Texoma Medical Center

June 07, 2015

by Anonymous

Typical day at the ER

Typical day of work at Texoma Medical Center ER started at 1pm (I worked 1pm-1am). First, obtain report, make first rounds on patients. If no patients are currently present in my assigned rooms, make sure rooms are stocked for next upcoming patient. In the emergency room I was able to solidify basic nursing skills, more importantly I learned to think swiftly but cautiously in my assessment skills whenever a patient first arrives at the hospital. Time management is definitely a challenge in the emergency room due to never knowing what is going to come in through the ambulance bay or walk in the lobby doors. I have excellent coworkers, working as a new graduate in the emergency room; I was able to learn a great deal on time management and critical thinking from some of the smartest nurses and physicians around, some of these nurses being my previous instructors in nursing school. The hardest part of my job would be not being able to take bathroom breaks, drink water, or eat as frequently as I should due to the difficulty of finding momentary relief. This in turn leads to mental/physical fatigue which in turn can affect nursing efficiency. There are definitely those shifts where the emergency room is so busy that I would not be able to at least obtain a drink water for 6-8 hours at a time, but when you have sick patients, their needs always come first. Sometimes you just have to speak up and let your charge nurse know and they will do their best to relieve you, even if it's just for 5 minutes. The most enjoyable part of my job, was knowing that I was able to make a difference in a patient's care, and also providing patient teaching in a way that empowered patients to become more in control of their health.