bopps

Yes, I frequently dream about work. Some are funny, some frusterating, and most often all are stressful! I also have sleep terrors since starting working in the ED 3 years ago. Sometimes, I wake up to hear my self shouting in my sweet boyfriend's arms. He pats my back untill I wake up. Other than that I am a healthy normal person. I just figure it is a "side effect" from working in a stressful enviroment, as well as from working nights.

that is unsafe and if i would be looking for another ED job somewhere else. as a new grad myself i can understand what u are going through. the max patient load i have had though is 7 at one time in the ED and i felt unsafe. there are other EDs out there dont put up with that u will burn out.

1. I became a nurse so that I could use my brains and heart to help people and get payed at the same time! 2. My education was an excelerated RN program that I finished in a little over two years. It was very stressful for me. I took at least 17 credits every semester, did clinicals, and worked evenings and weekends to pay my way through school. However it was worth it! 3. Classes included A&P, Chem, Microbiology, Psychology, and varied and sundry nursing classes including but not limited to Fundimentals of Nursing, Peds, OB, and critical care. 4. Yes , yes and yes! But again it was worth it. You need to be very dedicated to finishing and staying focused since all nursing programs have GPA requirements. 5. I'm an ER nurse so every day is different. Exciting and very challenging. 6. I feel good, but there is frusteration involved too. People aren't always very nice especially when they don't feel good. And people die! 7. Yes life is stressful. Stress is a part of life though!

All of the above and All are very competitive positions all require you to have a minimum of 2-5 years of in hospital ICU or ER nursing experience. And all want you to be a team player. I've researched this quite a bit cause its my career goal. Good luck!

Okay! Be confident Develop a thick skin if you don't have one already, you will need it Take care of yourself and finally "IF NOTHING ELSE STAY CALM" Good luck Have fun!

Yes happy EMERGENCY NURSES WEEK! We got pizza from the doc's, good pizza not the cardboard stuff. Free cute little pocket travel CPR masks, and a giant colorful poster celebrating ER Nurses week in the back corner by the break room where none of the pt's can see it! Sorry for you in the pit. Hugs to you, and we are all freakin awesome!:monkeydance:

No, you are right. I am a new nurse and things like this bug me too! I worked my rear end off to become a nurse. I earned that title. There is no shame in being a EMT paramedic. If that is what you are than you are not a nurse period. You worked hard to become a Paramedic, call yourself one! It really annoys me when people call their family members who are CNA's QMA's or MA's nurses when they are not. If you didn't take the NCLEX RN or the NCLEX LPN you are not a nurse PERIOD!

I agree alot of it is cultural. My family drilled into my head respect, honor, dignity, and the code,"love your neighbor as yourself." As a result of this training, this emersion of accepptance, nonpredjeduceness and love I have always thought of myself as a very easy-going nonviolence prone person. I am even a staunch pacifist! However after working as a nurse in the high stress enviroment I do, I find myself prone to road rage, sleep disturbances, and relationship difficulties. I chalk it off to stress and sleep deprivation, and I pray I will not let it destroy my life as it has some of my coworkers. We nurses are human beings. We can only take so much. Taking time for ourselves in out personal lives is essential. I find working out, sleeping, and spending some quality time with my family helps me get control. I know there are spelling errors in this posting.

yes! graduated in april and am still saying duh!! my coworkers tell me "don't beat yourself up so much!" but i still find myself feeling much like duh new blond nurse!

What does it mean to be a nurse... Being a nurse means being able to see aspects of the human nature few other people are priviledged to see And being able to help those people through those hard confusing times Even if it doesn't feel like you are making any difference at the time when tears and pain are falling all around you and you feel as if you will fall apart if you take even a small breath you are able to reach through the confusion and touch your patient or his grieving family and tell them this is what is happening we are doing the best we can this is what being a nurse means to me. "Just let me hold you while you're falling apart."- Rob Thomas

I have the latest one. Since I passed the class i no longer need it. I think mine is copywrited 2007 just took the class in august. Send me a PM if you are interested let me know and ill mail it to you!!

I saw a lady in church this morning in scrubs. She looked clean, professional, and sharp so I am assuming she is a nurse! I think she was hitting a worship service before going to work. I didn't get a chance to talk to her so who knows. I didn't find it offensive at all.

Its up to you really. I would focus on becoming an critical care RN first cause thats what you will have to be first for at least 2 years before CRNA schools will even accept you. You can still make very good $$ doing that. I guess I would discourage you from making that decision before you have even tried nursing. Being a CRNA is an awesome job( and one I have and am considering mysef), but can you tell you want to be one with out observing RN's and CRNA at work first? It really isn't all about the $$ there are other jobs one can find that pay 150K a year without the specialized knowledge and stress associated. In other words you really have to know your stuff and enjoy your stuff if you are going to be a CRNA. I don't think thats something you can base a decision on ahead of time. I'm not trying to discourage you at all. What would I advise? Spend some time shadowing RN's in critical care areas and time shadowing CRNA's first. Then if you think you like it get your BSN, work as a RN in critical care ICU ED etc and go from there. Thats what im doing! Good luck and remember regular RN's make good $$$, have fun, and use their brain too!

I like this personal thread! Great idea. I always, always take a nice long shower before work. I am paranoid about being clean for work. I must confess I don't shower right away when I come home, but I always change out of my dirty scrubs right away. I wash my hands/arms very thoroughly before I leave work. And shoes off, yuck!! I hardly ever get sick(although I am sick right now!). And, I do work in a busy ED, too. If I've had a odiferous bodily fluid filled day you can bet I hit the shower running, though!!

Aww Tazzi, From your posts you seen to be a put together RN, girl!! (((((hugs))))) going your way. Is there any way you can take a temp. sabatical from life while you are waiting for results? Like how about checking yourself into a motel with some good movies and friends. Or when all else fails .....a box of chocolates?? Waiting is so hard!! I recently went through a small waiting process for my job and I was a nervous wreck so I hear you.. Good luck! Prayers! Bopps

10/10, but I am a new nurse, and I am passionate about the area I work in, Emergency. There is something oddly invigorating about helping to dance the fragile line between life and death that overshadows the more ordinary and exhausting aspects of emergency nursing for me. What makes it that high of a rating? * I need to use my gut feeling and my brain every single second * Its challenging. I love that since I am a very competative person * Its always different. I can't come to work and say I know whats going to happen, because there is no pattern to chaos. * I really do feel as if I am making a difference (at least most of the time). * I am never bored at work. * I get to help people and get paid for it too,that brings me joy * I like only having to work 3 days a week. * I like the option being able to specialize in other nursing areas and the flexibilty of being able to work anywhere in the US if I so chose. Ok, now here are some aspects of nursing I don't like. I need to list these so you guys won't think I'm just a nieve newbie. * Complaining coworkers. I Know one finds these everywhere, but everytime I work with one or some it really brings down my moral. So your life sucks and you have to work, deal with it. *Not being respected. Nurses aren't always very respected by the general public. While that does discourage me, it also motivates to be very educated and professional when interacting with every single one of my patients. I refuse to allow other medical professionals to debase me either. *Getting mandated. I think this is unsafe. However this is changing is some states so hopefully mine will be next. All of these points aside,I am also working on furthering my career already. I am going to go to school part time again starting in the fall. I need to have other Nursing options open because I get bored easily so I need to be able to have other doors open for and when that time comes.

Nice dig! I could just let this slide......but that comment brings out the evil ER nurse in me! I do know how to spell, however typing is another story. Whooooppss i madeee aaa speillling mictak wundir how i made it throg nerzing scul. Hmmm whoes bein judmintal now? Gues i kint spull cause i dunt match du free wurds uzed to assis spullin on allnurzes! How do ya now my computeeer wasnut workin. Guz ye jist assummed i didn't meet ur staendards. I will work on my typing and proofreading skills. I sure want to be seen as a professional.

wait i have a feeling im going to get flamed so i guess ill go down in flames! I want you all to realize I am in no way condoning what happened to that poor pt. Its horrible, pathetic, and just plain sad. However I don't think we know the real story. Lets face it can anyone know what really happened unless they were really there? The media always(and yes i am generalizing) blows things way out of proportion. So what do we know? What really did happen that horrid night? There are always 2 sides to every story and unfortunately we will never hear the patients side. I think her death speaks louder than words. All im asking is for the pointing fingers to stop. All of you who can't stand us sorry ED nurses may some day find yourself looking up into our eyes. I pray to God it is a good experience for you. I would be proud to help you.

Sorry for the spelling errors in the above post. I really do know how to spell.

Not. We have a incredably frequent flyer . She came in one day with an MI. Due to use NOT throwing away our assessment skills and not judging her even though she sometimes comes in 2x a wk and in lower income etc.-We listened to her AND SAVED HER LIVE. And yes she still visits us frequently for minor cc especially on holidays. This is not an isolated incident. Thats what makes ED nursing such an art form YOU CANT EVER KNOW WHAT IS WRONG. Because the minute you do that something will bit you in the rear badly and people will sufer. Sorry, i work in a busy ED. Im in the enviroment. I am sorry for the aparently horrible experiences you have suffered during your ED visits.Whatever you have experienced, please note it is unfair to judge us all. Thats called generalizing and I was taught NEVER to do that in nursing school.

okay two posts in a row. Perhaps we as ED nurses should learn spanish. Too many of out patients do not understand english and this presents a major barrier to safe and effective care. I do not get the comments regarding the poor not recieving appropriate care either. We see more "poor" people in the ED than "rich" people on a day-to-day basis. Everyone recieves unbiased treatment.

I am sorry but i really take offense to the comments regarding ER nurses. Someone blatently said,"ER nurses could because they are judgemental." As an ED nurse i am really disturbed by that comment. That would never ever ever ever happen in the busy ED i work in. Even the most hardened nurse I work with with never ever ever ever leave a pt. writhing in pain on the floor. Is that just my ER ? I think not. Who knows what really happened. Now is not the time to point fingers at our fellow nurses. Now is the time to stand up and figure out what REALLY happened and not ever ever let something like that happen again.

First of all congrats with landing such a cool job! The things you are seeing and learning now are going to help you be a really great nurse in the long run. I think some of the anxiety will dissipate once you are more "used to" your new work enviroment. One thing you can do is keep a little log of new things you see at work. Write about the new things/procedures you observe down when you get home, and write your questions down too. Then go running or something to wind down afterwards. Try to learn as much as you can but take it slowly! If you are like me.... you won't feel as anxious about all these new processes once you know more about them. Keep you eyes and mind wide open and ask questions. Things will get better with time. Just think how much info your senses are getting bombarded with right now. Good luck and best wishes! -bopps

Pain is 100% what the patient says, and under no circumstances should a nurse withhold a pain medication order. However the nurse should be aware that confused people exist who do abuse the system. One case stands out in my mind. The young man presented with acute CP, he informed us he was a cancer patient from out-of-town. His head was bald and he stated he was either VRI or MRSA resistant(I can't remember which one). My fellow ED nurses were quick in getting him back to a isolated Trauma room. He was promptly wired to an EKG and a line was started to administer meds through. The docter wanted to hold off on the pain meds though......He called the Pt's M.D, and found out that the young man was not a cancer pt. in any way shape or form. So the cancer story was a farce but was his CP? The ekg was fine-the doctor refused to give him any medication, and gave him a thorough lecture. The pt.left a few minutes after that. Too bad for him, he was minutes away from recieving his coveted Morphine. He had a drug seeking history as well. So should we as health care professional's help support an addiction? Absolutely not? However we can't stereotype anybody either. That's what makes nursing such an art form. One has to think critically not judgementally or nievely. And we always have to work as patient advicates to assure our patient's comfort.

wow, that made me cry.....guess im sentimental. Powerful stuff. thanks for sharing