Have a question for an ER/Trauma nurse? I'll give you my best answer

[jjyiz28]

So basically this is inspired by a thought I had.

I've been an ER nurse for over 5 years now, I've always wondered what people thought of health care, specifically the ER and I'm sure there are questions they have wanted to ask, but never did. So here is your chance. I can't promise I can answer everything perfectly but I'll give it a shot.

Hell I'll even debunk any rumors/myths if people bring them up.

Who's first?

just curious trauma, but are you still an ER nurse?? dont mean to bring up a 2 year old thread

 

[TraumaRN]

just curious trauma, but are you still an ER nurse?? dont mean to bring up a 2 year old thread

Yup still am an ER nurse. Doubt that will change for some time. It is truly a fun, challenging and rewarding job.

 

[halik]

So basically this is inspired by a thought I had.

I've been an ER nurse for over 5 years now, I've always wondered what people thought of health care, specifically the ER and I'm sure there are questions they have wanted to ask, but never did. So here is your chance. I can't promise I can answer everything perfectly but I'll give it a shot.

Hell I'll even debunk any rumors/myths if people bring them up.

Who's first?

Of all the times where people show up with a lodged foreign body after falling onto it in the shower, how often is the ailment actually caused by falling onto something?

 

[RossMAN]

What "objects" have you removed?

 

[BUTCH1]

What "objects" have you removed?

OK, I'll go ahead and ask it, have you ever removed a gerbil from someones ass??

 

[TechAZ]

Does it annoy you when women throw themselves at the Docs? I see it ALL the time and for some reason it pisses me off.

Ever have to call CPS on a parent?

Ever work with another Nurse and think to yourself "I wouldn't trust this person to flip my burger at McDonalds."?

 

[TraumaRN]

Of all the times where people show up with a lodged foreign body after falling onto it in the shower, how often is the ailment actually caused by falling onto something?

I've seen two legit impaled objects in my career. One was a drunk driver who struck a tree with low hanging branches and impaled themselves through the cheek. I had to hold pressure on his facial artery for about 10 minutes while we prepped and stabilized him for the OR.

The other was raking his lawn and the wooden handle snapped and impaled his forearm.

All others were just well you know...accidentally deep insertions and no gerbils yet.

 

[TraumaRN]

Does it annoy you when women throw themselves at the Docs? I see it ALL the time and for some reason it pisses me off.

Ever have to call CPS on a parent?

Ever work with another Nurse and think to yourself "I wouldn't trust this person to flip my burger at McDonalds."?

Yes, it annoys me too when women(or men with female docs) who throw themselves at docs. It is distracting and in some cases unprofessional.

Yes I've called CPS. It is never fun. Ever.

And to your last question. Yes. I work with a couple right now. They are fine in day to day easy aspects of nursing but anything a bit more complicated and they suck big time.

 

[kevman]

What are some of the regrets that you might have in you line of work? Have you made a split second decision and it turned out to be wrong? Also what do you dread the most coming into work, what do you not want to see ? do you ever get emotional when someone dies? how do you deal with it ?

 

[tynopik]

Do you avoid certain risk scenarios now after having seen people hurt themselves in unlikely ways?

Like you see someone impale themselves while raking when the wooden shaft shatters, so you rake differently (?) or only use plastic/metal rakes.

If so, do these accumulate with time and you begin to look neurotic with all the ways you try to avoid injury?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

How many cases of Guillain Barre syndrome have you seen? Of those, how bad did the worst case get? Asking because I had a "mild" case back in 2007 and I spent 10 days in the hospital getting pumped full of IGG. Despite all that, I couldn't walk right for almost half a year.

 

[Mide]

Very interesting thread, thanks for the stories

 

[jjyiz28]

trauma, want your opinion on the current outlook as an RN for a professional.

i have read that the turnover rate for RN's are high, due to high stress, high workload, being responsible for multiple patients, etc.. it should be alleviated by hiring more RN's, but due to budget concerns, RN's must make due with limited staffing.

what is your opinion on this? am i correct in this thinking?

 

[TraumaRN]

What are some of the regrets that you might have in you line of work? Have you made a split second decision and it turned out to be wrong? Also what do you dread the most coming into work, what do you not want to see ? do you ever get emotional when someone dies? how do you deal with it ?

I don't really have regrets to be honest, more like I didn't understand that being an ER nurse isn't glamorous, isn't for everyone(almost to an extreme), and exposes you to the soft underbelly of society.

I've seen a few bad split second decisions go badly made by others, so far I've been very fortunate to have not made such a decision yet in my career. I truly try hard daily to ensure it doesn't happen. I take an active role in double checking myself daily.

Most days I dread some of the office gossip. It is petty and distracting. I can't stand it. If you are referring to dreading about patients, mostly it is having to deal with the sense of massive entitlement/thinking they are smarter than us...only a few act that way but it can be emotionally draining. The other is drug seeking patients...that is always a nagging dread.

As far as death...I've posted before about it...basically I don't think about it. It is a part of the job and often times death is a release from suffering for many. For other deaths like accidents or children some part of me registers it as sad but you can't let yourself dwell on it. I give myself a minute maybe two to let my emotions wash over me, but I never outwardly show it, then the job must go on, you've gotta be part robot to do this job well otherwise you'll burn out faster than a meteor. It is not as easy as it sounds. Took me a good year to really get it down in regards to death.

 

[Svnla]

How close is it to real life from shows such as ER, Grey Anatomy, etc.? I mean what makes you says "not bad, close enough" and "OMG, that was beyond stupid and ridiculous".

If you knew of what you know now when you were in Nursing school, would you still do it?

 

[OverVolt]

Scrubs is actually the most accurate :awe:

 

[Printer Bandit]

do you ever get teased by family or friends for being a male nurse?

 

[Wet Squirrel]

how many people have you seen die?

 

[jingramm]

how much can you expect to earn as an ER nurse on average?
what's a realistic salary range?

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Do you have medical students/junior doctors working with you?

How do you feel about their presence/what they do, and what do you think is their attitude toward you?

 

[StrangerGuy]

What % of people you encounter are malingering?

 

[TraumaRN]

How many cases of Guillain Barre syndrome have you seen? Of those, how bad did the worst case get? Asking because I had a "mild" case back in 2007 and I spent 10 days in the hospital getting pumped full of IGG. Despite all that, I couldn't walk right for almost half a year.

I've actually only seen one case in 6.5 years, it is quite quite rare. They had the worst kind, they were intubated(breathing tube) etc,. IIRC, they were in ICU for about 2-3 months.

Do you avoid certain risk scenarios now after having seen people hurt themselves in unlikely ways?

Like you see someone impale themselves while raking when the wooden shaft shatters, so you rake differently (?) or only use plastic/metal rakes.

If so, do these accumulate with time and you begin to look neurotic with all the ways you try to avoid injury?

Yes and no. I'm a bit of a daredevil by nature, I've gone skydiving, love to ride my family's ATV, snorkeling the great barrier reef, etc. But I am certainly much more careful about certain activities, especially riding the ATV. Otherwise not really, I understand many injuries are just plain accidents and unavoidable. About the only thing I'm outright neurotic about is hand washing/cleanliness. The correlation between hand washing and staying healthy(and keeping my patients healthy) is just so large I'd be a fool to ignore it.

trauma, want your opinion on the current outlook as an RN for a professional.

i have read that the turnover rate for RN's are high, due to high stress, high workload, being responsible for multiple patients, etc.. it should be alleviated by hiring more RN's, but due to budget concerns, RN's must make due with limited staffing.

what is your opinion on this? am i correct in this thinking?

The outlook for RN's is quite high, but in some areas it is still limited by budget constraints. The field is growing very quickly, but my personal belief is that the high turnover is related to some schools, especially associates degree programs, just churning out students as quick as they can with little regard to WHAT being a nurse involves. Many of these students are thinking with dollar signs in their eyes not realizing it isn't about the money. This leads to burnout, but if you really want to be a nurse and know what it involves on an emotional, physical and mental level, your outlook is immensely positive.

I have a bachelors degree and knew exactly what I was getting into. No surprises, I felt highly prepared for life as a nurse. I think some schools are failing to show people what it is really like. It is not glamorous, the shifts can be long and arduous, you've gotta work weekends and holidays for most hospital positions etc. Which brings me to answering the next question from Synla

How close is it to real life from shows such as ER, Grey Anatomy, etc.? I mean what makes you says "not bad, close enough" and "OMG, that was beyond stupid and ridiculous".

If you knew of what you know now when you were in Nursing school, would you still do it?

Grey's Anatomy is a soap opera. End of discussion. Sure the cases on the show are taken from real life, but then they pump it full of melodrama to the point that the medicine/nursing take a back seat.

ER on the other hand actually did a good job approximating what a busy ER can be like. Again there was more melodrama/amped up situations than you'd expect in real life but the medicine/nursing was always quite accurate for the time. To be fair, when I worked in inner city Detroit as an ER nurse most days were crazier than any given episode of ER, just less on the lovey-dovey melodrama between staff. In real life in an inner city busy ER, just to make it you've got to be a strong team player, otherwise you are screwed. We didn't have time for gossip or drama most days.

And a simple, yes, I'd still go to nursing school now despite all that I've seen and done.....Gotta get ready for work I'll try and keep answering questions as I can. Thanks for the questions everyone

 

[Pheran]

This might be the only successful, positive necro of a 2-year old thread I've ever seen. Nice job TraumaRN.

 

[JTsyo]

Ooh, another gory question. Have you ever seen an ED thoracotomy actually succeed, or is it as futile a procedure as I've heard?

PSA: the wiki for thoracotomy has a open chest picture.

 

[Jaskalas]

TraumaRN, thank you for your service to others, for being in your line of work.

/Respect