12rn

I know a nurse who got pulled over for a DUI. The officer allowed him to call me to come get him. His car didn't get towed and he didn't even get a ticket. If I wasn't there, I wouldn't believe it. We live in a small town and while the officers have a good relationship with the ER nurses, these two had never crossed paths.

So I had this really long, drawn out response that I spent the better half of an hour formulating from my cell phone, only for allnurses to delete it when I went to post. Bottom line is this... It sounds like you had a really horrible experience. Whether the events of that ER visit actually happened as you recounted or not, doesn't matter. What matters is how you perceived your son's care. There were some things that are inexcusable, like a nurse wanting to give insulin IM. There are some things that are forgivable, like a nurse forgetting to bring blankets or pillows. And there are somethings that you are being unreasonable about, like being upset that you had to squeeze on the stretcher with your son to sleep. It sounds like the ER staff really dropped the ball in meeting your expectations, however, as a mother, as a member of the profession and as an employee of that hospital, I am disappointed in your inaction. If my son needed a blanket and the nurse forgot, I would kindly remind her... Again... And again... Until he got his blanket. If I watched a nurse attempt to give my son a sub Q injection IM- especially one as common as insulin- that would be it. My faith in that nurse's competence would be gone and I would be demanding a new nurse. If I had such a horrible experience as you described, I would be talking to the charge nurse, to a patient advocate and to the administrator on call. If they couldn't mediate the situation, I would be requesting a transfer to a different hospital. Let me just say this... all of you non ER nurses were very hard on the poster that tried to give you the ER point of view, but consider this... In the last 6 hours of my last ER shift, I cared for 5 patients at a time. Three of them were ICU patients. One had a stroke. After recieving the normal results on his head CT, we started tPa. 10 minutes into the infusion, the radiologist called back to say he made a mistake and the patient had a bleed. Another patient of mine was 2 weeks post op after a liver transplant and had a K of 7. The third ICU had altered mental status and a Na of 165. The other two patients? I don't know. They were alive. They were breathing. Their vital signs were stable. I am only one person and I had to prioritize my care. I am sure those families felt neglected and dissatisfied with their care, as you did. This is the situation ER nurses deal with on a daily basis. Before you cast stones at us, think about this. Your child is laying lifeless on a stretcher. Do you want the nurse to start CPR or go get the lady next door a pillow (or a sandwich or draw blood, or assist her to the bathroom, or hang IV ABX or insert any other task that comes after the ABCs)?

Oooops

So here is my CEN advice. I have been an ER nurse for almost 4 years. I have been pressured by my job to take the test since the day I started but kept putting it off due to all the horror stories. I finally took a review course with some friends. It was a 2 day course by MED-MD. By the end of the first day, I said "F it! I am gonna sign up to take this test on the next available day." That happened to be in 5 days. 5 days or 5 weeks would not have made a difference for me because I am a procrastinator. Always have been and always will be. There I was the day before the test and I cracked open the CEN review book published by the ENA. I am telling you, this is all you need. There are 5 150 question tests. I took the first test and failed it. The book helps you determine what you need to study more of and what you already know. I studied only the sections that the books recommended I studied. I past the next test, and the next test. I didn't have time to do the last 2 tests, so I just read all the questions with answers and the rationals. I passed the real test the next day with 115 correct answers. I recommended this to all of my friends who took the course with me and they all claimed to have done the same thing and 6/7 of us passed.

Honesty, at my hospital, the number one thing that will put your resume at the front is who you know. It doesn't matter if you have 20 years of emergency nursing experience. If you don't know someone, then your resume will get kicked to the back. Saying that though, my manager and director would always be welcoming and open to a floor nurse who came down to the ER and said they were interested in a job. So it never hurts to give that a try. :) Best of luck and thank you for your service!

I started in a level 1 trauma center right out of nursing school. I love it and recommend ER nursing to every student that passes through. I cannot imagine working the floor- I am positive I would hate it. If the ER is what you want, go straight for it.

I hate to be all holier than thou, but I would NEVER! I know it has been said time and time again, but I would have been raising hell and going through the proper chain of command. Best of luck to you. It sounds like you were in an awful situation and did what you knew to do at the time. I hope with hind site being 20/20, you would make a better decision next time.