Trauma NP????

hello, joeydog,

this is a post from a sticky in the ccu forum that i made a while back. might be something you would consider:

emergency nurse practitioner (enp) scope of practice

the emergency nurse practitioner (enp) program prepares advanced practice nurses with the knowledge and skills needed to provide emergency and urgent health care services to individuals of all ages. emphasis is on the management of acute illnesses, trauma, and/ or chronic unstable illnesses requiring immediate attention, stabilizing the individual’s condition, and determining appropriate referral and follow-up care. enps provide care in ambulatory, urgent care, and emergency department settings. many graduates are prepared to be recognized as advanced practice nurses by the board of nurse examiners and to take the family nurse practitioner national certification examination through the american nurses credentialing center or the academy of nurse practitioners

and, many consider the apn role as a critical care/trauma specialist:

american association for critical care nurses ~ ccns

the critical care/trauma clinical nurse specialist

because inpatient care focuses increasingly on treating the sickest of the sick, the need for advanced practice nurses to provide and coordinate care in emergency rooms, trauma, critical care, and intensive care units has never been greater.

critical care/trauma clinical nurse specialists fill that role. they bring clinical expertise to acute care across a variety of health care settings, and lead the care management processes that are essential in today's health care environment. many also play a vital teaching and research role; from the front lines they lend a unique and essential perspective to understanding a range of issues confronting nurses.

I worked a few years ago at a large, urban teaching hospital which was the Level I trauma center for the region and had several NPs on the trauma team. Although they did respond to incoming trauma cases in the ED, that was not their assigned location and they seemed to spend more time in the ICU, burn unit, etc., managing the trauma cases throughout their hospitalizations. I was on the psych consultation-liaison team for the medical center and we worked v. closely with the trauma team -- they asked for psych consults/support for many of the trauma victims, so I got to know most of them over time. They all seemed to really enjoy their jobs. I don't know anything, unfortunately, about what their educational background was and how they got to those positions.

That's the only time I've ever encountered trauma NPs, but that's also the only time I've ever worked at a Level I trauma center facility. If you want to try getting in touch with them and see if you can find out some info, PM me and I'll give you the name/contact info for the medical center. One or more of them might be willing to talk with you by 'phone or e-mail. Or you may try seeing if there are trauma NPs at the Level I facility nearest you, and make a contact that way.

If I weren't already well-established as a psych CNS, I would be interested in that (trauma NP) myself ... Best wishes for your studies --