ok-rn

I think 3 is too small a number in our area! 6 would come closer!!!

An experienced nurse will wager on how high the blood alcohol is going to be, or what the drug screen is positive for while the graduate nurse is busy trying to find someplace to send the patient for rehab.

I am an RN in rural Oklahoma. I have been in ER 11 years and have seen LOTS of changes! We see on an average of 1200 a month, the most of which is on the day shift, 7A-7P. However, we staff 2 RN's each shift, around the clock. We have admissions clerks who register the patient and do all the chart break down and copying. Lab and respiratory care are in house and Xray is in house 3 nights a week(weekends). The rest of the time, they are on call and all live fairly close. We do not have a triage nurse or a ward clerk and I think we need them, especially on the day shift! Myself and another RN do all the QA and the trauma registry.

In our ER patients who do not have a physician are assigned one for admission. We have a rotating call list that we call "Dr. None". We had a brand new intern who went in to examine a Spanish speaking diabetic with no Dr. She kept asking him who his Dr. was and I finally told her, "Dr. None". Next thing I know, she is calling the operator to have Dr. NUNN paged!