rural er dr wants experienced er nurses

[afteralltheseyears]

Our rural hospital has a nearing retirement-aged dr who is probably putting in his final years of practice here. Because ER has been his practice specialty and he's reportedly worked in some substantial sized EDs he wants nurses who are able to function like level 1 trauma center nurses. Of course they are hard to come by here so the hospital has to pay for agency nurses who come with the required experience instead of allowing some local nurses to learn to be rural hospital nurses. What do you all think of that?

[LouisaMay]

I think the most qualified nurses are rural Emergency Department nurses who have to deal with stabilizing trauma patients without having any kind of special "teams" or other resources available. Across the nation, we see folks really seeking out the highly trained nurses working in the trauma centers, but the ones who really have to do the "McGyver" stuff by pulling out miracles from thin air are those who are working with their basic tools, gut instincts, and critical thinking skills. They have to really switch gears quickly as they may have to deal with OB patients delivering the ED, MVC victims,, running codes while the 1 doctor in the hospital is tied up elsewhere, patients with dental pain, 3-week old stubbed toes and sore throats all in the same shift.