ER nurses week- please take a moment to read this!
So, the life of an ER nurse is a life like none other. In a sense we all have developed a form of post traumatic stress disorder. As I could never truly compare the things that I have seen to that of a military man there are some similarities. I have seen things in my practice that are nightmares to many. Things you can't even begin to dream of. I have heard the screams of family holding their dead child. I have skated on floors of blood during a trauma. I can describe the smell of burning flesh by memory.
I have cried with family who are bargaining with God to just make their loved one be ok. I have hoped, prayed, screamed, and held my ears closed praying for images and sounds to leave my mind. I have laughed hysterically at things that aren't funny just as a way of coping. I have sat in my car after shifts wanting to vomit from adrenaline rushing through my body.
I have exposed myself to blood, diseases, and airborne viruses hoping to not expose my own family when I go home. I have hugged my family wishing that the person we couldn't save could hug their own. I have been spit on, cursed at, yelled at, kicked, and told what a piece of crap I was. I have worked codes and simultaneously had other patients scream at me because of" why the hell the wait is so long." When explaining that "there is a critical patient" it's just not good enough. Instead you smile apologize to the moon and back when you really want to say "someone is dying next door and your injury can freaking wait!"
After realizing that you are taking care of someone who is a lone survivor of an accident and wanting to just pause time just to cry your eyes out for them you quickly realize that there is no time for that you must suck it up and move on because their are other emergencies happening and people to tend to. When sticking an infant or child we pray, because believe me when I say nobody wants to get it more than me on the first try.
I have seen perfectly normal people walk into the ER and die never walking out. I have also seen some of the sickest thinking they will die be perfectly ok. I have cared for people I know and people who are important and there is a process where I don't bring back the favorite first, I bring back the sickest first. I have brought people back from the dead and held the hands of others while they died. I have learned to never tell a child this won't hurt or someone that they are going to be ok. I have images in my head that I can remember like yesterday. I am put under pressure and have to make quick decisions in order to save your life. By making an error I could potentially kill you.
I have seen frequent flyers seek narcotics everyday. I have fed the beast and we all wonder why they died of an overdose. I have built friendships and bonds with my fellow ER nurses like no other. We all share the same experiences. So next time you are inpatient because the wait is too long it might be because we are trying to save someone's life, or maybe it's because we are wiping our tears away, or maybe we are changing our scrubs because they are saturated in blood. Thank your ER nurse, they have seen things u wouldn't believe. They keep a smile and always advocate for you. They have had a hell of a day so give them some slack. You my fellow ER nurses are the best I know!
11 years as an ER nurse ❤