Your One Best Piece Of Advice Please.

allnurses Guide · Mar 26, 2008

Be willing to admit when you don't know the med, treatment, procedure etc.

Be ready to act quickly, get used to assessing fast.

Welcome to the wild wierd whacky wonderful world of ER.

mamao4 · Mar 26, 2008

Easy to say, but hard to do. Realize that you are only one person and you have to constantly prioritize your patients. You cannot be in every room at one time. When you feel overwhelmed, step back and prioritize, set a game plan and go for it! It helps me to keep index cards for my "to do" list and to keep up with pt meds and procedures. Good luck and I'm sure you will do great!

Trauma Columnist · Mar 26, 2008

Develop a self-depreciating sense of humor. It will serve you well. In another words don't take yourself too seriously. I did level one trauma center for 10 years and it took me 2 years to know what questions to ask - lol.

Good luck, congrats - the ER ROCKS!

greenjanell · Mar 26, 2008

Do not be to proud to ask for help. Dont try to prove yourself by doing everything. You will only kill yourself and possibly a patient. If you get overwhelmed, ask for help. The best nurses know when to ask for help, and dont wait till its too late. Dont let pride get in the way. It does not mean you are weak, or lazy. It means that you are humble enough to be a good ER nurse. Anyone who thinks differenty is a danger in the ER.

A nurse who does not know what she does not know is also a danger. Dont let your ego do that to you.

Good luck, soon you will be as nuts as the rest of us......:bowingpur

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Mar 26, 2008

Treat your techs/CNA/unit clerks with respect and don't ask them anything you can't/won't do yourself. They will be your best allies, trust me, you need them.

I have always known and acknowledged that the one person who truly knows what is going on in the ER at all times is the unit clerk. Use that information to your advantage, but do not abuse it.

If you have a patient who needs a clean up, feeding, cath, etc., feel free to ask your tech to do it, or assist, but do NOT ever ask them to do it if you are sitting around not doing anything better. You have your assignment, but they are covering several assignments, not just yours.

If you have downtime, just remember, someone else may be drowning. Pick up that chart with discharge orders, ask the nurse if there is anything you need to know before you discharge them, then follow thru with all the discharge stuff and charting. If your name is on the DC instructions, then you should be the one to finish it off, do the classification etc. , and not leave it on the desk for the primary nurse to complete.

Ask if you can help someone if you are not busy. Go into a room where someone else if busy and ask if there is anything you can do. I also never leave at the end of my shift if there are nurses who are still busy with their patients until I ask if there is anything I can help them with so they can get out of there. Most of the time the answer is no, they are just wrapping things up, but you never know, and you may need the same assistance some day.

I know that is more than one piece of advice, but it all boils down to "we are not in this alone". Treat your co-workers with respect, help out when you can, and you will generally receive it back 100 fold.

Don't lose sight of why we are there....it is to take care of the patient...all of them, not just yours.

scattycarrot, BSN, RN · Mar 26, 2008

Ask if you can help someone if you are not busy. Go into a room where someone else if busy and ask if there is anything you can do. I also never leave at the end of my shift if there are nurses who are still busy with their patients until I ask if there is anything I can help them with so they can get out of there. Most of the time the answer is no, they are just wrapping things up, but you never know, and you may need the same assistance some day.
I know that is more than one piece of advice, but it all boils down to "we are not in this alone". Treat your co-workers with respect, help out when you can, and you will generally receive it back 100 fold..

This is truly awesome advice! The ER really is a team effort, much more so than on the floors, and people will bend over backwards for you, if they know you have their back!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Mar 26, 2008

hi everyone...just got my job in the er after doing pretty much the last 13yrs in medical. sooo excited but of course nervous, heaps to learn and want to do well! i'd really like some morsels of great advice to get me started...you know those wonderful bits of knowledge that you just know will help someone on their way!! thanks heaps all you wonderful hard working nurses.

listen to the experienced er nurse! they can teach you a lot if you let them!

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · Mar 26, 2008

Hi everyone...just got my job in the ER after doing pretty much the last 13yrs in medical. Sooo excited but of course nervous, heaps to learn and want to do well! I'd really like some morsels of great advice to get me started...you know those wonderful bits of knowledge that you just know will help someone on their way!! Thanks heaps all you wonderful hard working nurses.

Everything that has been said before with one addition. Dont' take anything personally, both the patients and the staff will be under stress and reactions will always vary. Learn to be able to look at what you did and decide that you did it right and the best you could and don't depend on anyone else for that kind of feed back.

sjt9721, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2008

All of the above advice...and...

Learn to anticipate, anticipate, anticipate...(this will come with time!)

Remember that you're seeing people many times at their worst, be it physically, emotionally, mentally, etc...Don't be too quick too judge.

When it's not fun anymore...it's time to get out!

:wlcmggrp:

Djuna · Mar 27, 2008

Kia Ora

Congratulations on your move to ED. I worked in Medical at Rotorua Hospital for a little while and also did Agency there. I hope you'll enjoy ED.

My advice is to learn to laugh because without a sense of humour ED can drive you insane. And choose an RN who is up to date in her practice and learn from her/him, they are invaluable resources.

~D

MIA-RN · Mar 27, 2008

Having made the switch myself from M/S to ER, the best thing (and hardest thing) I had to learn was to keep the pace up. On M/S you have a whole shift that you can plan for. In the ER you have a couple hours, max. Do what you need to do as soon as you know you have to do it, or barring that, as soon as you can. You don't know from minute to minute sometimes if you are going to get swamped.

And never leave without offering to help the coworkers who are staying later than you.