ED Nursing

This is a general ED tip not necessarily related to transitioning from somewhere else: You can treat people with basic human dignity no matter what their problem or presentation is. Don't get bogged down in choosing to "cope" by disparaging them, arguing with them, treating them poorly or gossiping about them. This represents a maladjustment in my opinion, not healthy coping--but you will see it a lot. You are going to be incredulous about some of the things you see and hear, just plan now to take it in stride, focus on what you need to do to get them safely to their next destination (which is what the ED is ALL about in a nutshell) and move on to the next.

Good luck! ?

21 hours ago, Kbelle said:

Any advice for a new ED nurse switching from an ICU environment? 

Yes. Just to reinforce what was said above: you'll have to learn NOT to do full assessments. You'll have to learn to do focused assessments. I try to get my initial assessment and initial tasks done within that first 5 minutes. After that, I'm on to someone else. Somewhere along the way I'll get my charting done. 

It's a lot like being a squirrel - never in one place for long, always moving, and always reevaluating and acting on the priority items as they pop up and change. I'm also big on jumping in and helping my fellow nurses with their tasks because many hands do make for light (and speedy) work. I accept help sometimes because I know this. Sometimes I refuse the extra help because I'm not too swamped and the offered help can be best used elsewhere. 

Your knowledge and experience to date WILL be valuable. You just have to be able to refine it for the ED. That's a whole different beast but once you get the flow, it gets to be really fun. 

I'll never forget the loveliest ICU nurse on the planet,  Maria, came to work in our ED. The first week she gave a full bed bath to a little old lady, getting one of our scarce techs to help.

Eventually she got a better grasp of the work flow, and succeeded!