What I Learned Working in the Emergency Department

S (situation): Hi, my name Kelsey and I am a nurse in the emergency department. I am calling about Shannon O’Reilly’s most recent laboratory results.

It is a warm summer evening at Grady Hospital. It is my first day as an emergency room volunteer. I’m nervous and eager, hoping to see something exciting. However, it is surreally quiet. Suddenly, there is word of an ambulance en route. Minutes later the paramedics burst into the trauma slot pushing a man on a stretcher. His head and face are covered with gauze that is soaked through with dark blood. It is a flurry of well-orchestrated movement as the attendings and residents start to resuscitate him. They pull back the bandages to reveal a deep gash that is bleeding profusely. With much effort his vital signs are stabilized and he begins to regain consciousness. Later, after the excitement had passed, I learned what brought him here. He is diabetic and couldn’t afford to properly manage his condition. He had fainted due to hypoglycemia and hit his head. He had almost lost his life because of the unfortunate financial realities of modern healthcare. In that moment, I came to appreciate the very real cost of disease and the incredible role physicians have in ameliorating it. This formative experience was the beginning of my path to medicine.

As humans we believe that we are unique and there is nobody in the world who is exactly the same as us. However our uniqueness originates from our life experiences and these events we experience drive us towards certain characteristics that mark who we are. No matter how unique you may feel there is likely someone else in the world who has gone through similar situations.

Clipboard and stethoscope in hand, I walked toward the double doors that flashed emergency in bright red letters above. It was my first clinical shift as an EMT student, and first day jitters fluttered around in my stomach. I had no idea what lay ahead of me. However, I was not expecting to witness the fragility of life. About a half an hour into my shift the rapid response alarm blared through the emergency room. I turned to my preceptor and quizzically asked what this meant. “A rapid response is a patient who is in need of immediate medical care and intervention. As an EMT who is part of the rapid response team you will be expected to assist with vitals and chest compressions. Let’s head toward the recess room, and I’ll explain more there.”

"You are truly benefit from the content you are studying, you may have to learn at a higher level than the mode of teaching in a class requires of you" ( Paul & Elder 2012,p.144). The purpose of my education is simple to prepare me for dealing with better educated individuals whether in an office or out in the field and compliment my twenty-five years of field experience. The quote I began my with is truly fitting for the degree which I am working towards in Emergency Services Medical Administration. This information that I learn from this class specifically will help me think before I speak and allow me to better focused not only on the situation but also the questions and answers that are constantly being asked. There are many questions

The documentary of 24/7/365-The evolution of Emergency Medicine is about the chronological story of the creation of the residency in emergency medicine, the struggles the early emergency doctors had to overcome and their achievement in patient care. The documentary presented a strong statement in defense of the importance of an emergency department and doctors trained in this field, for the benefit of the patient. What bothers me the most of the documentary was the fight between doctors for the defense of their field they practice and for money, and the dumping of patient because they had not payed his last visit. The view of medicine has to change, we need to avoid

Being a first-responder is an incredibly challenging yet rewarding career choice. Facing possible death in the hope of saving life is as noble of a cause as it gets. Fortunately, with proper training, methods to make proper decisions in highly time sensitive moments. Also, allocating resources properly to address the situation at hand is necessary in order to best utilize these resources for success. Typically, unlike the military, first-responders operate on a majority rules basis. Having authority or taking authority to act is a necessary step to leading a team, and therefore having a strong sense of decision-making is critical to securing the confidence of one's first-responder team.

I obtained 25 clinical hours under the supervision of Margene Trinidad, FNP-BC at the Weslaco Freestanding Emergency Room, which is part of South Texas Health System. Ms. Trinidad has more than 20 years of experience as an emergency room nurse at McAllen Medical Center prior to obtaining her license as a family nurse practitioner. As a provider, she is extremely hands-on and begins her assessment the moment she sees them entering the room by assessing their appearance, cleanliness, gait, and level of consciousness. To keep up with the constant patient flow, she performs speedy, yet thorough focused assessments and obtains a detailed history as it relates to the chief complaint. Ms. Trinidad works collaboratively with all the medical staff and

Pharmacy is an attractive career because it satisfies my desire to learn about medicine and to help others. Pharmacy involves a combination of biology, chemistry, and math. I find these subjects so enjoyable that I am excited when I have homework and faced with challenging problems. It’s so fascinating to learn how different medicines affect our bodies. Not only do I love learning about medicine, I also have a huge desire to help others. Through various volunteer opportunities, I’ve discovered how helping others satisfies their needs and my own. Volunteering in Memorial Health’s emergency department has been a very rewarding experience as I’ve been able to assist the staff in helping and comforting the patients. Knowing that I can help those

I really enjoyed reading your posting and it appears that you had an interesting clinical experience in the ER. It is really good to see how the physician interacted with students during this time of emergency and allowed you to experience the opportunity for learning. I was reading in the textbook on the idea of behavioral theory and it stated this theory "focusing mainly on what is directly observable and behaviorists view learning as the product of the stimulus conditions and the responses that follow" (Bastable, 2013). In your situation the stimulus would be with you being present in the ER when the older African American male who was found unresponsive was brought to the ER. The response in which followed this stimulus

I do not think that I can categorize my abilities into one certain level. Because I have worked in the emergency field for many years, I am comfortable with attaching the word expert to my experience level. Through the years, I have mentored many new nurses and paramedics to the emergency care field, which has taught me more than I could have learned on my own. I feel a certain calm when I enter the emergency room, even during the most chaotic situations. I have developed the skills to appropriately handle any situation that occurs, and I can easily pass the knowledge onto others in a way that facilitates learning. I recently left my comfort zone and accepted a position in administration. Well, the first concept that I learned is that comfort

During my visit, I met with the Youth Organizer, Luba Cortes. We spoke briefly in regards to the week three evaluations. I informed her they all need to be completed by the end of week three. The participants were currently present at the time of my visit. They were not engaged in any work activity as they were all having lunch. At the end of their lunch break, I spoke with some of them and they all stated they enjoy working with this organization. Shortly after, I was able to observe the overall facility which was kept clean, organized and well supervised. The emergency exits were kept clear and accessible for use. I also noticed fire extinguishers which were present in the designated areas. Overall, this work site follows DYCD rules and regulations.

The US has a very larger number of uninsured patients in our health care system. Uninsured patients are those individuals without private or public insurance coverage. Compared to medically insured patients, the uninsured tend to delay seeking care until their medical conditions are more advanced, complicated, and costly to treat. Uninsured patients without a primary care home tend to use the Emergency Department (ED) for their primary care.

My pulse raced, as a nauseating wave came over my body, and I anticipated I was on the edge of evidently having a heart attack. Unquestionably, I knew what I needed to relate, but my response seemed paralyzed!

Being different has never occurred to me before. I believed that since everyone is human, we are all connected, that we should not be judged based on what we look like. I was wrong.