New Unit Secretary - Children's ER

[indygirl14]

I'm a former EMT-B (license has lapsed) that just received an offer letter to the local Children's Hospital ER as a Unit Secretary, starting orientation/training in a few weeks.

Any advice from the ER nurses here? I'm working on my pre-reqs for nursing school and have done about 40 hours of clinical time in the local level one trauma center, so I've at least spent a sliver of time in the setting. My non-medical work has included being a senior executive assistant for a very busy COO, so I'm hoping I have a good combination of experience.

I have zero idea of what will be expected of me, but I'm super excited.

[ObtundedRN, BSN, RN]

Usually any US is responsible for entering orders and handleing incoming phone calls. They are usually a great source of info on where to find various administrative stuff around the unit, lol. They always know where those rarely used forms are.

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

I like to think of the US in the ER similar to an air traffic controller. They input all orders, know who needs labs, CT, Xray, and coordinates with CNAs to transport. They page consulting MDs, answer the phones, know where every form is.

They usually have a good idea of where the MD is, have they seen such and such paitent.

When I worked in the ED as a CNA, I would cover the US for lunches and as I became more comfortable would cover some of their shifts.

You have to be able to multi task and able to handle mulitple phone lines at once

[sweetbeet]

I was kinda in the same boat as you. I was a paralegal and was making a career change to nursing. I decided to go whole hog, quit my job at the firm and started as a US at a hospital. It's definitely the best choice. You obviously have administrative experience and that carries across well. Just remember that you can set the tone of the department. If you are calm, cool, and collected, that comes across to the nursing staff too. I always tell my nurses it is my job to facilitate for them. It has been a great learning experience and they are more than willing to explain things I may have questions with for nursing school. Good Luck!

[mmutk, BSN, RN, EMT-I]

You will learn a lot as a UC or a tech, see if you can tech some too.