is nursing one big 12-hour adrenaline rush??

[feelnopain]

Hi, everyone,

There are many things about nursing that appeal to me, and yes there are a couple of things that give me pause. My question for now is, how many times, on average and per week, do you experience a code?

My question is geared first toward med-surg nurses but I'd love a smattering of fields to respond; just let me know what your area is.

Basically, I'm wondering if nursing is constant headache/heartache/adrenaline rush. Do you respond to codes on a daily basis and if so, how often per day?

How did you feel before you starting nursing about having someone's life in your hands?

Thank you SO very much for your responses; I really appreciate it.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

HA HA HA HA HA. You've been watching too much TV. Everyone running around with their 'hair on fire', saving lives like crazy. . . but it does make for great drama. But assuming that this is a normal state is like believeing that airline staff are dealing with emergency landings on a regular basis.

My background is in Critical Care & 'codes' are rare. Body systems are very closely monitored so there is usually plenty of advance warning when something is going South. There are standing emergency protocols that kick in, but full-blown codes should be rare if nurses are on the ball. On MedSurg units, Rapid Response is taking the place (thank goodness) of calling Codes - always much better to prevent than to try to correct afterward.

Maybe EDs are still an area that is very code oriented? If adrenaline is what you're seeking, maybe you need to look more toward a first-responder type job -- paramedic, EMT, police officer, etc.

[niculonghornrn]

I don't have much experience as a nurse yet because I just graduated, but I've done my share of clinicals and have worked with dietary departments and as a nurse tech for a few years now, and while the days sometimes can be CHALLENGING, they're not necessarily "heart pumping" like on TV. The only place that I ever hear much for codes is in ER, other than that rarely. You can get into calmer aspects of nursing or you can get into critical areas of nursing, it's entirely up to what you like.

[feelnopain]

thank you very much for the responses. let me assure you, an adrenaline rush is NOT, lol, what i am looking for...at all. that seems like it would be a nightmare. i asked because, after reading so many of the posts on this site, well, nursing seems almost too difficult to handle, and i, yes admittedly, was imagining nurses running around like crazy, not being able to even go to the bathroom, running from emergency to emergency...i know...it's silly, but i have been worried.

[RevolutioN2013]

This is an old thread but I wanted to ask a question. I'm taking pre-req classes now in order to transition into nursing as a second career. I've been watching the Discovery Health show "Trauma: Life in the ER" in an effort to sort of try and put myself in the headspace that I might experience one day in that forum. I watch the show and my heart rate goes up and I get tense. It's like I am having a physiological response to my emotional response to the fact that these people have had serious and possibly life-threatening injuries. It is actually uncomfortable for me to watch the show for a whole episode because it's just this sustained feeling of tension. Am I just weird? When you first started nursing were you constantly stressed over the enormity of being responsible for helping the people? Does it help when you can actually MOVE and DO instead of just watching it on the tv? I feel like such a dummy asking this question, because who gets stressed over watching a tv, but the feelings are real and I feel like I need to know that I will be able to evolve past them if I am going to be able to work on the floor. I hope to get a CNA position on the weekend night shift at the hospital I finish my CNA class in March so it will not be so long before I'm in that environment. Any advice for me? Thank you!