I'm about to begin the U.W. Oshkosh accelerated nursing program and have been thinking about where I would want to specialize (in the last clinical we get to choose a specialty, whoo!). I am wondering what kind of personality does best as an ER nurse? I have an interest in a few particular specialties, but I do realize that what you *think* will suit you best doesn't always do so, sometimes because it really doesn't fit your personality (and sometimes because what looks fun on TV is not actually fun when you do it!).
So, what kind of personality should a person have to survive in ER nursing?
I've always thought I would want to go into ER nursing, but I don't know if it would fit me. I am a very organized person, I live by schedules and "to do" lists (what am I supposed to be doing this second? What will I do for the next 5 minutes, and the 5 after that? then what?). And yet, I'm an adrenaline junkie. I kind of like it when my schedule flies completely out the window- but I wonder if I will be able to handle being "off kilter" all the time, or if I will just become a spastic mess because I don't have a dependable routine (frankly, routines quickly bore the h*ll outta me, yet the unpredictable can send me reeling like a spaz)
I have a good friend who has been director of several ED's in different states. She has been telling me for years that I have an " ER personality". I finally made the transfer to ED a few months ago and realized she's been calling me a *itch all these years!
got to have it cause if you are in a 15 bed er, all rooms are filled, 3 are critical, 3 can get there really fast, 3 are psych pt that have no evaluations done, 1 room is on hold for EMS, 2 rooms are trauma beds, prepped and ready to go. oh and the waiting room is full of headaches and flu symptoms.
of course... of the 3 criticals, one is waiting for flight team, one is waiting for ambulance team, and as you are getting started, one comes stumbling into the waiting area with severe shortness of breath. ie: sats are 78 and dropping and he is clutching his throat. yeah the last bed is the EMS bed. so now you have no room for ems.. ha ha.. and of course between this new one and one of the other critical pts., no one can get the iv's , one of those is a cardiac pt the other is the guy that cant breathe. in the middle of starting the very difficult iv on the cardiac patient, you get the phone call from H....L GSW to the head code 3 be there now. So you run to the trauma room, call the crew, did i mention you are not in a teaching hospital. so your crew is the doc another nurse the rt and the xray. and most of the time the crew bringing the nightmare with them.
so much fun.. of course he ends up on the ventilator so that takes one nurse off the floor cause he is unstable and is awaiting transport. oh yeah the flight crew is stranded in another city and there are no other teams available. this guy is not stable enough to go ground. so.. 2 nurses handle the rest which now consists of a guy that has done a great amount of cocaine and is having an MI. a gal with a bp of 225/118, and you still have the other critical pts one of which is waiting for his ambulance still. they arrive and starts to crash. yeah..
so you finally get the trauma pt out and you immediatly go back to the front and you take 4 pts asap. one has to have a "fast" pelvic, one is a small kid with an earache that needs meds, one is the MI that needs Retevase plus a few thousand other things and one is a psych pt still in your unit. oh and it is finally 5 am. 7am is getting close. ha ha the tone out goes for difficulty breathing and another call you dont even hear. finally the day shift shows up and so does the ambulance for the MI.. No flights available. you had 3 pts shipped out and 4 0r 5 admissions, you cant even remember anymore. finally at 7:30 you rush out the back door to your car and LEAVE..... but hey.. only one pt left AMA in the 12 hours and he was one of the psych pts that "escaped" during the trauma.
oh.. the other pts have to wait cause there is ONLY 1 doctor in the ER..
yeah...
FLEXIBILITY
but i love it......
that is what we like to call things changing rapidly.
LOL ... musherdeb, I swear you just described the ED where I work! 15 beds, one doc, and we have a PA during the day from noon until 10p. We're freestanding, so none of the typical hospital resources -- RT, etc. It can get so crazy!
Have you taken TNCC? I know, it's not really a trauma certification, but it's good to have for sure. I did take the CEN, last May -- passed it on the first try. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. CPEN will be next -- probably in August.
yeah i love TNCC great course. ENPC as well. sad that a lot of ER units dont require ENPC. oh well. how long is the test for CEN? and did you go to a class before? i am thinking of a class cause i hate taking tests LOL and i like to get as much info in my brain so that hopefully it just falls out on the tests pages. LOL.
I have heard many times that the test is not as bad as it is hyped to be. we shall see.
I borrowed some Med-Ed/Jeff Solheim audio CDs from a coworker to prep for the CEN, and I used the ENA 150-question practice exam. I also got the Lippincott review book -- it's called something like Q&A for Emergency Nursing.
I agree that ENPC was great! As a matter of fact, my clin spec used just the ENPC manual to prep for the CPEN, and she passed. :)
way cool. i am gonna go to the class. no one around here has the cd.s oh well. that would have been cheaper LOL.. but i look forward to the class. i do well with hands on and that is why i love trauma. i am glad i dont work in one of the bigger hospitals cause the RN s dont get to do the stuff. i like my hands in it. i will do the practice exam as well.
:lol2:
LilgirlRN, ADN, RN
769 Posts
what makes a good ER nurse? ADD!!