Nursing and the Nursing Careers

Jobs of Emergency Room Nurses

4/24/11


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Emergency room nurses are trained in dealing with disaster and emergency situations. They're in charge of giving preliminary treatment or medication for patients in critical level of their illness and injury. Emergency room nurses are renowned for their efficiency, speed and ability to multitask and give medical care. How does one turn into an emergency room nurse?

Formal training and education is requisite to be an emergency nurse. They must possess the skill to handle basic life support because they're the ones in charge of the patient when the doctor is unavailable. Those interested in becoming an emergency room nurse must be a graduate from a recognized nursing school. Their licenses must be legal and of course, in good standing. Emergency room nurses must be amenable to engage in nursing Practice Act.

An experience in emergency medicine is crucial. One must also develop the power to lead in the thick of crisis. A grade of 80 percent must at least be achieved on competency exams. A recent certification from ACLS or Advanced Cardiac Life Support must also be owned by the soon-to-be emergency nurse. Emergency rooms are certainly fast paced surroundings. There will be physical demands to deal with like lifting 50 pounds more or less, standing and walking for long periods, fine motor skills, bending, leaning and stooping with no hindrance, paying attention to details and working precisely over frequent interruption

There are some emergency departments that require the nurses to have an RN degree. This is two year associate degree program. Further training like the BSN or Master of Science in Nursing might be requisite for supervisory or executive function associated to the emergency department.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics envisioned an increase of over 27 percent in the next decade for ER nurses. The American Association of Colleges and Nursing marked that in 2006 there was a modal understaffing of ER nurses by of 8.5 percent.

There can be 3 kinds of emergency nurses. In the United States, there is a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) who is a licensed registered nurse. A CEN has demonstrated technique in emergency nursing. The Certification has a validity of four years and it could be renewed by simply passing another examination or accomplishing 100 continuing education units under the specialty.

Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP) are chiefly found in the United Kingdom. They can independently diagnose, assess, investigate and handle a wide scope of common accidents and injuries. ENPs have gone through training in advanced nursing which is entirely medical in nature. Their training includes gathering full medical history and examination, prescribing, x-ray interpretation, suturing and plastering.

Emergency Care Practitioner, found also in the United Kingdom, is a specialist paramedic or specialist nurse who practices in the pre-hospital setting handling emergency problems. The main responsibility of an Emergency Care Practitioner is to diagnose, assess and treat patient in an emergency setting.

Emergency nurses are quite coveted. Healthcare professionals are currently needed in several hospitals particularly in the emergency departments who are undergoing staff shortages.