Janet B. Quilloy, Outlines Her Responsibilities As An ER Nurse

Almost everybody has at one time read or heard of the exploits of an Emergency Nurse. However, if you ask them what precisely is the day-to-day routine of these crucially important health care professionals the chances are they would be unable to answer in anything but vague generalizations. However, as Janet B. Quilloy, ER Nurse at the Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, New Jersey, discloses, an average day begins almost exactly as any other nurse's does - signing in for work. However, that is where any similarity ends. Indeed, a few minutes into any shift will quickly make apparent that an ER Nurse's responsibilities are unlike any other employee working at a hospital.

Prioritization of patients is a key role for the ER Nurse. To give but one example, a comatose adult who has suffered head wounds in an auto wreck will take precedence over a child suffering from a fever brought in by its concerned parents - regardless if the child was registered first. As Janet Quilloy details, the first step that the critical care nurse and her team must take when confronted by a patient in a critical situation is to take measures to stabilize that patient. Essentially, this means that every member of the team works to ensure that there is no deterioration in the patient's condition. Patients are deemed stable only when their airways are unimpeded, hemorrhaging has been curtailed or controlled, and all fractures have been immobilized. Naturally, in some cases, patients will need to treated for trauma or shock before their condition can be considered stable.

Janet Quilloy states that when attempting to stabilize a patient, emergency room nurses will frequently be required to conduct a number of different procedures. It is absolutely vital that they are familiar with these procedures, and have complete trust in their own capabilities. Some of these procedures will include, starting intravenous lines, administering medication, the transfusion of blood, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, incubation, tracheotomies, suturing, setting broken bones - and even delivering babies. Trauma nurses also need to have a sound knowledge of diagnostic procedures, including electrocardiograms and the implementation of x-rays.

Additionally, as Janet B. Quilloy points out, any trauma nurse is likely to treat a very wide social and ethnic demographic.One minute they will be required to minister to an infant, the next to an elderly patient.Working as a critical care nurse always requires strong nerves and an emotional unflappability. The nurse is required to work extraordinarily long hours in an environment where the risk of physical danger is high - largely due to the diversity of pathogens and patients. Yet, as Janet B. Quilloy absolutely believes, for the dedicated emergency nurse, there is no other field in which they would choose another position or career.

As Janet B. Quilloy further explains, for patients undergoing medical emergencies the need for rapid decision-making and quick action on the part of the medical professionals attending to them quite literally means the difference between life and death. An emergency nurse means being given the responsibility to work as part of a medical team dedicated to assisting patients facing traumatic injuries and acute illnesses. The ER nurse, like other emergency health professionals, are required to work in extremely quick-paced and stressful situations. However, as Janet Quilloy affirms, almost every nursing professional she has worked alongside will willingly agree that despite the enormous responsibilities and weight of expectations given to them, these nurses strongly believe that they have the rewarding careers in the nursing profession.

Janet B. Quilloy And The Makings Of An ER Nurse

In 2008, Janet B. Quilloy began working as part of the Beth Israel medical team. This required her to work alongside physicians, health care professionals and, of course, other nurses to care, monitor health conditions, plan long-term care needs, administer medicines, performing minor medical operations, and advising patients and families on the exact nature of the illness, the care required, and the necessary treatments to be taken after the stay at the hospital had ended. Furthermore, she demonstrated a keen ability to quickly assess the needs of each patient, proritize appropriate forms of care based on its critical nature, and works to stabilize the patient, treat the patient appropriately, and decide whether to discharge the patient or make the arrangements for a longer stay at the hospital. Janet Quilloy also works as a Triage Nurse, where she is highly-regarded as being able to make quick and accurate assessments about incoming patients, including both their physical and mental health conditions, and prioritize patients according to the extent of their injuries or other medical needs.

And this is crucial. For patients undergoing medical emergencies the need for rapid decision-making and quick action on the part of the medical professionals attending to them quite literally means the difference between life and death. An emergency nurse means being given the responsibility to work as part of a medical team dedicated to assisting patients facing traumatic injuries and acute illnesses. The ER nurse, like other emergency health professionals, are required to work in extremely quick-paced and stressful situations. However, as Janet Quilloy affirms, almost every nursing professional she has worked alongside will willingly agree that despite the enormous responsibilities and weight of expectations given to them, these nurses strongly believe that they have the rewarding careers in the nursing profession.

As Janet Quilloy explains, emergency nurses are known by several names, including trauma nurses and critical care nurses. Working with other emergency medical professionals such as paramedics and physicians, emergency nurses provide vital treatment for patients in emergency medical situations. Indeed, as Janet Quilloy reveals, on any given shift, on any given day, she and her team will often be confronted with a diverse range of medical emergencies. These emergencies could well include complicated and rare illnesses, as well as injuries from accidents and, frequently and increasingly, crime. To give some examples, the emergency nurse could be called upon to deal with poisonings, car accidents, critically high fevers, drug overdoses, gun shot wounds and stabbings, cardiac arrests, and strokes - and this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Additionally, as Janet B. Quilloy points out, any trauma nurse is likely to treat a very wide social and ethnic demographic.One minute they will be required to minister to an infant, the next to an elderly patient.Working as a critical care nurse always requires strong nerves and an emotional unflappability. The nurse is required to work extraordinarily long hours in an environment where the risk of physical danger is high - largely due to the diversity of pathogens and patients. Yet, as Janet B. Quilloy affirms, for the dedicated emergency nurse, there is no other field in which they would choose another position or career.

Janet Quilloy, A Brief History of the Hospital

For over 24 years, Janet B Quilloy has dedicated her life to working as a nurse, in which time she has built an enormous amount of experience. For her, working in a hospital means that no two days are ever the same, as new patients and new illnesses are constantly appearing and disappearing. This changing environment is a common thread that is likely to have been the case since the very first hospitals were conceived by civilization all those millenniums ago. The word “hospital” comes from the Latin word meaning “guest”. The words “hostel” and “hotel” have the same root word, though of course, the modern day meanings are very different- but the link is clear to see.

Ancient Egypt is often credited as being the first society to bring about the modern idea of what a hospitable is and can be. They were temples dedicated to healing the sick, and would have been closely linked to the religious practices of the time also. Doctors and religious leaders would have been similar professions, and many would have dedicated their lives to cultivating remedies to treat illnesses. In ancient Greece, similar structures were built, dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing- and would have operated in much the same way as the Ancient Egyptian temples. In India, around A.D. 400, places were built for the sick, and the disabled to receive money, food, and medical care from well-wishers and other philanthropists with money to give. They would remain in these buildings until they were healed and could be sure not to spread infection, and leave when they felt better of chose to. It was in India that arguably they constructed then the first true hospitals as we see them today. They were built specifically for the treatment of injuries and illnesses, and to provide women with a place to give birth and recover from afterwards.

Christianity and its development into the recognized religious of Europe also played a huge part in the formation of modern hospitals. As Christian values propagated the need to look after the sick and take of the weak, as Jesus had taught, more hospital like structures were erected, especially those that had a separate section to house lepers, as the disease was widely feared in those days. The Romans took their learning and ideas across Europe, and helped establish the foundations of the hospitals and moral universe that we live in today.