I'm proud of you, FERN.

[bebbercorn]

Today, for a moment, I stepped out of my role as ED nurse. I stood, watching two nurses do amazing work. We don't hear it often enough. And if I said it out loud, these nurses would have laughed in my face. But I stood in amazement, as two nurses with limited resources managed this pt with excellence.

As ED nurses, you are rushed, kicked, spat at, hated by nurses everywhere else in the hospital, blamed for what you didn't have the resources to get done... You make miracles happen when you don't have the staff/med/equipment you need. You are seen as uncaring by patients and their families. You can deliver a baby in one room, lose a patient in another, and still manage to keep it together to give appropriate care to the stubbed toe in the next room over. You never have enough staff to do everything we want to do for our patients. You have guilt about not having time to hear the stories our geriatric patients so desperately want to tell. You feel guilty about leaving unfinished tasks for the next nurse.

And you keep coming back for more. So, hey FERN, you are awesome. Just thought you'd like to hear it.

-Another FANTASTIC ER Nurse!

[MassED, BSN, RN]

I really take offense with the term "FERN." It's a horribly derogatory term coming from other nurses outside of the ER that don't understand what we do. I first heard of this working in my current hospital where floor nurses use this term. It is never meant in a kind way.

Having written that, I do agree with what you wrote, beyond the "FERN."

[bebbercorn]

Thanks, mass ED! I didn't mean to use the term in the derogatory sense What I was trying to get across was that the F in FERN for me, means fabulous, fantastic... but I agree with you and think that a different title would have been more appropriate. (Blush).

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

Thank you for your kind words. I needed to hear them today.