Nursing concentration: ER

krenee · Apr 21, 2009

This is probably not helpful, but weren't you given some instruction on that? I never heard of being asked to write a paper where you aren't told what should be included! It's usually part of the grading rubric.

Best of luck!

Narges · Apr 21, 2009

all we were told was that we need a title page, table of contents, abstract, introduction to study, transitional paragraphs, and conclusion.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 21, 2009

Well, if you have free range to discuss whatever you'd like, I'd suggest writing about how the ER is used by the uninsured/underinsured as their primary health care provider. Very wasteful & very expensive from a business model perspective. Takes resources away from true emergencies yet provides job security.....

Hope.A, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2009

I work for an emergency medicine association, (on my way to going into nursing), so there are lots of issues related to the emergency department we hear about all the time. I don't have time to go into details, but here are a few things to get your research started. "EMTB2RN" had a good suggestion about discussing the uninsured. I would definitely discuss the backwards politics of "free healthcare in the Emergency room" as that just means the hospitals and physicians don't get paid at all. With everybody thinking they can just go to the ER and get whatever they need for free, pretty soon the hospitals themselves will go under. If you talk about that you will need to mention the un-funded mandate called "EMTALA." I would also discuss overcrowding, and especially Boarding in the emergency department. This causes major problems and increased mortality because the beds needed for emergency cases are being used by people who should be admitted (but can't, because there are no free beds!). Also of interest would be talking about the National Healthcare Report Card - the state of Emergency care in the nation, as well as Access to Emergency care. Look up government bills and acts, such as the Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of '07. Hope that helps you get started!!

MedicVeronica · Apr 26, 2009

I had to write a similar paper and did the history of ED nursing. Pretty interesting to do the research for it.

loricatus · Apr 26, 2009

An interesting thing about Emergency Nursing is how it differs from floor nursing. A compare and contrast paper would be a very interesting read.

The Emergency Nursing Association has a website ( http://www.ena.org) where you can get source information for your paper. This is an informative postion statement related to the Emergency nurse's scope of practice I found there http://www.ena.org/publications/scopes/ScopeEmNP.PDF

nuwbee25 · Apr 26, 2009

I had to write a paper for my senior practicum about the unit I was on which happened to be in the ER. We had to focus on a reoccuring issue seen in the ER. I chose to write about barriers to communication primarily language as a barrier. Communication barriers may lead to a poor assessment (past medical history, symptoms, current medications), a poor understanding of the discharge instructions etc.....I focused on different programs used by idfferent health care providers such as medical translators, their availability and their reliability. Are these types of programs worth investing in versus increased mortality due to the various issues revolving around communication barriers.

MobileNurseSara · Apr 27, 2009

I dont have time to read through the other posts at the moment so I'm sorry if what I say is a repeat, but I would begin by writing about the typical aggregate who is most commonly using emergency services. Obviously with ER you're probably going to get the biggest variance in demographics, but try to find some journal articles that help you identify a certain group (underprivilged, underserviced probably).

Then I'd go on to write about the types of services offered in ER and some challenges/limitations in providing them. Don't forget to discuss how to help overcome these challenges/limitations.

Talk about the RN's role and briefly about other proffesional roles typically seen in ER.

Use lots of evidence to back it up...there are several journals about Emergency medicine/nursing.

Hope this helps - good luck!

TexasER_RN · Apr 27, 2009

Well, if you have free range to discuss whatever you'd like, I'd suggest writing about how the ER is used by the uninsured/underinsured as their primary health care provider. Very wasteful & very expensive from a business model perspective. Takes resources away from true emergencies yet provides job security.....

Hear, hear and AMEN to that!!!!