The road to becoming an ER Nurse was a journey and a challenge for me. The job is much more demanding than most young women seeking this career realize. Don’t let the television shows fool you. There isn’t a single glamorous thing about being an ER nurse. I spent over 20 years in the profession and it wasn’t my first choice. I retired from ER nursing eleven years ago. I remember when I started, I was so excited, and I loved it. My husband asked me how much I would be getting paid. I told him I really didn’t know, but told him I would do the job for nothing because I loved it so much (he thought I was crazy). What I didn’t know at the time was that I should have asked for much more money. Just like teachers, nurses are underpaid.
Though working in the ER and caring for my community was exciting and rewarding, after decades of service it took a huge toll on my physical and mental health. I hate to admit it, but there were some mornings when I cried all the way to work because I knew I was headed for a day of monstrous demands and stress. The sleep I got at night was never enough to fully restore me. The reality of “nurse burnout” is a real problem in this profession.
It’s so hard to describe the day-to-day workload, but here’s my attempt. Well, first, my day began with sitting in the morning rush-hour traffic long after my huge mug of coffee was gone. So, I get to the hospital, hoping to find a parking spot that isn’t at the top of the parking deck (that was always a futile wish). Then I walk about two blocks to the hospital. Then clock in at 6:00 am, receive my report from the previous shift until 6:30, then hit the floor. And then the chaos begins: ambulance calls, life-threatening decisions to make, IVs to start, doctor’s urgent orders to perform “NOW”, family members to calm down, patients to keep breathing. Oh my, I’m exhausted just describing it; however, that doesn’t even touch on the craziness of the job.
What is the basic definition of an ER Nurse? Hmm, hard to put into a simple definition. While each day brings a different set of duties and responsibilities, you always need to be acutely observant and have excellent assessment skills so you can quickly recognize patient symptoms and identify the most life-threatening ones. That’s called “triage”. I know you’ve heard that word in the television medical shows. Let me show you a brief list of what my duties may be:
- Triage patients to determine the order to be seen based on need and urgency
- Immediate documentation of tasks performed in patient records and keep them updated
- Work with fellow ER employees to stabilize patients coming into the ER
- Give stitches and sutures
- Help set broken bones
- Assist with intubations (placing breathing tubes in patients)
- Put in Foley catheters (tube into bladder)
- Start and maintain intravenous lines (IVs)
- Draw blood for labs
- Administer medications from doctor’s orders
- Transfer stable patients to admission floors and discharge others
- AND MY FAVORITE: Do all of this with a controlled and calm demeanor. (there is the biggest stressor)
As an ER nurse, you are the “Queen of Multitasking”. You will have colleagues, doctors, patients, and family members calling your name at the same time. And their demands and questions are all valid. Can you feel the stress? But, believe it or not, this was all something I was meant to do, and this is how I got there.
My Journey to ER Nurse
Back in the late 1960’s, I was headed for college. Since I was a child, I always wanted to be a doctor. I played “doctor” as a child, giving my parents and friends treatments all day. So when it came time to make my choice for a major, there was no decision to make; it was “pre-med”. But I was met with disappointment when I went to my counselor to declare the major of my dreams. Please note, I did not apply myself in high school because I was too much of a social butterfly. I preferred hanging out with my friends and playing sports to applying myself in academics. My grades were just okay, so the counselor informed me I had no business pursuing anything as difficult as “becoming a doctor”. As a matter of fact, she said I didn’t even have any business going to college.
I do like a challenge and don’t like being told I am not capable of doing something. Therefore, I dug my heels in and was determined I would prove that counselor wrong. When I told my Dad what she had said to me, the battle began. As a stubborn Irishman, there was no way his daughter was going to be told she couldn’t do what she wanted. He was well aware of my inherited stubbornness (he had unfortunately dealt with it many times). So, he escorted me back to the school to confront the counselor. He asked the counselor if she had the power to keep me from entering pre-med. When she said, “well, not really, but I wouldn’t recommend it”, my Dad said, “well, okay then, sign her up!” It was as simple as that; I was on my way. Thanks, Dad!
The Death of my Medical School Dreams
I met my challenge, passed all the entrance exams, and began my path to becoming a doctor and started my “pre-med” major. I was headed for medical school! In the 1970’s and in the state where I lived, you had to declare a minor, so I minored in Music. Unfortunately, my orchestra director was very demanding and, in my opinion, very unreasonable. My orchestra practice was immediately after my Chemistry lab, and the walking distance between the two classes was huge. There was no way I could get to orchestra practice on time; I went to my orchestra director, explained my situation, and asked if I could be a couple of minutes late. It was an emphatic “NO!” Not only that, but he said he would throw me out of orchestra if I was late. Yeah, a real nice guy.
Well, I Thought I Solved My Problem
My solution was to arrange to leave my Chemistry lab a couple of minutes early. Our lab instructor allowed us to work on our own and simply turn in our results to his desk at the end of class (still the days of using paper). My lab partners (all men) agreed to help me out. So I left my finished work with them each class to hand in after they completed their part, so I could run to orchestra practice. At this point I need to explain to all of you that I was the only woman enrolled in pre-med. Not only that, but I was only 17, and the majority of my classmates were older. Also, the prevailing attitude at the time was not very favorable toward a woman becoming a doctor. Lots of teasing like, “Hey, sweetie, nursing is down the hall”. Can you feel the atmosphere?
About halfway through the quarter, the Chemistry instructor came to me and suggested I drop the class because I was failing. I didn’t understand how that was possible, and when I inquired, “how?”, he informed me, “you haven’t turned in one lab assignment”. Turns out they were throwing my assignment contributions in the trash. (Thanks, guys!) Unfortunately, a series of similar events led me to drop out of “pre-med,” and I chose another major, “Speech and Drama.” Goodbye, medical school.
So, Let’s Try Paramedic
After graduating with my degree in Speech and Drama, I got married. It didn’t take long to discover there were no jobs in my new major. You just don’t walk into an acting job in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 70s. All productions were brought in from Broadway or just community theater, no paying gigs. I did various jobs and then had three wonderful kids. However, after all those years, I still felt a strong pull toward the medical field. I was way too old to try to become a doctor now. By the time I finished medical school, I would have been 62 by the time I started practicing. Not very practical. How would you like to be my patient, and when you asked, “How long have you been a doctor?”, my response would have been “about 3 months”. You see my point. LOL
But my disappointment was about to turn into an opportunity. One day, when I was in the library with one of my kids who was working on a project, I noticed a book on the bookshelf, “Careers in the Medical World.” Well, that definitely caught my eye. As I leafed through the pages, I discovered you could become a paramedic with two years of education and passing the Paramedic Boards. Intriguing!
I discussed it with my husband and he said, “go for it”! Now that my kids were in middle school and high school, I had more time to myself. So, after all the necessary steps, I started working as a Paramedic. I loved driving that ambulance! After about a year as a Paramedic, my boss took me aside and said I was wasting my talents being a Paramedic and suggested I go to Medical School. I couldn’t help but laugh at this turn of events. Nothing was going to change the age thing, so I started studying nursing. After four years of an extremely demanding course load, I graduated and passed the Nursing Boards, earning my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I was an RN, and my new life as an ER nurse began.
Final Thoughts
Well, that was the crazy journey through my medical career and becoming an ER nurse. It was challenging, but rewarding. All I can say is even though I started my medical career well past my college years, the saying is really true: “you’re never too old to learn”. It’s fun to challenge yourself and learn new things. So, if I had one thing to say to our youth, or really anyone, it is don’t let the bumps in the road stop you. If you have a dream, go for it. If it doesn’t work out, who knows, maybe even something more interesting and rewarding will come down the pike. This very article you are reading is my most recent challenge: blogging on my own website. Come back and see me often; who knows what you’ll find.