are there enough hallway stretchers). Also get to know the sound of the medic alarm, always nice to know what's inbound (some doc's will give you a heads up, some won't).

Hope this helps.

[LegzRN]

I really like the idea of this position... but I can easily see you being thrown into an assignment when short staffed, very busy, etc...

[Janedough]

This is a great position especially in an ER. Sometimes as an RN you just cant explain to the sore throat that they really are important but the guy down the hall with people pouding on his chest because he is DYING gets my attention first :)

Just having another pair of hands and a caring voice can go a very long way.

Good luck

[sChOOLRN48]

thanks everybody! It is my biggest fear that I would be put into an assignment, not that I couldn't do it just that if I am...1 time...then it will happen again and then after awhile this position will die. I think the initial key to the success of the position is to make it valuable on all levels...to management - positive customer service scores and to staff - relaxed enviroment=happy waiting patients.

Keep the 'em coming! I need all the help I can get...I will update when I figure out what exactly I am supposed to be doing! LOL!

[LegzRN]

thanks everybody! It is my biggest fear that I would be put into an assignment, not that I couldn't do it just that if I am...1 time...then it will happen again and then after awhile this position will die. I think the initial key to the success of the position is to make it valuable on all levels...to management - positive customer service scores and to staff - relaxed enviroment=happy waiting patients.

Keep the 'em coming! I need all the help I can get...I will update when I figure out what exactly I am supposed to be doing! LOL!

Agreed... I feel like a position like this takes a lot of, for lack of a better word, balls. The ability to stand up to docs, suits, admin, and the like.