SecondGenRN

trekfan, the triage nurse assesses each patient and decides who needs to be seen first. Although someone may appear healthy or sick to you the nurse may have found something different after triaging them. Please trust their judgement:) Also if many sick people are in the waiting room waiting to be seen that usually means that even sicker people are inside the department.

Last time I checked, I don't put in central lines personally. If the ER doc or intensivist wants to I'm more than happy to set up. HOWEVER, I will not take credit for a central line not being put in because the ER doc didnt have time and the intensivist saw the patient for only 5 minutes. Take it up with them.

Favourite: cardiac and/or shock Hate: strokes

I started in the ER part time as a new grad... best thing I ever did, I recently took a full time position in critical care but plan to return to emergency when a job opens up

It sounds like your manager is thinking about her own staffing issues and not your career. I too am a new grad, I started working in the emergency department part time in Jaunary of this year. A full-time critical care/ emergency position became available last month. I was torn on what to do (as I LOVE ER) and discussed it with my manager. She said that she would be sad to lose me but that it would be better for both my career and my home life (benefits for my daughter). She also said that she would be happy to have me return when I was able to get full time in straight ER. You need to think about yourself and you career/learning needs. I plan to return to the ER eventually but this new position in critical care will make me a much better nurse than I am now. If the new position will help your future career than TRANSFER! If your manager was supportive she would tell you the same

Very very sorry to hear about your brother... I think most of the frustrations ER nurses feel is because we are not equipped to properly care for these pts. In my hospital, we have two psych rooms, pts may have to stay there for up to 3 days before getting a bed. It is frustrating to have a pt stuck in a small room, not allowed to leave (if formed) and not have the time to sit with them, it doesn't feel like you're helping them at all!

It seems we too are having an increase in psych admissions... our psych dept is closing 7 beds though... good times ahead for the ER!

Perhaps thinkertdm and PhoenixTech can sit in ER waiting rooms across the country and force pts to stay until they are seen...

Where were the guardian's/ people who brought the child in?? They would be the one's responsible for the child IMO. It the pt is an adult and is not in the WR when we call, we simply move on to the next pt. We call the pt 2 more times, if no response they are discharged as LWBS... you can't chain people to their chairs as a side note, when a person is triaged and the c/o is self harm/suicidal or similar c/o we get them into a room or crisis room immediately

Hi all! There are so many threads on here about new grads being stressed and frustrated about their careers that I wanted to start a thread from a different angle. I love my job! I am a new grad who got hired in the ER right away and I have had the best experience that I could hope for. I had an amazing mentor who was supportive and encouraged me to figure things out on my own (which was really helpful once I was done orientation), I work with an amazing groups of nurses who are competent, caring and have a great sense of teamwork. I actually look forward to going into work. Of course there are frustrating days, pts and situations and I have cried once or twice but I really love my job and want to hear other people feeling the same way? I know I am still in the honeymoon phase lol but can anyone else tell me what they love about emergency nursing in general or their place of work/coworkers??

We have 4 IV tray's where I work. Each is stocked with cotton swabs, alcohol swabs, saline locks, syringes, tourniquets and various sized angios... we grab the kit by the handle, walk in pt room, start IV, return IV tray to nursing station... very easy for all... we all restock the trays from the main stock cart if we have a few seconds extra... works well and no emesis basins needed

If you work in the emergency department, don't speak the phrase "you know what I've never seen? A (insert trauma here)" Not only will you see it within 10 minutes but you will be forever blamed for causing said trauma lol

ok I always pronounced it meh-TOE-pro-lol people I work with say it meh-TAW-prolol glad its not just me

And here I thought that only happened on Grey's Anatomy!

and here I thought I was the only one! It also happens frequently with my stethescope that I keep in my pocket... doorhandles and bedrails

Interesting... thanks for the reply

Hey Lunah Yes Im still in orientation for a couple more weeks. I pretty much do my own thing at this point and use my mentor when I need help with certain judgement calls or prodecures I haven't done yet... Definitely good to know that I have a few months left before I should start being hard on myself lol. And Larry, they try to get in float nurses to come in and care for as many of the admitted's as possible but there's never enough floats to care for all of them (admitted pts are a big prob here). Thanks again to everyone for your replies :) Think I was just feeling a little down about the day, today was a great day though!

Me to pt sitting in triage: "Have you had any surguries?" Pt: "Yes, I had a hysterectomy 5 years ago" Me: OK. "So when was your last period?" Pt: "Oh about 5 years ago" lol

Then there's the always famous "oxygen stats"

Hi everyone:) I am a smoker too. Have been smoking since I was 13 years old (now 28). My longest period no smoking was when I had my daughter (quit for 14 months). I wish I hadn't started again! My most recent attempt was last summer when I quit for 3 months. I am planning on making another one after Im settled into my new job. I hate the fact that I smoke so much, I stink, its expensive, I'm setting a TERRIBLE example for my daughter. If she ever started it would break my heart. But like an addict, I love smoking too. One day, I will be proud to call myself a non-smoker :)

Thanks for the replies:) I will definitely stick it out, I'm not a quitter! Besides, ER is my happy place :)

I'm guilty of this one! I'm very picky with punctuation when writing by hand but I think I've picked up some bad habits with IM!

Hi there:) I realise this is a very old thread, but I had a quick question about ET meds... I was taught that the acronym for ET meds was NAVEL Narcan Atropine Vasopressin Epinephrine Lidocaine Is the other list an older version? I just took ACLS for the first time last month so I'm not familiar with the older standards

lol! and yes your vs you're drives me crazy!

Well apparently I'm backwards! I've been doing this about a month and a half now. I can almost always get one in anywhere from the hand to an inch below the ac... For some reason, I can't get one in the ac for the life of me! The "easiest" place and I've never successfully inserted one, don't know what my problem is lol Oh well, practice practice practice right?