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.
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.
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