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The Role of and Emergency Room Nurse

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The Role of an Emergency Room Nurse The role of an emergency room nurse can be demanding and may require a nurse to use many different nursing skills at certain times to take care of a variety of patients. The main role is the nurse must be skilled in client assessment, priority setting, critical thinking, multitasking, and communication. The nurse must be knowledgeable and able to make some decisions independently. The nurse also needs to be able to prioritize so the pts who are at highest risk of major injury or complications are treated first. In a busy ER, time management is important too because there may be a lot of pts waiting for care. The nurse must be mentally prepared for rapid change and be able to keep calm in hectic …show more content…

Next, the emergency nurse must still do a head to toe assessment, depending on the signs and symptoms exhibited by the pt. Another ER assessment done in trauma pts is the use of the “primary survey,” which organizes the approach to the pt so that immediate threats to life are rapidly identified and effectively managed. The primary survey is based on the mnemonic “ABC” and “DE” for major trauma. This is the order of priority. The A=airway/cervical spine, B=breathing, C=circulation, D=disability, and E=exposure. Sometimes nursing diagnoses are noted if the pt is at high risk of injury. Next the doctor assesses the pt, so no nursing diagnosis are planned or implemented at this time. The doctor then makes the decision is the pt needs to be admitted to the hospital or if the pt will be discharged home with instructions for continued care or follow ups. If the pt is admitted, the nurses will start to put together nursing diagnosis which will be planned, implemented, and evaluated when the pt moves a room in the hospital. In the ER pt care is coordinated by use of team work. One nurse will start to assess the pt. The receptionist will get a wristband printed up. The ER nurse will report to the ER doctor prior to the pt being seen by the doctor. The nurse also collaborates with x-ray and ultrasound technicians, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, and

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