Why I am thankful to be an ER nurse

It's Emergency Nurse's Week.  As I've said before, I became a nurse so that I could work with kids but my ADD brain means the ER is the best place for me to work.  I work in a 56 bed ED that sees like 65,000 patients a year.  It is the BUSIEST, most HIGH STRESS environment I have ever worked in and I LOVE it.  There have been many changes and higher than normal stress situations recently.  I have seen and heard things I don't understand. I keep reminding myself "that there for the grace of God go I."  Bad things can happen to anyone of us as nurses.  We do our best with the information we have and what we perceive and make split second decisions.  99.9% of the time we right are but when it's not, it can be devastating.  All of this has been rolling around in my head and I realized this morning it was time for a "thankful list."  When things seem most pressing my dad used to say "Count your blessings."  It has been a recurring theme in my life this year to be THANKFUL no matter what the circumstances.  So here's my list of:
WHY I AM THANKFUL TO BE AN ER NURSE

1. I never know what is going to be behind door number 1 or 32 or 53 or(wherever my assignment is) when I walk in.  For some people the unknown is a little unnerving.  For the ER nurse it's the challenge of the job.  The "chief complaint" listed on the computer screen is rarely the main issue.
2. As a nurse I sometimes have the opportunity spend a little time with patients and peel back  the layers on the patient's story.  I liken it to an analogy of an onion.  You keep peeling and you will find the real deal and it stinks most of the time and sometimes can make you cry (out of sadness, frustration, tiredness, disbelief, etc).  
3. Even if a patient is AWFUL (Awful means angry for no reason, crazy, screaming, climbing out of bed with a broken hip, on the call light every 30 seconds, demanding pain meds after doses that would put an elephant to sleep) you know you will be rid of them by discharge or admission and they will be SEP (someone else's problem) soon enough. 
4. The shift rarely drags on.  It is the usual to get started and be in perpetual motion until by tummy says "Time for a cookie and a Mt Dew" and the first half of the shift has flown by. 
5. I get to work with the most amazing group of people.  As a "mid-shifter" I get to work with both the day and night crew.  I can honestly say they are different personality types but equally great to work with.  
6. The above mentioned group of people have a crazy sense of humor and I get to laugh at work a lot.  I wish I could tell a non-ER person what's funny but you wouldn't get it. Oh and google "You might be and ER nurse if..."  They are all true. Seriously, they are.  
7. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the people who run the show-from the Director to the charge nurses and everyone in between.  I am blessed to work under stellar leadership (not just sucking up although I think Boss's Day is coming up so this counts as my tribute to them.)  I see just a snap shot of what's going on in the ER and they see and deal with it all.  They handle a crazy amount of pressure ridiculously well.  They continue to try to make the ER great place to work while meeting challenges and resistance from all angles.   Thank you to all of them.   I know you do a lot of work that we don't see.  
8. I get to hear lots of stories.   I love a person's story.  It is a blessing to my heart to ask an elderly couple "How long have you been married?"  And then not just hear "66 years" but the story of how they met.  Gives me goosebumps.
9. I am challenged and convicted in my spirit every day.  It is the easiest way to be jaded with someones' pain and be harsh right back at the patient who is screaming at you.  But I know I am called to show compassion and caring to all of my patients.  I also know that most of the time I fall short.  Really, most people just want to be heard, a warm blanket and a turkey sandwich ( a little known fact of the ER is that the turkey sandwiches are apparently so good that some people ask for one as soon as they enter the exam room!) 
10. Lastly,  I am thankful I have a job.  I am doubly blessed because I have a job I love.  I did not apply anywhere else when we moved down here and I didn't have any idea what the hospitals were like.  The job I got was the exact hours I wanted to work in a place that is great with people who are amazing.  That's another whole story and at the time I didn't know it would work out so well.  God is good.  

So that's it!!! Any others that you think of, feel free to comment -remember this is a family blog :)
Thank you to all the amazing ER nurses, medics, HUCS and CNA's I get to work with everyday.  You are all a blessing to me.  

joy

You know you are a pediatric nurse when...

I had the honor and privilege to sit with a group of like minded nurses this week as I interviewed for a job at a wonderful children's hospital in Orlando.  I have been feeling the itch to get back to a pediatric ER for a little while.  I love where I am right now.  I have no desire to leave.  I just want to supplement what I am doing so I can bring back to my full time job more knowledge, more best practice and more ideas to better take care of kids in our area. 
The beauty in nursing as a profession you are only limited by your imagination.  There are jobs available if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone, look a little bit and put your self out there.  I have been very blessed in this career. 
How did my interview go?  They offered me a full time position.  As stated above, that is not what I am looking for.  Also this hospital is 75 miles away.  At this point in my life it would be like trying to fit the round peg of my family into the square peg "my career."  If I have learned anything in the past year or so, it's I am not defined by my career.  My value and worth are not directly tied to what I do to earn money.  I can make an impact in my workplace.  I pray that's what God is using me for.  But my family is what's going to go on long after I am gone from this planet.  It's my family that's going to be the testimony of the kind of person I was. 
So back to where I started, the awesome pediatric nurses.  As I left them, I got to thinking about what a unique breed of nurses we are.  So I woke up this morning and I little list popped in my head. I just what to share it with you.  It's original, well thought out title is... 
"You know you are a Pediatric Nurse when...."
1) Children don't scare you.  Parents do.
2) You know all the words to the Barney song, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and are unashamed to sing badly to calm and distract an anxious child. 
3) You pay attention to the words you use and tell every child there are no cats in the CAT scan because one time you didn't and had a very sad, confused patient.
4)  You use words like blue lines (veins), straws (IV catheter), soap (antiseptic), bee sting, pinch, poke to explain and IV start or blood draw to a child. 
5) You know bubbles and stickers are an essential part of nursing care.  It is a cardinal sin to not give out stickers to every child.
6) You could be a side show act at a carnival because you can state a babies age to the month just by looking at them and know a child's weight within 3-5 pounds just by knowing their age (after you convert it from kilograms).
7)  You have called the cops after seeing unrestrained children jumping around in the back of a moving car.
8)  Friends, relatives, neighbors call upon you to examine lacerations, extremity injury, rashes, fever "just to see what you think."
9)  You have heard "You work with kids?  It must be so sad."  more times than you can count.
10)  You know you work with kids because you are just caring for a patient.  You are caring for a future Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Taylor Swift, or Hilary Clinton.  You know a child has all that potential in them and you have seen and know what amazing odds they can overcome.  And when the outcome is not good, its a mixture of sadness and privilege to have been "chosen" to cross the families world at this time. 

So to all my pediatric nurse friends, you have crossed my mind over and over as I type this list.  I thank God that you were given this passion, this calling.  I pray that you will remember, even on the bad days, what an honor it is to care for these little souls.  You are following after the One who loves these children most of all.
"But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Luke 18:16God bless,

joy