Emergency Nurses Day 2024 is on Tuesday, October 8, 2024: Pediatric Emergency Room nurses?

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Seeing that you are already a Nurse and you just want to move to a different department. I would ask if there is anything that is expected of you that is not within the job description. Most times when working in a hospital, we wear many different hats. When patients come in for help for themselves or for loved ones, "they" in their eyes are the only ones that matter. Depending on your qualifications you should ask:

1. Will the role of charge nurse during my shift rotate among all staff?

2. What is the turn over time for stats in the ER?

3. Which shift hours are available? ie: 8 hours 5 days a week/ 12 hour shifts 4 days on 3 days off?

4. Current status on the unit you are currently on... will that transfer over? ie: vacation time of already requested and approved.

5. Am i aloud to take a look around and shadow someone first? This is to make sure you know where eveything is. In an emergency the last thing you want to do is yell out, "I can't find it!" or "Where is it?"

and if you know Dr.'s like i know them, they love it when you are at the top of your game.

The ER.... rather ED ( once i moved south they got me to say ER) has it's own rules. Find out what they are. What we have been taught not to do on the floors is diffrent than what you can do in this department.

Last but not least...........................

#6. Find out when the next cap inspection is, if the HIPPA guidlines are any different for outpatients than inpatients. Sometimes there is just a little bit of a difference. Remember, until the patient is actually admitted to the hospital and is in a bed with a room number they are still an outpatient. OSHA's guidelines are the same throughout.

ok one more..........

7. Depending on what staff you have and if you are not the one doing the blood draws.. (you've probably done PKU's) Never, never, never....allow anyone to stick(blood draw) a baby in the middle of it's foot. The right or left side working from the outer areas of the foot(heel). I have seen it over and over again.

8. If the baby is a really hard stick and your going for a vein for an IV... please try the feet first. Babies really do not have great viens to begin with. But they have easier ones to fet on the side just below the ankle. PLace a heel warmer on first.

Good luck i hope i helped.

Is it worth becoming a registered nurse? please read and help.?

ER nurses make the same amount of money as any other area of the hospital. Specialty areas (ER, OR, med-surg, L&D, psych, etc.) do not make more or less money based on the specialty. Nurses make more or less money depending on their level of education and their years of experience on the job. RNs generally make more working in a hospital compared to an out-patient clinic or nursing home.

Where I live, starting salary for RNs in a hospital is around $30 per hour. If you are working full time, that works out to $62k+ / year. Most nurses do not work full time because so many hospitals these days give full benefit packages to RNs who work less than full time - my hospital pays for benefits if you work as little as 16 hrs per week!!! (This is not common, most start giving benefits at around 75% of full-time). There is overtime paid for anything over 8 hrs (or anything over 12 hrs if you normally work 12 hr shifts) and holiday pay is usually double pay. In most hospitals in urban areas, they remain pretty busy and chronically short-staffed and extra hours are easy to pick up to supplement your income.

If you can't support yourself on $50-$70k per year then you're doing something wrong and you're not spending your money wisely and you are trying to live more like a rock star. You should also be able to support a family even if you're the only wage earner, and you'll live a typical middle-class lifestyle if you have a kid or two. If you get an advanced degree, or move into leadership positions (charge nurse, manager, etc.) then you can make even more. Advanced Practice Nurses (Nurse Pracitioners, CRNAs, etc.) can make a starting salary of around $70-90k per year. CRNAs make the best money, starting salary is over $100k per year. So while you're never going to get rich as a nurse, you certainly won't be living in a shack and driving a 30 year old car. You should be able to live quite comfortably.

ALL doctors do not hate nurses, and such a generalization is stupid to make. There are good doctors who really value the expertise and knowledge that nurses hold, and then there are bad doctors who have over-inflated egos and take their frustrations out on nurses. Part of being a professional nurse is knowing when to stand your ground, being assertive if someone is treating you inappropriately and setting boundaries for acceptable behavior. Doctors don't hold the power to fire nurses, so there is no reason that any nurse should have to put up with verbally abusive behavior. I personally work in a place where I have daily contact with no less than 7 clinic groups that each have probably 6-10 physicians in their practice, and I can think of maybe two of those doctors who have attitude problems and have been inappropriate to nurses. There are maybe 5 more that are cocky and arrogant and rub me the wrong way, but they aren't necessarily "mean" to the nurses.

Tips for college: Do your research into the various nursing programs offered in your area. There are basic, universal pre-requisite courses that you will need in biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, and then there are general ed courses like English Composition, Speech / Communications, Psychology (both basic and developmental) that pretty much are the same no matter where you go. I wouldn't go taking a bunch of extra things that are not required because it will just cost you more money and more time. Just go with the courses that are required of you according to the program's admissions department.

Good luck to you.

Which area in nursing?

Wow, "gross stuff and emergency situations", but that's the essence of nursing. You might be treating your own family or your neighbors one day. Are you sure you want to be a Nurse? Okay, back to your question. In which specialties are you least likely to encounter these types of situations: (1)Nurse Educator-teach nursing, (2)Nurse Research-work for a university or pharmaceutical company, (3)Nurse Legal Consultant-work for a law firm in malpractice cases, (4)Nurse Case Manager-work for an insurance company to review cases & approve/deny claims, (5)Nurse Sales Rep-pitch medical equipment & provide support & training inservice, (6)Nurse Executive/Director of Nursing-make the policies & run the department keeping under the budget.