Wendy_RN

Hopefully you will hear something soon. Did you follow up with a thank you letter after the interview? I would follow up with the ED manager re: the status of the positions. You want her to remember your name when it comes time to make the hiring decision. I went from tele to ED and I absolutely love it! I have definitely found my niche in nursing. The best advice I can give you that really determines your attitude is don't be influenced by other's negativity. You will encounter a lot of "repeat visitors" and you will hear lots of comments about them. Just remember, while some are merely drug seekers, some have valid issues and regardless, their visits do pay your salary. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out for you!

Our techs transport patients to the floor unless it is to ICU/CCU. If an ICU/CCU patient is admitted a RN has to transport the patient.

A schedule that one person may deem as "good" would be a horrible schedule to someone else. Don't get too caught up in the scheduling at this point. I made myself miserable worrying about what schedule I would be working, weekends, holidays, etc. In my previous job I worked 3 12's, 7A-7, no weekends. I was not happy there. I now work 11A-11P and every 3rd weekend. I love it. The big difference is I am where I want to be and I love my coworkers. The schedule was simply not worth it for me. I would rather be happy with my unit and coworkers. That makes all the difference in the world.

I understand your frustration. I experienced this as a new grad. I did speak up and ask for 3 12's, and in my case it was a mistake. The unit manager had no problem with it. The issue came in with preceptors. The preceptor I would have had was wonderful. I ended up with her only a few days, and the rest of the time I was shuffled around. There was no consistency. I wish I had just worked the preceptor's schedule and made the best of it. If you are scheduled to work with a good preceptor then I would just do the best I could with her schedule. Orientation is not forever and you do need a good orientation. It makes a huge difference!

There are so many ridiculous reasons people go to the ER for that it is hard for me to choose. I guess one of the most recent ones is the family of four that chose to come in to be checked for MRSA. They had heard it mentioned on the news so they just thought they would "get checked out."

I wish report could always go well. Unfortunately, someone will always say you give too little or too much info. I have had to tell a nurse, "You really need to listen to what I am telling you." Of course she did not like it very much, but what I was trying to tell her was important. Hopefully she will not respond to you in that manner in the future.

I always get vital signs first when I am in triage. I can do that at the same time the patient is telling me why they came into the ER. Vital signs are labeled such for a reason. I think the ER where I work does a great job of triaging the patients. Registration only sees the patients for a brief moment and then they are triaged. The registration process is actually completed after the person has been moved into a treatment room or has already been seen.

I absolutely love ER nursing! I work with a great group of nurses, techs, and physicians. We are one big family. The teamwork is awesome. I always know there is someone there to help me if I need it, and I am definitely there to help the others. I love a challenge, and the ER offers plenty of those. I get to use my critical thinking skills and continually learn. The ER offers lots of autonomy, which is truly an amazing thing. I like the fact that I never know what type of patient I will be seeing next. If you work 3 straight shifts on the floor you pretty much know that you will at least have some of your patients multiple days. Not in the ER. It is never the same. (although you do have frequent flyers) The ER is just a totally different world than any other type of nursing and I can't imagine doing anything else.

I have worked as a floor nurse also, so I understand both sides. I had a patient admitted to the floor on Tuesday. I called the floor numerous times to attempt to give report. This began before lunch. The RN kept refusing to take report when I called. One of the ER physicians finally stepped in at 3pm and the RN accepted the patient. We don't hold patients in the ER. It only ties up our rooms and keeps other patients waiting to be seen. It seems that everything is about numbers these days and it certainly does not look good when a patient spends several additional hours in the ER waiting to be admitted.

It is not just the hospital where I work that does it this way. I don't know of any hospital around here that is organized the way you are describing. As I said in a prior post, the registration clerks are only getting the person's name, dob, and c/o. There is a RN at triage that is adjacent to the registration desk. JCAHO has been at our facility recently and we are compliant. Patient's do not sit in a waiting room with the medical staff unaware of their condition.

I understand what you are saying, BUT that is not how it is done at any of the hospitals I am familiar with. A RN triages the patients, but the registration clerk is the first person to see them.

I work in NC and that is not the way triage is in any of the hospitals that I am familiar with. Registration clerks are the first to see the patients. They only get the basic info, name, dob, c/o, and then the patients are sent to triage. The clerks always call for a RN if they feel the situation warrants. If anything, they call at times when the patient could wait, but they know when they are unsure that they are to call for help. This works well for our busy ER.

Do not form your opinion of hospital nursing until you have had a chance to experience it for yourself. We are all different, and of course not all hospitals have the same atmosphere. Your coworkers make all the difference in the world. As a new grad, I went to work on a telemetry unit. I worked in a toxic environment and was miserable. I work in the ER at another hospital now and I absolutely love it. At this point I cannot imaging doing anything else. You will find your niche in nursing. Sometimes you have to follow your heart, not the opinions of others. Just because something was good/bad for someone else does not mean you will have the same experience.

You may not always like the answers you receive when you ask a question or post a debatable topic, but you can always count on honest and sincere responses. I love this board and am thankful for its existance. The information found here is invaluable.

I have recently been on the other side of this issue. My grandmother-in-law was transported to the ED last Wednesday and passed away on Thursday. I did not tell them that I am a nurse because I did not want the staff to think I was criticizing their every move. Of course, this is partly because a distant relative of my husband is a nurse and she was a total witch to the staff and disagreed with everything thing said or done. I certainly did not want to be viewed as she was. I have had nurses as patients and I have really enjoyed taking care of them. It is nice to hear stories from some of the former nurses because they have such a wealth of knowlege.