Vent here.....I should repeat that this is a vent....
I get really tired of non-medical, non ER nursing, etc., questioning our (ER RNs) compassion because we vent and complain in a forum, where patient confidentiality is still upheld..... but where we can vent to our hearts content...... How we feel about the ER system, our not so enjoyable experiences in the ER...... How we hate some aspects of our jobs.
Don't we deserve to be able to complain without our compassion being questioned? It's not like I have ever seen any ER nurse complain about legitimate Emergency Care....I really have only seen the bogus stuff we complain about that makes our job of taking care of the true illnesses harder. I also think that if any of these people who complain about our compassion were a patient in the ER and required our instant care yet we said to them....listen, I have a guy here with a hang nail so you'll have to wait cause his hang nail is just as important as your heart failing.....we would get a whole new attitude.
These people who accuse noncompassion do not have a clue....and it adds to the frustration. I just want to have them shadow me someday.....Where I'm resuscitating a 5 year old, push all kinds of drugs, intubation, comfort the family, chart like I'm writing a novel, need a pee break only to get some attitude from your other nonEmergent patient and their family that they have waited 2 hours for an update. You're standing there with that full bladder and holding back tears from the previous patient's room and as a nurse you should keep your composure. So, if we want to come in this forum and vent about our bad day and the loser who jumped you and you still had to stand their with a smile on your face, use therapeutic communication to diffuse the situation...God forbid PressGaney gets a complaint.....I think those non-medical, non-ER nursing people who complain need to back the heck off. There is no other specialty like ER nursing....And I think ER nurses ROCK!
You guys are blowing up my email (notifications) with the bickering... Can you get back to the venting for those of us looking into ER work. It's interesting to see the unseen side of ER nurses. Gives a better view of what we may be getting into.
ER nurses definitely have strong personalities! I think you'll pretty much find that in any ER and any ICU. I think we kinda have to be that way, you know, hold our ground so we won't be manipulated and taken advantage of. We have to make snap decisions based on objective info and yes, sometimes subjective info (remembering a patient from a previous visit for instance). We have to be strong. We are also compassionate, and we feel jaded by people that have no experience telling us we are cold and uncaring based on one little vent.
Anyway Kimbernurse>>>>COnursestudent changed his name...how can he do that? And....how do you report this sort of stuff, you know?
:) They seemed cold but I am sure I was being a pain in the rear :)
You can change your name once a year or have an admin change it. It is somewhere in the Account Settings.
As far as reporting rude or harassing posts you can hit the little White/Red triangle at the top left of the post. It lets you send a message to the admins.
I'm a brand new ER nurse...only had 5 weeks of orientation in a county ER in Los Angeles...I have already had my dealings with ETOHs, drug seekers, and countless ungrateful patients. I have had up to a total of 11 patients in a day...let me sum up a day in my ER: I get to work and I have 1 patient going to ICU is on a billion drips has pacer pads due to a HR of 40!!!! then next door I have my 90 year old lady with HgB of 4 with cbcs every 2 hours and running blood...then I have the lady who I have already had about 4 times before due to severe pain....who only wants IV dilaudid every 10 minutes and screams in pain....I spend thirty minutes trying to get a line but guess what? she's an IVDA!!! nevertheless I'm assessing her pain and giving her meds....Then I have a DKA who has a glucode of 893 and accuchecks every 30 minutes and running insulin drips...then I finally get an icu bed for my first patient...im calling report...charge nurse decides to pull the patient out for transport and gives me another patient....who has SOB!!!!!! sating 75 and is getting unresponsive, great!!! I'm done calling report, I run to the SOB patient....turns out to be PE!!!! ahhhh.....then my DKA pt decides to have EKG changes....oops HR 30...potassium is now 8....great!!!! so I'm running around...my bladder is ready to pop....and then I have the family member of my anemic old lady yelling at me because I'm insensitive and who is going to report me for not checking on her for an hour...IM SORRY I WAS TRYING TO SAVE MY PTS LIVES !!!! im a brand new er nurse and I'm venting already...yes it sucks when people who are not nurses call us ' mean, inconsiderate, and other bad words...etc' It makes me feel bad because all I'm trying to do is care for patients by being a compassionate and competent nurse!!!! but no one sees that...I know there is some nurses who aren't that great and can be mean...but not everyone is like that...we are busy trying to save lives and may not have the time and energy for therapeutic communication....
we are busy trying to save lives and may not have the time and energy for therapeutic communication....
I had an intoxicated young woman from an MVA that was climbing all over everywhere, pulling the collar off (we can't completely clear the neck until sober), dad at bedside, absolutely determined to get up and go to the BR. I put her on the bedpan, offered a Foley, was under firm orders not to let her up. She whined and complained and screamed, said "wouldn't it just be easier to let me up?"
My therapeutic communication was "YES!, but I'm not doing what is easy, I'm doing what is best for you!" That shut dad up, and actually got him supporting us. Too bad it didn't do anything for the pt, lol.
I'm glad the post is back up. This thread prooves my point though, even within a forum such as this some ignorant opinions spoil it for others. These people who complain about ER nurses or nurses in general seem to be complainers anyway....They fail to realize that although it is nice for a nurse to fluff your pillow, grab you a glass of water, etc.....that is not and never will be our priority in the ER. We live in an entitlement mentality society.
Somewhere along the line....and it goes to administration basically...."The customer is always right"...motto....applies to nurses.....Of course, they would be pee their pants if they ever took their blue power suit off and shadowed a nurse and knew exactly how some patients actually treat us, what they expect and the foul language they use.
Today I stayed late after my shift to ensure that a pt would survive. He was bleeding profusely, into his abd and the blood was coming out very quickly of his mouth and orifice. I could have been on my way home, but I stayed. I stayed to fight with him because all of our life saving interventions were uncomfortable and I knew he needed them anyway. I stayed to drop an 18 F tube down his nose and caused him to gag and grab at me. He had to be restrained and it required multiple attempts to get it down so we could suction the blood out. He turned his head at me several times, spewing blood that almost struck me. His BP was not life sustaining. My coworkers and I were able to start multiple IVs, get typed and matched blood infusing, initiate multiple IV drips, document proficiently, keep the MD aware of his status (he wasn't going to stay in the room), fill out multiple forms and consent forms to cover everone's behind, call report to a receiving hospital with appropriate emergent services, and get the ambulance there to transport in moments. The wife of the pt refused to stay with him in the room because of how bad off he was, but I was there. There other nurses were there. We stayed and fought, regardless of how disgusting it was. The man was HIV+ and had Hep C, which of course was the cause of most of his problems, but we did it anyway. No one else was there, no one else would have been there. It's damn hard work and it's to be respected. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO THIS, IF YOU COULD, YOU WOULD. No, I didn't even look at the family member in the next room when I came out and she wanted a pillow. Why? Because I didn't care about that. If that makes me a bad nurse, then I guess I'll take it.
AND, it's like when moving and criticallly thinking as fast as you possibly can isn't good enough. Do that for 30 mins and see how tired you are....and "compassionate."
Atheos
2,098 Posts
You guys are blowing up my email (notifications) with the bickering... Can you get back to the venting for those of us looking into ER work.
It's interesting to see the unseen side of ER nurses. Gives a better view of what we may be getting into.