ER nurses wear "biggirl panties"

Specialties Emergency

Published

We are the beasty girls and boys aren't we? We get talked about, yelled to, nasty talk, complained about,kicked, spit on, peed on, pooped, trash talked all through a course of any given day. Even when you are trying to be professional when a nonER nurse gives ya grief because the ICU patient peed enroute to their empty waiting ICU bd with a 2:1 ratio....nice ratio eh?....we take it...until the dam breaks.

People need to wear the dirty scrubs we wear everyday/night we work and then say what they need to say....but do it with a respect for what we do. We are the front door of the hospital yet deal with the back door philosophy. No-one wants to know exactly what goes on in any given day in the life of an ER nurse.....only a few can handle what we handle everyday 24/7...365....

So yank up our big girl panties and feel proud that WE work in the trenches, because others can't....and be proud of it.:D:smokin::D

worth reposting......

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guest editorial

acep news

september 2006

by david f. baehren, m.d.

for a generation or two, we have lamented the loss of role models in society.

as parents and individuals, we naturally seek out others we would like to emulate. sadly, a serious search through the popular culture leaves us empty-handed and empty-hearted. thanks to a long list of legal and moral shenanigans, many entertainers, politicians, and athletes long since abdicated this momentous position of responsibility.

we usually look afar for heroes and role models, and in doing so overlook a group of professionals who live and work in our midst: nurses.

and not just any kind of nurse: the emergency nurse. there are plenty of people involved in emergency care, and no emergency department could function without all of these people working as a team. but it is the emergency nurse who shoulders the weight of patient care. without these modern-day heroes, individually and collectively we would be in quite a pinch.

this unique breed of men and women are the lock stitch in the fabric of our health care safety net. their job is a physical, emotional, and intellectual challenge.

who helped the paramedics lift the last 300-pound patient who came in?

who took the verbal lashing from the curmudgeon giving admitting orders over the phone?

who came to tell you that the guy you ordered the nitro drip for is taking viagra?

the emergency nurse has the thankless job of sitting in triage while both the long and the short buses unload at once. with limited information, they usually send the patient in the right direction while having to fend off some narcissistic clown with a zit on his butt. they absorb the penetrating stares from weary lobby dwellers and channel all that negative energy to some secret place they only tell you about when you go to triage school.

other kinds of nurses serve key roles in health care and attend to their patients admirably. however, few function under the gun like emergency nurses do.

it is the emergency nurse who cares for the critical heart failure patient until the intensive care unit is "ready" to accept the patient. the productivity of the emergency nurse expands gracefully to accommodate the endless flow of patients while the rest of the hospital "can't take report." many of our patients arrive "unwashed." it is the emergency nurse who delivers them "washed and folded." to prepare for admission a patient with a hip fracture who lay in stool for a day requires an immense amount of care--and caring.

few nurses outside of the emergency department deal with patients who are as cantankerous, uncooperative, and violent. these nurses must deal with patients who are in their worst physical and emotional state. we all know it is a stressful time for patients and family, and we all know who the wheelbarrow is that the shovel dumps into.

for the most part, the nurses expect some of this and carry on in good humor. there are times, however, when the patience of a saint is required.

in fact, i believe that when emergency nurses go to heaven, they get in the fast lane, flash their hospital id, and get the thumbs-up at the gate. they earn this privilege after being sworn at, demeaned, spit on, threatened, and sometimes kicked, choked, grabbed, or slugged. after this, they go on to the next patient as if they had just stopped to smell a gardenia for a moment.

great strength of character is required for sustained work in our field. the emergency department is a loud, chaotic, and stressful environment. to hold up under these conditions is no small feat. to care for the deathly ill, comfort suffering children, and give solace to those who grieve their dead takes discipline, stamina, and tenderness. to sit with and console the family of a teenager who just died in an accident takes the strength of 10 men.

every day emergency nurses do what we are all called to do but find so arduous in practice. that is: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

they care for those whom society renders invisible. emergency nurses do what the man who changed the world 2,000 years ago did. they look squarely in the eye and hold the hand of those most couldn't bear to touch. they wash stinky feet, clean excrement, and smell breath that would give most people nightmares.

and they do it with grace.

so, here's to the emergency nurse. shake the hand of a hero before your next shift.

dr. baehren lives in ottawa hills, ohio, and practices emergency medicine. he is the author of "roads to hilton head island." he welcomes your feedback at [email protected].

AMEN!!! God love us pit nurses!!! And we wouldn't dream of doing anything else!!

I jump into my big girl panties, not one leg at a time, but both!!

Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

I cried when I read his post. What a great guy.

I don't think I could function anywhere but the ER. I don't remember my "indoor voice"

I like being able to make really scared people feel better and less scared.

Specializes in School Nursing, Pedi., Critical Care.

Well... I am not quite sure what kind of reaction I should have to this post. I do know and agree that they, ER nurses, have a hard and stressful job but nurses that work in other areas don't work their because they can't work in the 'trenches'. Just like ER nurses don't not work ICU b/c they can't. I work critical care and believe me we get punched, pooped on, cussed by family, talked about, kicked at, etc... also. I also have to say that it is a rare occasion when I get a patient from ER that is "washed and folded"! ER nurses have a specialty just like other nurses have their specailty. I don't feel that one is better than the other, which was kind of feeling I got from the post. It takes all areas of nursing to take care of our population. One is not better , they are all just different and we should repect our differences. We should all be proud of what we do! It sounds like the original poster had a bad day. Just my opinion.

Were I to go back to patient care it would have to be the ED.

I don't feel that one is better than the other, which was kind of feeling I got from the post.

I didn't get that feeling, Pink. I got the feeling she was giving ED nurses a big ATTAGIRL! That's all. Patting themselves on the back doesn't mean she's criticis=zing or being disrespectful of the rest of us.

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

This is a thread extolling the virtues of ER nursing. It is one poster's opinion. Since this was started with the idea that being an ER nurse rocks, lets stay on topic and debate that.

Specializes in EMERGENCY ROOM.

In everyday O Lord!Everyday!I was thinking if im d only one who feels this way!Well gotcha gurl "Let's Move and walk with pride!"-im a trauma nurse in ER too...

Specializes in School Nursing, Pedi., Critical Care.

Well I can certainly understand giving yourself a pat on the back. If you don't do it, Lord knows we know no one else will!

Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

I totally respect all the other nurses, med/surg, tele, ICU, dialysis, and all the rest.

Thank God there is a niche for all of us. And hopefully each one of us can find that special unit that is a good fit.

Tell me if you have had a bad day and I will happily extend an internet hug to you.

We all work hard

Specializes in Emergency.

too bad we couldn't get off page 1 without losing the red x.

Silly ED nurses, thinking you're as good as ICU!

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