ANA has a formalized mentoring program for both new nurses and up and coming as leaders in the industry. The ED is like no other unit. I highly recommend you journal your first-year as a nurse (and then keep going). Giving you a black and white system to follow is impossible. This post will be forever evolving so if you or anyone out there have additional content they would like to see added in the future (or tips of your own), please email me privately. Zoe, You will be held to these standards. I knew I wanted to be an ER nurse before I even started nursing school, but I didn’t really know how to do it. Follow your instincts as well as your facility policies and procedures. A Daybook for Beginning Nurses is filled with 365 days of practical and inspirational quotes and provides empty page lines for quick journaling. Following the nurse-to-nurse report, a system that has worked for me for years is to follow a few steps. Best of luck on your new adventure. Hello all! Listen to every detail provided. ER is one tough place to work but also full of many wonderful opportunities and rewards. Watch as many different nurses as possible take report and examine what they use for a report sheet and how they organize their “to do” lists. Lots of waiting takes place in the ED which can be highly frustrating for patients and their visitors. You’re off to a great start! Necessary and stabilizing medical treatment is provided. In essence, this physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant aids in the flow of the ED by performing a quick assessment and initiating patient orders while the patient often waits in the ED lobby. Your email address will not be published. Every patient that presents to the ED receive a Medical Screening Exam (MSE) to rule out an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC); this includes a woman in active labor. One topic that would have been helpful is knowing at the end of the day you did good for the patients that you could. Congratulations! You are embarking on an incredible journey. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. This organization has members that are a wealth of information. Thank you so much for your time. What is important to understand is that triage can happen anywhere at any time, even in the ambulance bay. Thank you! I started in June. Sure, you won’t remember everything there is to know, but knowing what policies exist and where to find these resources when you need to reference one is essential. Will you only assess the feet? In polling ED nurses, here are some of the favorites: Consider joining ENA early in your career (even before you obtain a job is an option too) as this membership will give you access to free continuing education units, professional journals like the Journal of Emergency Nursing and ENA Connection, and will open opportunities for networking as well as scholarships if you choose to advance your degree. This is your orientation. A number of excellent books exist on the market for the newer ED nurse. I started out as a new grad ER nurse in July 2019. In addition, you gain access to ENA Connect, an online forum where you can ask questions of other ENA members. You will find some physicians want the stool on a certain side of the bed. Visualize each patient while you walk by their room. Content in the emergency nursing journals will keep you current in understanding the challenges faced by EDs and the research that is influencing standards of care and ultimately the practice of emergency nursing. Don’t let yourself become jaded. I knew I wanted to be an ER nurse before I even started nursing school, but I didn’t really know how to do it. Kati here! meditation, painting, dancing). Thank you Lynn for offering your expertise to newbies! You should never feel alone. Cross-checking with the lab before obtaining the sample will prevent the need for another needle stick saving the patient frustration and you time. I cannot emphasize this enough. Adding a multitude of clinical presentations and procedures to your backpack of experience will benefit you tremendously once working on your own. You are a professional. Retrieved March 16, 2017. Refraining from asking a question because you feel it’s a silly question or something you should know will only serve as a disservice to the patient. Fail to respond to a patient who requires assistance and is located within 250 yards of the building. There are tons of headers if you are looking for something specific, but all of the information is essential to newbies in the ED. Rapid Access Guide for Triage and Emergency Nurses, Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, Rapid Access Guide for Triage and Emergency Nurses: Chief Complaints with High Risk Presentations, The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, What Do Emergency Nurses Do?