asbigham

In the ER i work i have never seen anyone use a local just for an IV. Seems kinda silly to me. I have had IV's before and its really not that painful. I dont think the lidocaine would constrict the vessels either though unless you were using lidocaine w/ epi. The epi would make the vessels constrict. The docs use the lido with epi b/c it decreases bleeding durring suturing procedures and use lido without epi when suturing things like fingers because it could stop the blood flow completely. That is how i have understood it... correct me if I'm wrong :)

Any time we are called in we make bonus pay ($3 extra for techs/secretaries/EMT's & $6 for RNs) If they need people to work bad the put us in peak bonus ($4 for techs and $10 for RNs). I work in the ED and we always make bunus on any hours we work over our scheduled hrs. I am part time to any hours over my 24hrs/wk are all bonus and they always need people so i usually work 40-60 a wk. I wouldnt work near as much if we didnt have any sort of bonus.

I am an EMT and work in the ER. Its pretty busy all the time and there have been days I have gone on 13 hrs with maybe only enough time to get some water and go to the bathroom a few times. You will be on your feet the entire time. In our ER most of what we do is: Make sure everything is stocked (trauma rooms, airway boxes, crash carts... etc.), take vitals, insert foleys, wound care, splinting, removes stitches/staples, DC IVs, run codes, EKGs, transport Pts., collect fluids for labwork and assist Dr's with certian procedures (suturing, pelvics and that sort of stuff) and we also are trained to do some of the more simple blood and lab procedures. The ER is an exciting place, you learn alot, get to see alot and can do alot more than anywhere else in the hospital as a tech. The first time you run a trauma or code is the most exciting. Its not for everyone but when i finish nursing school I want to work in the ER.

I am a nursing student but have been working as an EMT in an emergency department for a while. In the ED where I work we, as EMT's are always expected to set up for the procedure, test the equipment and make sure the doc has everything they need before they come in the room and assist them durring the exam. I am not sure if it is required that someone else be in the room durring a pelvic exam but I have never seen one of our doctors/PAs perform a pelvic exam without a witness. When male doctors perform a pelvic exam we usually try to get a female EMT to assist him but as you know in the ED, things are fast pace, sometimes hands are limited and you have to make do with what you have so if there are no females around a male will assist. I have assisted plenty of pelvic exams and it doesnt bother me but I can tell that some of the pts are not as comfortable having a male observe, oh yeah, Im a guy by the way. I had a femal doc the other day ask me to assist her in a pelvic. There was female EMT there so I told the doc I would get her to do it and the doc called me a chicken and laughed. She was just joking with me i know but if you can make a pt feel more comfortable in such a vulnerable procedure I dont see why you shouldnt atleast try. Thats my 2 cents :nuke:

Hi, my name is Avery and I live in Greensboro NC where I have lived most of my life. I'm 21 and just waiting to hear back to see what nursing school I will be going to next year. I have my EMT but work as a CNA on a neuroscience unit at Moses Cone hospital. Keeping my fingers crossed about getting into the nursing programs.