Still Learning...
Hello there,
My name is Alysa (yes, with one ‘S’) and I’m currently working as an emergency department nurse in NYC. I’ve been a working night nurse for about two years and I have plans to move to a critical care unit. I am studying for my Emergency Nurse Certification and hopefully next year, my company will pay for my Trauma Certification courses. Last week I received good news that I was accepted into graduate school, so by 2022, I’ll be an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. Although I am making steps to further advance my career, I am still a novice nurse and I try to learn something new every shift.
A little bit about my hospital:
I work in a tertiary hospital where we see on average, about 400 patients a day. We are a level one trauma unit, level two Pediatric trauma, Stroke Certified, and have a Cardiac Cath lab on site. The ER is divided into several sections, Critical/Trauma (STEMI, Strokes, Unresponsive, unstable GI bleeds, and traumatic falls, gunshots, and stabbings) Main (stable workups such as abdominal pain, psychiatric/behavioral care, cardiac workups, stable blood transfusions, etc., the bulk of patients we see end up here) Pediatrics/Urgent Care (all children up to 21 years old are seen in this area and outpatient services), and Holding/Observation area (admitted patients that do not have a bed upstairs and patient who need to stay overnight for early morning testing). All nurses take shifts into different sections, none of us are designated in a certain area (i.e. one shift I’ll work in pediatrics, next shift I’ll work in the holding area). Although we do not have a designated trauma team, we all are adept in holding our own during codes. Like all hospitals, there are issues that can be improved, such as adequate staffing, but I enjoy working with these ER nurses.
This blog is dedicated to all future, current, and retired nurses out there who want to learn, laugh, or complain about the field of nursing.