If you’ve ever marveled at the high-octane life of an ER nurse, depicted with gripping intensity in shows like ER and Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll find the reality equally exhilarating, especially when seen through the lens of travel nursing. The emergency department is undeniably a roller coaster of emotions, demands, and adrenaline-pumping scenarios. For those drawn to the intensity and unpredictability of emergency care, embracing the role of a travel ER nurse can add an unparalleled dimension to this vibrant career. If you are looking for a high-octane specialty, becoming an emergency room nurse is for you.
Wondering what it’s like to be an ER nurse? The best description: it’s a roller coaster! With constant ups and downs of emotions, energy, demands, and adrenaline, it’s far from your average 9-to-5 gig. If you’re craving a high-octane specialty in the nursing field, then becoming an ER nurse might just be the perfect fit for you.
A Day in the Life of an Emergency Room Nurse
Most of us have probably seen an episode of ER, Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, or Chicago Med. These shows try to portray a day in the life of a healthcare worker, but with dramatic flair. As off the wall as some of the scenarios can be, they do, on occasion, create an accurate depiction of what it is like to be an emergency department nurse.
You can expect an ER nurse shift to start as a typical nursing day, and you will take over care for a nurse coming off shift and get report on their patients. You may have additional tasks that need to be completed on these patients, depending on how long they have been in the emergency department. Your patients can have a wide range of complaints such as sprains, lacerations, chest pain, fever, abdominal pain, urinary pain, changes in mental status, and the list goes on and on.
Patients treated by Emergency Department Nurses
The variety of illnesses and injuries that you will see on a daily basis is enough to keep you on your toes. In one twelve-hour shift, you may see a kidney stone, heart attack, motor vehicle collision, assault, stroke, overdose, sepsis, and a pulmonary embolism. One of the most significant aspects is every day is a new learning experience. You are constantly learning new procedures, medications, and treatment plans because not all emergency room physicians work the same. They have their practices based on their training and their experiences.
Mental and Physical Strains of ED Nurses
You must be prepared to have little or no downtime because you will have several patients that need a workup and most likely are high acuity. Additionally, running out of beds isn’t an option because those front doors never close, so you will need to be able to move your patients around and get them to their disposition destination quickly to make room for more patients.
It is crucial to be prepared for the emotions you will feel during your shift; you often meet people during the worst or scariest time of their lives. Sometimes you will feel absolutely defeated when you lose a patient you have been resuscitating, or you will have that high of getting someone’s family member back and stable.
Don’t forget the adrenaline! When a trauma or critical patient comes in, your adrenaline gets ramped up, and once they are stable, you still have to return to your other patients who need your attention.
Essential Qualities of an ER Nurse
- Flexibility: Your patient load and demands are constantly changing in ER. You must be flexible in your practice and roll with the changes you face during your shift. If you are schedule-oriented and need to complete tasks in a specific order or at a particular time, this may not be your specialty.
- Calm: The ER is typically full of stress. As an ER nurse, you need to be able to stay calm and clear-headed in these situations. If you cannot remain calm, that is when mistakes and errors occur.
- Strong Clinical Skills: Emergency room nurses need to have strong clinical skills. You often have to think quickly and creatively during your shift to care for your critical patients. Additionally, you will be using procedural skills more often than you typically would in some other specialties.
- Empathy: As previously mentioned, you often meet people on one of the scariest days of their lives. You must be empathetic to how they or their family feels during their stay in the ER.
- Respectfully Assertive: This quality is critical to have toward your patient, their family, and other co-workers. Your job is to take care of a patient to the best of your ability, and you must advocate for your patient when necessary.
Working as an ER travel nurse an be exciting, exhausting, and emotional, but most of all, it is rewarding. It is important to be prepared to fall in love with being an emergency room nurse.
How to become an ER nurse
The first step to becoming an ER nurse is obtaining your associate degree in nursing or your bachelor’s degree in nursing. Once you have successfully completed your degree and passed your state boards, you can apply to work in an emergency department. Not all emergency departments hire new graduate nurses, but it is worth a shot! It does help if you complete your preceptorship or your final semester of nursing school in an ER, but this is not always an option.
If you cannot find a new graduate nursing position in an emergency department, you may have to work in another department to get some experience under your belt first. Ask to shadow in your hospital’s ER to connect and meet with managers. Let them know your interest and keep a lookout for internally posted positions!
Additionally, you can study for and sit for the certified emergency nurses exam to build your career as an ER nurse. This is not a requirement for the job, but it is strongly encouraged to help develop your knowledge base.
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