Any ER staff is a tough group. We have to be to work in the environment we work in. You have to be calm under stress. You have to be good at multi-tasking. You have to be dependable and know your stuff. I have to be able to depend on you to help me when we have that train wreck,When you are new to the ER, whatever role you are in, everybody is watching you. We are watching to see how fast you pick things up. How are you in a critical situation? Can we depend on you to do what you have to do?
Everybody has a role in a critical situation from the HUC to the EMT to the nurse to the doc. When the shit hits the fan, you have to be able to function. That isn't a time for asking questions.
If you don't learn to function really quickly, you will pay the price. You will be labelled.. Its not fair maybe, but it happens. We have big expectations of you and you aren't meeting them. We can't depend on you. We will eat you alive, unfortunately.
I've seen it happen. Its tough to see. I've seen people leave. We may seem like a bunch of meanies but not really. We deal with life and death sometimes. Things have to be done rapidly and correctly. Lives can depend on it. Unfortunately, the ER isn't for everybody.
You might be thinking: Oh woo hoo, you think you are a big time ER nurse, la la la. Yeah true (har har). Hey I'm proud of myself. However I know that there are nurses in many specialties that are excellent. Everybody just has to find their niche.
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ReplyDeleteI have always thought the same when I read articles about how nurses eat their young. I worked the med surg floors many years, and although we don't have the prestige of ICU or ER, we are also extremely busy. The "young" that come to our floor have to be able to cut it once they are off orientation, because I don't have time to do my job plus yours. And if you can't cut it, either ask for more orientation or go elsewhere. Peoples lives depend on it.
ReplyDeleteThe unwritten rule is that a new person isn’t worth as much because they have not put their time in yet and it is said if you are gonna quit or get fired in the ER it’s better to get it in the first few weeks, the logic being you don’t suffer that much, I can believe that.
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