ER(notso)n00b

Meth, alcohol, and MJ. 99% test positive for MJ and I've seen several accidental peds overdoses in the past few years thanks to edibles. We had a lot of spice coming through last year, but I haven't seen many recently. Heroin is on the upswing but I still see way more meth. I'm in So Cal.

In our dept, OT goes home first, followed by registry. Then volunteers, and if that doesn't get us there they force based on lowest seniority. I've only seen that happen a couple of times. Usually people are more than happy to leave a couple of hours early. I usually volunteer to go on my Friday so I can kick off my weekend sooner.

108.9 rectal. She was frying on some rave drug cocktail. Lowest was 89.3. Septic SNF pt.

I just got a brand new Cardiology III after my Master Classic II and back-up Lightweight both walked away in the span of 3 weeks. The new one is engraved in 2 places and has a dog tag hanging off of it as well. I am guarding this sucker with my life! I've heard good things about the Ultrascope, but I'm kinda nervous to change brands.

Usually the primary RN documents, since they are ultimately responsible for the patient. In a pinch anybody can do it, although when I'm the primary I prefer to document on my own patient.

Awesome! isn't it a great feeling? Glad to hear things are going well for others too. :)

Sounds normal. Give it time, you will learn a lot of new things and start to feel more competent after a few more months. I'm on month 7 in a high volume ER and I felt the way you are describing for quite a while. Things are starting to get better for me now. Ask a lot of questions when you're unsure of something, and write down the things you don't understand so you can look them up when you get home. :)

Thanks for the replies! That's what I love about this forum, that we all understand what it's like starting out and can support one another. Best of luck to you both, scaredsilly (awesome name btw!) and wayfinder! Here's to many more years of improving our skills!

I started as new grad in a very busy inner city Emergency Department in July. It's a 24 bed ER with a daily census of over 200, if that gives you any clue. Large homeless and impoverished population. Total madness. Ratio is 4:1, and they can be 4 serious/critical patients, but usually more of a mix between stable and critical. We don't usually have the staffing to go down to 2:1 when we have ICU patients, so teamwork is a must. I am a bit of an introvert so it has been a somewhat difficult transition. I've been reading this forum since I started, and I can totally sympathize with all of the "My new job gives me anxiety" posts that I see here. It's tough! Nursing school teaches you so much, but it doesn't do a good job of preparing you for the real world of nursing. The one with real responsibilities, patients circling the drain, policies that must be followed, time restraints, unsafe ratios, lying liars who lie and manipulate (drug seekers, anyone?) and office politics. Where patients hit and kick and bite (this just happened to a coworker!), and call you every name in the book. I've gone through bouts of insomnia since starting my job, and days riddled with anxiety. I've seriously thought about quitting and going back to being a stay-at-home-mom so many times. But I'm holding on for dear life, because I'm stubborn like that. And things are starting to fall into place. I'm getting to know my co-workers, so that team aspect is developing. I'm learning to filter the BS so I can focus on the really important stuff. My time management is improving A LOT, and I'm beginning to trust my judgement. I'm honing my assessment skills and starting to listen to that inner voice that says something isn't right. I feel more confident that I can handle whatever is thrown at me, especially since I know I can count on my co-workers. Those feelings of dread are going away. Sometimes I sorta look forward to going to work, wondering what kind of cool/crazy stuff I will get to see and do. I've experienced full arrests, active GI bleeds, DKA, GSWs, 5150's, STEMI's, resp. failure, and all of the standard abd. pain/CP/fractures/fevers/cough/need-a-sandwichitis's that come through our doors. And with every experience, I learn something new. I forgive myself for what I didn't know before, and vow to do better next time (I think that's an important thing to do). I wanted to share this to let people know that it does get better. Everyone says it does, and I was really wondering if that would ever happen for me, or if I just wasn't meant for this. But it truly does. I'm still such a noob with so many more things to learn, but it doesn't scare me anymore. I hope you find this same comfort in your new job.

1) Southern California 2) $38.60/hr with 10-15% night diff and an amazing benefit package (free medical! pension!) 3) New Grad 4) ER

I work mids (3-3:30) in a high volume ER. I am switching to nights in a few weeks because I hate this shift. Me and the other mid-shifters discuss this a lot - we usually end up with the worst assignments, and we run our butts off for the entire shift. The whole reason they have this shift is to have extra support during peak hours. Sometimes it slows down after about 1am, but not always.

It was hard, but doable. I was in a 2 year ADN program. When I started, my kids were 2, 4, and 6. My husband is a nurse who was working 4-5 twelve-hour shifts each week. Honestly, sometimes I don't know how we made it through. I was just super determined. Everything else in my life suffered. I didn't cook much, and my kids watched a lot of TV so I could study for exams and work on care plans. I grew apart from my old friends, but made new friends in my program. Luckily we had family close by to help with the kids. It was all worth it - I graduated and am working 3 days a week now. My husband was able to cut back to 3 days a week too, so we have more family time than ever before. But honestly, we barely survived my non-accelerated program. Doing an accelerated one would have killed us all. Take your time and try to enjoy the journey.

I got hired into an ER as a new grad after doing my preceptorship there. I discovered ER during second semester and I was hooked. I worked my tail off in nursing school and requested to precept in the ED, and was lucky enough to be the only student in my class to get it. I worked hard while precepting and it paid off because my preceptor put in a word with the Director for me. I think it you're meant to be there, you will find a way. :) Good luck!

Just a fyi, it took mine almost 2 weeks to post on BreEZe. But that seems to be on the long (and frustrating) side. Congrats!

That's the same pop up I got, and I found out today I passed! Congrats!!!