Emergency Department internship- what should I review?

[studentnurse19922]

I'm halfway through my second semester of junior year of a bachelor of nursing program and I've accepted an internship in an emergency department over the Summer of 2020. I am both excited and nervous for this internship so I am hoping to study and review as much as I can prior to this internship so I can enter well prepared!

Emergency room nurses, what topics would you recommend that I review or study? hands on skills as well as labs, tests, disease processes, etc.

what are some common areas that you see new grads/interns/students struggle in in emergency nursing?

what things do you think are the most things for ED nurses to know/be skilled in?

what are the things that you wish you knew when you started working in the ED?

[Cmbnurse, BSN, RN]

I am not an ER nurse but I am doing my clinical rotation in the ER. As for disease process you get a lot of variety in the ER. But most commonly I see chest pain, abdominal pain, pneumonia, alcohol/drug withdrawal, and the patients that come in with minor complaints like fever or stuff that can go to the urgent care clinic. I do a lot of IVs, blood draw, urine cultures, EKG's. I would review basic lab values, how to do a 12 lead EKG, 5 lead heart monitor, how to do IV, foley and blood transfusion. Practice your assessments and the questions you would ask based on each system. Good luck!