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Discussion

Foreign RN preparing for work in the ED

Hi.

I've been reading this "sub-forum" for months now. And I've got a small picture of what the ED world is. But before I point out my concerns, I would like to give a little background about myself.

I am a foreign-educated nurse, legally staying in the US (so no visa issues), currently working on a Long Term Care facility for a year now, and this facility is attached to a Critical Access Hospital.

I hate med-surg nursing or ER nursing or any hospital-based nursing when I was in nursing school. Before, I decided to be a public health nurse and work for the UN so I really did not pay much attention to some hospital stuff. Then the opportunity of working in the hospital came about a couple months ago. I know I need some areas to be confident about before diving into the hospital world, and I relayed this concern to the CNO, but they expressed their willingness to train me. So I accepted the job thinking its a great learning and professional experience for me. Oh this job is on the hospital attached to the long term care. Its a small critical hospital so basically I will cover both ER and the acute care beds.

Now, when I asked the CNO what training to take for me to be prepared, she told me it's just CPR/BLS and ACLS. Then I found out that they scheduled me for TNCC. I've been preparing for it and it's gonna be next week. Still, I feel I will have difficulty passing that certification. With all the equipments, terminologies, and the process as a whole different from my educational and experience backgrounds.

So if anyone can share their TNCC experience, (like how the training works, how the instructors score the test-takers, what critical steps to follow,) that would be awesome.

And also in general, how to prepare for the ED/Acute care world (like what skills are needed, telemetry skills, etc).

(I have Sheehy's Emergency Nursing Principles and Practice).

Thank you, fellow nurses!

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    • Featured Replies

    No need to stress over the TNCC. In my area it is a 2 day course, some theory and some hands on. The program is set up so everyone passes. (unless you are just totally unteachable).

    The course is set up not to fail people, but rather to teach them trauma principles and what to do. You will be fine, and they will coach/teach you so will be successful and pass.

    I have taken it 2 times now and always learn more each time.

    With ER nursing every day is a learning experience and it takes a very long time to "know it all"

    Good luck and enjoy the ER. I love it, not for the adrenaline rush, but for the learning experience and helping people on what is usually a bad/scary day for them.

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    • Author

    thanks gonzo1,

    that's the reason why I accepted the job, not for the adrenaline rush, but for the learning experience, which will help me on whatever nursing position I will hold in the future. It's a sense of knowing you can do things almost instantly when the situation arises.

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    Please don't stress over TNCC, I would recommend reading the book, but it's a wonderful class. I loved it. I feel like it really improved my nursing skills and the instructors made it so interesting it would have been hard NOT to listen. Plus, they had us practice the skills during class to the point that it just came naturally.

    I don't work in ED, I would love to. I had an internship in the ED in addition to my clinicals in my last semester of nursing school and I loved everything about it. I currently work in Long Term Care, and it's okay; I do use my TNCC to a certain extent in LTC (assessing falls, ect.) I feel like TNCC was the "icing on the cake" after nursing school.

    Good luck with TNCC and your ED/acute care job. I hope you LOVE TNCC as much as I did.:D

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    • Author

    thanks LTC RN jc,

    I'm working in Long Term Care right now, unskilled, so we are not allowed to do IV's, and a lot of stuff. Basically what I'm doing right now is pass the meds, do some wound treatments, assess for any concerns the residents have.

    I will really take every step possible not just to pass this training but to gain something from it.

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    Hi sir,

    as an overseas nurse, if I do not pass in only one module,

    will I have to sit for all OET modules again or just the module I have less marks in.

    Thanks

    I have been trying to catch you up. Could you please add me on Facebook at [email protected]

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    thanks gonzo1,

    that's the reason why I accepted the job, not for the adrenaline rush, but for the learning experience, which will help me on whatever nursing position I will hold in the future. It's a sense of knowing you can do things almost instantly when the situation arises.

    I don't think that is necessarily true. The job does not carry over very well to other specialties at all unless you are thinking of ICU experience or critical care transport, etc.

    I don't know very many people that last long in emergency nursing who are using it just to gain knowledge. Now don't get me wrong, I love always learning and I see something every week that I have never seen before. But you really have to love working in ER to deal with the bad parts of it. I just think it is an environment that teaches everything with a slant towards emergency nursing and not a lot of it carries over into other areas of care.

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