Need advice - new to ER, major anxiety

Specialties Emergency

Published

Hello everyone!

I just transferred to ER after spending 2 years on a very difficult med-surg unit. I have some great experience as a floor nurse, I handle well all kinds of stress, people and emergent situations.

For some reason I feel EXTREMELY insecure about going to work in ED, I feel like I will not know what to do and will fail. I don't know if all of this is brought on by leaving comfort zone and meeting new people.

I have no real reason to feel this way, although sometimes I do make really stupid choices when the obvious is right in front of me. In med-surg, I felt very confident and my patients were very well take care of.

There was not one incident when I missed something or when my patient ended up going to the unit because I did not do something for that patient.

I was a resource for others for telemetry, IV therapy and emergencies, did charge nursing on weekends on a 46 bed unit with 4 stepdown beds.

Now I feel like I need to learn everything all over again in the ER.

If anyone has any suggestions please tell me your thoughts.

Thanks!!

Nat

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
I had 3 days of general hospital orientation, started on the floor in ED March 15, 1 wk on days, 2 wks on midnights, and am starting my 4th wk on afternoons. So so far 7wks. They wanted to pull me out of orientation 3 wks ago, and I told them "no I'm not ready". Feel alot more comfortable now, have been pretty much doing my own thing for about the last wk and half.

7 wks orientation, OMG.

Times have changed

1 day orientation for me

Saw my preceptor in the morning for 15 min. got a tour and quick intro ti paperwork. Saw her again 11 1/2 hrs later. She asked if I killed anybody. I said no. She said I passed orientation. And congratulations

Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.
1 day orientation for me

Saw my preceptor in the morning for 15 min. got a tour and quick intro ti paperwork. Saw her again 11 1/2 hrs later. She asked if I killed anybody. I said no. She said I passed orientation. And congratulations

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Specializes in Cardiac, Med-Surg, now in ED.
7 wks orientation, OMG.

Times have changed

1 day orientation for me

Saw my preceptor in the morning for 15 min. got a tour and quick intro ti paperwork. Saw her again 11 1/2 hrs later. She asked if I killed anybody. I said no. She said I passed orientation. And congratulations

Soo sorry if it took me too long. I did not feel ready, so thats what i told them. I wanted to be totally comfortable before I went out on my own. workin midnights, in a new position, new facility, and no ER experience seemed kind of scary to me. Not anymore, now that I'm more familiar with the procedures, meds, txs and docs. Still have a few questions, but experience will hlep. My greatest prob right now is triage. (I've decided I hate it!)

Specializes in ER, Pedi ER, Trauma, Clinical Education.

Have you ever read The House of God? If not, read it. It is a great book about the medical profession. But one of the things it says in there is: "Rule Number one in a code, check your own pulse first!" Which is a long way of saying, relax, take a deep breath, and take things one step at a time.

There are a lot of things that we have to know and be able to pull them out of our hats at a moments notice, which does take some time to become accustomed to. Also, just realize that there is no true organization to our day. We never know what is coming in our door in 30 seconds, so there is no way that we can completely plan our day out and know exactly what to expect from our day. So, keep that in mind and just go with the flow. Also, go to as many CE classes that you can. This will help you stay up to speed as to what is going on in Emergency Medicine, as well as provide a means of repetition for the things you already know. That way it will become second nature to you in no time!

Remember when you first started on your med/surg floor? I am sure you felt a bit awkward and not completely confident in your abilities. That is a universality of starting ANY job, not just nursing. You are at an advantage in that you already now how to be a nurse. All you have to do is just learn a different method of delivering your nursing care. Before you know it, you will be back to being the one everyone comes to.

Like everyone else has said, take a deep breath, jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride. I wouldn't work anywhere else but the ER. And there was a recent study published that ER nurses have the highest rating of job satisfaction, so you are moving to one of the greatest areas of nursing!

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