ERRN1028

JennB03- I left the ER when I moved away from my home town to a big inner city ER, in Memphis TN. I started working at the chartiy hosp here. The ER was crowded with patients on crack, drugs, magets, uncompliant seizure patients, gunshot wounds after gunshot wounds, I cryed everday I left work, just horrible 12 hours shifts. I finally left when 3 nurses got beat up by patients, I didn't want to be one of those nurses, felt it was more nsafe to work, so the next job I sought was far away from crazy adults. I think I made a great choice, I'll never go back. I'm sticking with the kids, more challenging and I look forward to going to work. Thanks for asking ! p.s the ER I worked at in the community hosp was wonderful true ER patients and I actually saved lives etc. there.

I worked ER for 3 years (absolutely loved it) I started out as a new grad there, wouldn't trade that exp for anything. About 40% of the patients are not truely ER patients-does get abused alot (I worked community and charity hosps in the ED) Now I work PICU 1 year now, love it way more, i know that every patient I have in PICU really needs to be there and is sick. Kids are very resilient and more challenging. Just amazing to work with kids and I think more rewarding. I can't tell you what to choose depends on your personality ER never stops constantly new patients, family members, some ill, some not, new IV's, procedures, Definately get lots of skills in, and you learn prioritizing and organizational skills. The ICU more laid back once you get your first assessments done, lots of reassessing, have more time to bond with patients and familys, a lot of medicines and titrating drips, monitors, ventilated patients, suctioning, post-op patient

I work in the US, tennessee PICU, and we all have 2 ventilated patients to 1 nurse, it is very rare that I come in and don't have 2 patients as my assignment. The only patients who are 1:1 are fresh from surgery post-op heart surgeries or a child who is on a lot of drips and has a very high acuity of care. We do have 3 respiratory therapists in our 22 Bed ICU, they give the breathing treatments and work with the ventilators, setting them up, doing every 6 hour checks of the vent. They are available in the ICU for extubation and codes, Ett retaping etc. Pretty much for a 12 hour shift though the nurses do the assessing and suctioning, I see them at my bedside 2 times in 12 hours. I don't really see them at all except for vent checks if my patient doesn't have any resp. treatments. Hope this gives you some insight.

short answer.... I worked w/ Adults for 3 years......Now I do PICU...Kids are way more challenging smaller, everything KG based. ...a lot more rewarding, I would recommend it ...way easier to start off in peds than go from adults to peds.... just my opinion :)

I have read all of these and I can't even imagine........ sometimes I joke and say that its a wonder we function as nurses, with the little bit of knowledge we walk away from nursing school with. but my god, I pray for my safety one day when I am a patient. I hope I have a nurse like me......ANAL, VERY CAUTIOUS, TAKE MY JOB SERIOUSLY, & ANAL RETENTIVE SOME MORE. KUDOS....to all of the nurses who CARE enough to seek/learned/do the proper way of nursing practice. :)

I went from 3 years of Adult Emergency Room to PICU, the ICU setting will probably be somewhat the same atmosphere for you,(vents, ICP monitors, mixing drips, lots of Invasive lines)... but I can tell you that from experience, children are a very different world than the adult world. I'm not the best person to get the advice from but i was in the same shoes you are when I switched. Hard to explain but kids are really different to adjust to, everything is Kg based, they have o2 sat issues( RSV kids drop to 70's and bounce back fast) just freaky and hard to get used to when an SPO2 of 70 in an adult is bad. Anyways..hope it helped ..but I love the PICU and don't plan to go back to adults any time soon

North Mississippi, is 3 minutes away from memphis, TN I live on the STATE line, takes me less than 30 min to get to work. I love it ! :)

i didn't say I had stench.....you took it the wrong way. I shave for other reasons...husbands preference.....just meaning that posters with opinions don't need to be really rude about it !

I have shaved for 10 years now, and its not as SICK as you think. I think having one more place to have needless hair and stench is GROSS........Do you shave your legs...armpits...enough said. Please don't try and offend people ...all you have to say is no I don't agree........... :angryfire

squeezit BubbleFace...... :chuckle

~ My tongue itches........(hello do you think we have a miracle pill?) .....................................some people.

~ My tongue itches........(hello do you think we have a miracle pill?) .....................................some people.

Thank you for the idea, that is a great idea and gives me a lot of room to work with it. I will definately submit that project and start working on it thank you so much !! :) :)

I went to phlebotomy school while waiting for RN school, It gave me a job, really good practice with patients, sticking for blood, learned the hospital routine, got to know people and established my self in the hosp. system. I HIGHLY recommend it ,best thing I ever did, while waiting to get in school. good luck to you.:)

My favorite~ ":rotfl: I fought the wall and the wall won" (hit a wall~broken hand) I used to save the complaint part of the slip for fun, but then I thought I might go to hell for making fun...haha