Help! What am i? Er nurse or urgent care nurse?

[shailee]

Hello Everyone:

After working 2 years as a Homecare Nurse (could not get hired into hospital as a new grad) I finally relocated and acquired an ICU position (although my hearts desire was to be an ER nurse) I was in ICU for 8 months and finally got hired for an ER position at a new State Hospital. The Hospital has over 300 beds. It has an OR (not heavily invasive, but that is to change as more personnel is hired and equipment is brought in), telemetry unit, med-surge units, dialysis, ER, etc.

During the first week of orientation we were informed that the State says that we now have to call ourselved an Urgent Care unit, because we do not have an ICU. Up to now the ER has functioned as a limited ICU.

My problems is now as such: am I an ER nurse as stated on my letter of acceptance or am I now an urgent care nurse? (my duties have not changed, just the dept. name) and will I still be able to eventually become certified as an ER nurse?

I thought I was finally there:cry:

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

How can you have an emergency department if you don't have the ability to provide critical care? EDs can only provide limited critical care, just for a short duration, until transfer to an ICU. It's not the function of an ED to provide ongoing critical care.

So, I guess the answer is, you're an urgent care nurse, until your hospital gets its act together and can provide for critical patients.

[shailee]

OK. Thank you.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Freestanding ERs are still ERs, even though they don't have any sort of hospital attached, let alone an ICU. At least, that's how it worked in Virginia. Might depend on the state. So it seems weird that an ER's status would depend on the ability to send critical patients upstairs in an elevator rather than to another facility via transport. Interesting.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

State credentialing varies state to state. Many states require the ability to be an "ED" at the lowest Level 4, is that you have to be a "full service" facility.....that includes an ICU. OB is an exception as it is considered a speciality license. So you are an Urgent care with 300 beds, unusual but it is what the licensing requirement are making them be called. Odd that they don' have an ICU. Keep the position.....with that kind of investment I am sure it is in the works.

[shailee]

Thank you so much for your comments. Clarification: The hospital has 300 beds, and the er/urgent care unit has 10 er beds. The hospital works in conjunction with wake med, a very large teaching hospital within 5 minutes away. Icu patient's are sent there, and you're right. The hospital is 4 months old, and at a meeting yesterday, we were told that an icu is in the future plans.