ImaERtraumaRN

In our level II... ...experienced RNs get 6 weeks, new grads get 20 weeks or longer if they need it. The new grad orientation is based on ENA recommendations. New grads also have 5 hr weekly classes during the 20 week orientation specific to the ED...

Ouch. I think there are some assumptions being made in this thread that many times are just not true - at least in our ER. In our ER we do not have any control over when our patients get beds. Nobody sits around and waits to d/c patients to the flo...

A friend of mine just went to critical care transport for the same reasons. One on one, or TWO on one pt. care, no primadonna docs. They *do* transport our crackheads and other mental health patients, but there arent as many as make it into our ED ...

Once you have experienced first hand EVERY situation you can possibly encounter, THEN you feel completely comfortable. :lol2: Truly we all have questions and situations that arise that we just have never had to deal with. I have learned that "im...

While I know that the OP said that she is ashamed about this behavior, I just can't get over the fact that she just "tucked him back in" and left the room. I am quite certain that this would equate to negligence in any courtroom when considering wha...

I say listen to your instructors, your mentors and your heart. If you are someone who adapts to an environment quickly, has good organizational skills and learns quickly then a specialty area might be the way to go. You will understand that every ...

I have NEVER heard of a preceptor telling a nurse to leave during a shift and ESPECIALLY without explanation. We can only learn from our mistakes if we are told what we did and are given the opportunity to correct ourselves the next time. :angryfir...

Congrats on getting into Nursing school. It is quite the roller coaster ride but you sound dedicated and that is really what it takes. Safety is incorporated into your schooling and it becomes part of your practice as a student nurse, and should b...

Priorities are different in the ER, it takes more than a couple of days to learn the pace and to "get in the groove". Watch your preceptor and how he/she does things and in what order, but dont expect that you will have things down to a science afte...

This is an age-old problem. At our hospital we tried using faxed written reports but it seemed that something was lost in not giving a verbal report. Also, sometimes the paperwork was lost and that was a problem too. We recently went back to verba...

nope...dont think this is crazy at all...I have a few I get attached to, but I really like not taking every one of them home with me. I think if I had to care for them day in and day out I would be emotionally drained.

Of course I like knowing I'm helping people on one of (for the most part) the sickest and probably worst days of their lives. For all that I complain about the "whiners" and the "whiner's familes" I really like providing care to those who genuinely...

Appendicitis can be misdiagnosed as UTI - it depends on how the symptoms present. We do not do abdominal ultrasounds on every pt - especially if the urinalysis comes back positive and there is no other evidence of appendicitis -which I dont have muc...

OK, I do not think that critical thinking has anything to do with book smarts or street smarts - it is a combination of the two. You use your book smarts combined with your "street smarts" to assess a pt who may be going bad and decide what to do f...

ROFL! Spearfisher's account of giving shots for the first time is typical of some type of story just about every nurse has during clinicals! Mine happened when I started an infusion of Iron Dextran and forgot to hook it up-...BUT...I set the pump s...

One step further - Decorticate means you are still protecting your core, which is a GOOD thing, therefore decorticate is the BETTER of the two.

Me too! Hope she is feeling better today!

Hi there! When someone comes into the ED with a complaint we generally try to do the least invasive and cost effective tests first so that we can rule out something simple without a huge cost to the patient, use of resources in our ED and taking a ...

I think the fact that you are wanting to anticipate what is expected of you, and what to expect is a good sign that you will be an asset to your ED. I see techs and nurses who stand around and talk when we are in the middle of a post-CPR, a respira...

Yes, our hospital is doing an aggressive study on managing glucose levels in the ICU. We use something called a Glucommander. It is a laptop that is kept at the bedside. You put in MD parameters for CBG and parameters for insulin drip calc. The G...

When I was in school my classmates had to do a presentation every two weeks in our last semester. We had fun trying to outdo each other. One did a skit, another group did a jeopardy game on powerpoint. We did a video production of "what not to eat...

I love watching chest tube placements. When the surgeon digs his fingers into the hole to spread the ribs, then put the chest tube in and ...whoosh! So cool to watch, and for all the pain it causes the pt. is suddenly much more comfortable and able...

About two months ago we had a lady who came in with a maggot infestation of the lower leg - so infested the whole leg was pulsating and they were falling off - we found a few crawling in the hallway and had to call to have the room and hallway decont...

How about how to manage repeat visitors to the ED - chronic pain, etc. and treat more quickly/effectively? For that you will have to review current processes in your ED, pt populations and find ways to troubleshoot. Another issue could be security...

Today we were going through the ENA's ED orientation manual and in the written material regarding trauma to the chest there was mention of the "dorf sign". Our RN IV (the president of our local ENA chapter) who was reviewing the material asked all o...