EDNurse13

Confession : I suck at placing NG tubes. My son has had to have a lot of NG tubes placed over the years so I get very nervous when I hear the word NG tube (have held him down through many an unpleasant placement and it just makes me antsy to even think about). Any other procedure I am fine with but for some reason NGT just make me nervous ... I think I am just too delicate about it, I have a really hard time advancing them and then have another nurse come in behind me and shove it down with no problems. Any tips? I have attempted to place maybe 5 in my career - 2 successfully, 1 successfully but caught a blood vessel on the way in and ended up with some very hard to control bleeding as a result but recently moved to the ED so anticipate having to master this skill some time soon. Thank you ...

If you can't find one right away there are a lot of benefits to that med-surg year. I took a rehab job out of school - not what I wanted but it paid the bills. As soon as I could I took a med-surg job and stayed for two years before moving to the ED. I had wanted to go to the ED as a new grad but am actually really glad I got that med-surg time. I learned a lot about prioritizing, doing a head-to-toe assessment fast, talking to doctors, starting IVs, giving an SBAR report, dealing with demanding patients etc. It is all stuff I could have learned in the ED but am glad that I do not have to learn that stuff now and can concentrate on learning the more ED specific stuff. I am orienting with a large group of new grads and it seems very very overwhelming for most of them as they try to learn how to prioritize at the same time as learning how to handle a critical patient and do an ABG and insert an IV etc. By all means chase your dream and good luck to you but if it comes down to a med-surg job or no job there are some positives to it!

Hello all I am one month into orientation at a busy ED. Pediatrics scares me, not sure why but it is a big fear of mine - I have kids of my own but have never worked pediatrics so I find it a little scary. I am taking PALs next month. My hospital offers TNCC and I asked about ENPC and was told they didn't offer it since it is basically the same as PALS. There is a course available in April an hour away - I would be paying out of pocket for it and taking PTO days to do it - so I wanted to see if anyone who took both PALS and ENPC thought it was worthwhile? If it is I am happy to pay for it and drive there but if it really is very similar to PALS I might give it a miss. Thank you

I was offered a job in the ED and transfer in 6 weeks. I am VERY excited, I did my externship in an ED in Nursing school and worked as an EMT for a little while as well - I applied for the ED when I graduated school and again a year later so I am excited to be making the move. Since Nursing school I spent a year working as a rehab nurse and then two years on a neuro floor ... I am a little intimidated by the vast knowledge deficit I think I have going into this new environment, I have done a LOT of neuro but not much else. Any advice on what to brush up on ? Where to go to do some reading? Thank you