ER Nurses Blog

How bad are common cold or flu cases clogging up your ER? Do you feel as though people are getting the message and staying at home?

Every day nurses make decisions regarding patient care. Nurses want to relieve patient suffering, provide useful care, and be an advocate for their patients. They want to do these to the best of their ability, knowledge and caring. Yet often nurses are prevented from reaching their ideal level of care by circumstances not of their own making. Some researchers have suggested that one component of moral challenges is conflict, whether that conflict is internal or between two or more parties. Conflict is such an important factor in health care that the Joint Commission has made conflict resolution a priority in improving the quality of patient care. For example, a nurse must discontinue care because of hospital policy when the patient cannot pay. What about nurses who assist a doctor in medical procedures when the doctor has not obtained informed consent? There have also been cases where a nurse’s clinical judgment has not been taken into account when the patient’s...

Here's a post for those non-nurses that frequent our blog. One factor that distinguishes a profession from other careers is by its goal to advance society though making a positive difference in peoples’ lives. In nursing this is reflected in healing, caring, and encouragement of a lifestyle that enable well being, among other actions. What are the specific characteristics of excellence in nursing that can be articulated? The National League for Nursing states that excellence is a core value:” It is a commitment to continuous growth, improvement and understanding. It is transformation, moving beyond the status quo and mediocrity.”(1) Caring, knowledge, and skill are the foundation of excellence in the nursing profession.  Nurses demonstrate excellence by preventing suffering and complications, they promote health and well being, they save lives and money, they are innovators and leaders. These are accomplished through such skills as patient centered care, evidenced based...

If you have a story about your day in the ER and need to get it off your chest then send us an email and we'll post it! ernurseyblog@gmail.com We'll post it anonymously, be sure to change up some pertinent details ;). You may even get some valuable feedback!

Pagers, phones, beepers, beeping lanyards, computers, intercoms.... the beeps, alarms, reminders, are not in short supply in the ER (or elsewhere in the health center). At some point there appears to be a level of fatigue, or perhaps a 'boy who cried wolf' syndrome. Repeated alarming may in fact diminish healthcare as providers become immune to the consistent barrage. How does your workplace manage alarms and do you find you're starting to suffer from 'alarm fatigue'?

Resurrecting one of our popular posts (and most disgusting/gross) from the archives. Nothing's changed, nurses face some of the grosses, weirdest, and seemingly normal functions of humanity. What's the most disgusting thing you've had to do / seen in your travels as a nurse? Addition: Some interesting and disgusting submissions, thanks....I think. A recent submission from a nurse working ICU. --- We had a patient who had an undiagnosed mental illness on top of the reason why he was admitted to ICU. We were doing routine visits to his room when we noticed the patient was coughing due to obstruction(s). As he was hacking up out comes numerous scabs from the sores on this body. Well if that wasn't enough, he sat in the bed as he, and we, looked at his discharge in his hand, and instead of inquiring where he could dispose of his....sores....he promptly slurped them back into his mouth and ate them.... Yes, I've seen many things, but that made us yell out, ...

What kind of special training is offered in your workplace to help identify and treat victims of crime. For example, any special training to help individuals who have been victims of a sexual assault? Perhaps victims of human trafficking? Share your opportunities and tips.