I.C.U & E.R

I'm currently in the I.C.U. at RCH and I have loved it. I've learned a lot, but there are still so much to learn. So much medications, machines, IV lines, monitors, etc.... I'm beginning to understand the pathophysiology of a disease process and actually connecting them together. I'm in my 7th/9th quarter and I'm so glad I'm finally understanding the heart of nursing.

This week I was in the E.R. and I got to finally see a different part of nursing. I know that when a person goes to the E.R. they take forever to call your name and get admitted in. I understand, I mean you're at the E.R., something must have happened for you to go to emergency room. But lots of people don't know that there is a triage involved. They categorized patients according to the highest priority for admission. So if you suspect to have a broken finger, for the most part you're not at the highest priority. Someone complaining of chest pain or an obstructed airway is definitely a priority, they'll admit that person even if they have just arrived and you have been waiting for more than 2 hours in the waiting room.

Another issue is bed availability. I'm sure they'll admit everyone right when they arrive, but there is limited of availability of beds and nurse/patient ratio. In the E.R. there is a 1 nurse: 4 patient ratio to promote adequate and quality nursing care. The nurse will definitely be overworked if the nurse has over 10 patients at a time.

I love the E.R. I love the rush and how you have to critically think fast in order to stabilize your patients. In the E.R. I was able to do more skills in a 12 hour shift for 1 day as oppose to 6-8 hour shifts for the past 6 quarters. I can definitely see myself working in the E.R. I just need more knowledge and experience to feel fully competent as an E.R. nurse.

I hope I gave you glimpse of my rotation so far. Here's a little quote that pretty much sums up of what we do as a nurse.


"Somewhere right now a NURSE is getting yelled at for being "late" with pain meds, while holding her bladder because she doesn't have time to pee; starving because she missed her break; being pooped/peed/bled on; and is missing her family while taking care of yours. In the minute you took to read this, NURSES all over the world are saving lives."