What can I do to get into an ED?

BubbysMa · Jan 26, 2009

Welcome to wanting to join the ED world! I would suggest speaking with a nurse recruiter. There may be different requirements depending on which hospital/state you work in. For the hospital where I work, we were only required to be BLS certified, and they would provide any classes needed to us, such as ACLS. Good Luck! :yeah:

pererau · Jan 26, 2009

I think before you try to get in the ER, you've got to love the environment. If you know nothing about EKG or tele or ACLS, then you don't know if you will like it. I went ER right out of school, but I worked as a tech in the ER and worked Urgent Care as an LPN. I knew it was what I wanted and I knew that I didn't want to go anywhere else.

For you, I would encourage you to not try to leap into the ER. It may well be a good environment for you, but until you get into the world of acute care nursing, you wont know. Try working med/surg or tele or surgical short-stay or PACU or Urgent Care.

Trying to jump into the ER with no experience or background would probably be a huge mistake for you at this point.

kmoonshine, RN · Jan 26, 2009

Join the ENA (Emergency Nurses Association). It looks good on a resume and they have lots of good journal articles.

You may need to transfer to a hospital and work med-surg - and after a certain period (ie 6 months), apply to work in the ED.

I went to the ED right out of school and I took classes (ekg, ACLS, PALS) along the way during my orientation.

Good luck!

MelodyRNurse · Jan 26, 2009

I think before you try to get in the ER, you've got to love the environment. If you know nothing about EKG or tele or ACLS, then you don't know if you will like it. I went ER right out of school, but I worked as a tech in the ER and worked Urgent Care as an LPN. I knew it was what I wanted and I knew that I didn't want to go anywhere else.
For you, I would encourage you to not try to leap into the ER. It may well be a good environment for you, but until you get into the world of acute care nursing, you wont know. Try working med/surg or tele or surgical short-stay or PACU or Urgent Care.
Trying to jump into the ER with no experience or background would probably be a huge mistake for you at this point.

I do love the environment and not because I watch to much tv, because I have worked in the ED, just not as a nurse. I was support staff and loved every minute of it and couldn't ask enough questions. I also did a rotation in clinicals in a different hospital and I really like it better then floor nursing. To me it is much more interesting and I need something I am enthusiastic about. I touched on tele, EKG, and all that good stuff in school and found it very interesting. I was good at it too. I just haven't had any real life experience and I would be fooling myself and everyone else by saying I did. It is not as if I have no idea what I am getting myself into..

I thoroughly appreciate your opinion and I am know that I will probably have to do med-surg first, but I am trying not only to increase my chances of getting into the ED, but also to increase my chances of getting into a hospital by doing things that show employers that I am very interested in this field.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2009

Why not just apply to any ED's with openings? My area is rural and the ED's always need RN's. The jobs don't usually stipulate ED experience as a requirement.

pererau · Jan 27, 2009

Oh, if you have been in the environment and understand what you are getting into and the incredible pace that you have to keep up, then I say go for it. Apply to any ER that you can and just be up front about your experience. If you can interest them otherwise, then most ERs will train you in a residency program.

As far as things to make yourself more attractive, the number one thing is ACLS. If you are already ACLS trained, that will do wonders for you. The second thing is do your own study of cardiac rhythm interpretation. If you can tell them that you know how to differentiate heart blocks and can point out ST segment changes, it will let them know that you are serious.

Other certifications such as PALS, ENPC, NRP, TNCC, and especially CEN are better attempted once you have a little bit of experience under your belt. If you try to go for these certs too early then they will mean nothing to you. Even if you pass, you will not use the knowledge and you will use it, and when you are working in the ER, they will not want to pay for you to take the class since you already have the cert.

Learn these meds by heart: Zofran, Phenergan, Dilaudid, Morphine, Rocephin, Benadryl, Toradol, Ativan, Lopressor, Solu-Medrol, Valium, Cardizem, and of course, your ACLS drugs - Amiodarone, Atropine, Adenosine, Epinephrine, etc...

Learn what a rapid sequence intubation is and what drugs are commonly used and why one drug is better than another.

Make sure you are proficient at starting IVs and inserting foley catheters and NG tubes.

If you can go into an interview saying that you know this stuff, you will be miles ahead of any other non-experienced candidate that they are considering.

Most of all, good luck! There is no place like the ER and there is no other place I can imagine being.

MelodyRNurse · Jan 27, 2009

Thank you for taking the time to send me that information. I will print this info and definitely use it.

Thanks again!

pererau · Jan 27, 2009

You're welcome, and by the way, "you will not use the knowledge and you will use it" was supposed to be "you will not use the knowledge and you will lose it"

oops.