Emergency Room Nursing

Patients are being left stranded on trolleys for hours and forced to have treatment in corridors due in part to the loss of hospital beds, nurses say. The government assured the hospital there were enough beds that this wouldn’t happen. Problem solving is an average daily activity but what happens when the problem as no solution? With the shortage of nurses and the lack beds for patients are interfering with the quality of care. The need of oxygen tanks, heart monitors, and privacy this has caused a big issue. This sets a big risk and patients have trouble getting the needed attention and there is no reach call bells to have a nurse assist them. I think the nurses are put into a predicament that is doomed to fail. Nurses should be able to show comfort and let the patient know they aren’t a now but instead are treated with love and dignity. The invasion of privacy of privacy is uncontrollable since some are in the hallway. Performance of the nurses must plummet since the working conditions are awful. The motivation is probably low which only will impact the patient. This is not fair and should obviously not be a common practice. Action needs to be taken on this catastrophe as soon as possible and should never be repeated in the future!

(Source: BBC)

According to this article, there was an issue with visiting time hours for the hospital. There wasn’t enough parking so the hospital decided to add more visiting hour instead of extending the parking lot for guest. The initial perception sounds good but there was a hidden catch with the adjustment of hours for visiting. The hospital said they would have this trial extension as long as the visitors did not interfere with the doctors or nurses. This appears that there is a possible risk that the nurses may not be able to perform their duties due to visitor. The point of the hospital is to minimize risk and to ensure the patient that they have their full attention and have regulations to protect them. With the adjustment of visiting hours to save the cost of adding an additional parking lot I feel the nurses will not be able to perform at the way to their potential. Some patient’s visitors are emotional and if there is an emergency there might be a conflict with the visitor and this takes away the needed attention from the patients. The visitors are important but the patients should be the priority.  The nurses may be distracted by miscellaneous questions and may not be able to fulfill the duties needed which will only lead to a negligence law suit. I’m not saying the trial was not thought out thoroughly but I would need more details on how they plan on implementing this change and how they plan on counter acting the future problems that could arise.

(Source: BBC)

 The book Atonement is about a young girl that commits a crime of making false accusations and put someone in jail. Briony starts out as an aspiring writer and makes a play that she wants to perform in front of family. Before her cousins and Briony get to perform she witnesses her older sister and another young gentleman trying to sexually persuade her to do things she doesn’t want to do. This happens because she is young and has an innocent mind. The letter does not help her wrong assumptions and the kissing act in her mind only confirms the young gentleman whose name is Robbie Turner is trying to harm her older sister. In the midst of all the pondering in the poor little girl’s head, her cousins run away from home. Everyone goes looking for them and Briony witnesses her cousin Lola getting raped. She saw this as a perfect opportunity to blame Robbie Turner for raping Lola even though it wasn’t him.  Robbie Turner ends up going to jail and joins the military after her is out. She becomes a nurse to make up for her sins but is frightened by what she sees and can’t pursue the position. Briony said she met with Robbie Turner and her cousin and they are living happily together and she will do whatever it takes to clear his name. Briony later reveals, her cousin and the guy she accused are dead from the war. She really made that part up to seek forgiveness and let their love last forever. I love the part that she went out of her way to make a happy ending for her cousin and Tommy Turner. Emotionally apologizing and to imagine how their life should have went. That took a lot of courage and even though she did sin in the past, the fact that she acknowledged her sins and repented, she should be forgiven. 

I completely disagree with this article. It is called “Is It Right to Ask a Woman to Stop Breastfeeding in Public?” It is not okay to ask a woman to stop breastfeeding in public. The author of this article, Lainiac, believes that it is absolutely inappropriate for mothers to breastfeed in public. She states that it makes her and others feel very uncomfortable seeing a woman breastfeed her child because it is closely associated with flashing ones breasts. It should be classified as indecent exposure and should be banned from public areas according to Lainiac. Lainiac claims that mothers call breastfeeding natural and should be allowed but she disagrees. The truth is that breastfeeding is natural and is the best way to breastfeed ones child. There is nothing inappropriate with breastfeeding a baby in public despite the disgusted looks ignorant people may give. Babies should be fed when they are hungry and mothers should not have to go hide in the bathroom when their babies are hungry. Lainiac claims that mothers should cover up or pump their milk prior to going out in order to spare society and discomfort felt by onlookers. Breastfeeding is a beautiful thing that should not be covered up. Flashing your breasts inappropriately and breastfeeding ones baby are 2 completely different things and should not be compared as similar.

(Source: bukisa.com)

This artwork was created by a student from the University of Bristol Medical School as a part of a project called Out Of Our Heads. I love the theme that it has. In nursing, I feel as though loving your career and integrating and spreading that love is essential to patient care. The quote on the art piece states that “Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.” I do believe that medicine can only go so far but love and warmth can go farther. A critically ill patient needs love and compassion on top of medicine to get well. Without love, the patient will feel lonely or unwanted and therefore will not fight as hard for their life. I really like how the picture has someone “sneezing” love and making it spread, it really captures the point they are trying to convey. Nurses that have compassion and show their patients they care, make patients feel much better and much more comfortable while in their care. Neglect is a hurtful feeling and can be fixed or helped with a little love from the right person. Love is the ultimate healing energy by far; it warms the heart more than any medication ever could.

(Source: bris.ac.uk)

This article was based on a doctor who shares a story and opinions on weight loss pills. One day, an older lady, in her 40’s, came into her office asking for fen-phen which is a weight loss pill. The doctor looked over at her and clearly noticed that she was not over weight. She asked her why she wanted the pill and she pinched a tiny part of her stomach and said that she is trying to get rid of it. The doctor was perplexed because she was used to chronically ill or obese patients, not healthy patients who want to lose a mere 10 pounds. The doctor began to inform the patient about the risks and side effects of the pill but the patient got angry and stormed out. Society puts a great strain on individuals to be perfect and lose any weight they can the easy way. The easy way happens to be with diet pills which usually do more harm than good. A month after the patient entered her office, an article was published that linked fen-phen to heart valve abnormalities. Fen-phen was then pulled from the market which shows how dangerous it was for human usage. Diet pills to me are the worst thing ever invented. Companies that produce these waist trimming miracle pills feed off of the weaknesses of obese individuals. Obesity is a huge problem in the U.S. and many people would do anything to lose those extra pounds. Diet pills come with multiple risks but these risks are ignored when the pills promise to burn the fat off of your body. Diet pills should be permanently taken off the market and the risks should be more highly publicized to save obese individuals from harm.

(Source: The New York Times)

I found this article interesting because I live in the age of technology and this article directly affects me and my generation. A good question that came from the article was “What about that gent who was talking loudly into his Android phone on the Metro-North train this morning? Was he really that obnoxious before we all went wireless — or did the device somehow change him”? I like this question because I am very curious to know the answer. Larry D. Rosen, a California psychologist, and the author of iDisorder, is concerned with the risk of mental illness with the use of technology. Children, young adults and adults use technology substantially and with all the hours wasted on technology today; what did we do with all those hours before technology? Young children are learning to text everyone they speak to as opposed to learning how to hold a normal conversation. Social skills are highly affected by this new age of technology, especially for younger children that have such plastic brains. Young adults are dating online, sexting and interacting more wirelessly than having one-to-one interactions. Before technology, individuals had to physically talk to each other, had no distractions, buzzing pockets, or an obsession with constantly checking their Facebook. According to Rosen, “70 percent of those who report heavily using mobile devices experience “phantom vibration syndrome,” which is what happens when your pocket buzzes and there’s no phone in your pocket.” I thought that I was going crazy when that happened to me but I guess I’m not the only one.This article was very interesting to me because technology has directly affected social life and so much more and it is interesting to ponder on what will happen next.

(Source: The New York Times)

                                          “Interview with an ER Nurse”

This interview caught my eye because it’s about a lady who was not a nurse at first; she had a whole different job that she left in order to pursue nursing. Her name is Joan Russet and seven years ago she had an administrative job at a medical research facility. The surprising part is that she actually enjoyed her job but she knew she could do better. Joan was not getting the hands on experience and face-to-face interaction that she desired. Instead she was making phone calls, making appointments, and filing papers for a medical facility. Her inspiration to pursue nursing came from when she was diagnosed with leukemia and had to stay at the hospital. Joan mentions that the nurses at the hospital made her feel very comfortable and helped save her life and still keeps in contact with them to this day. She already had her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology so she went to school for a year and a half through the accelerated program for her nursing degree. Once she was finished with school and testing she was offered a great job and became an ER nurse! Her new job is completely different from her old job and she loves being an ER nurse! Russet mentions that it is something new every day and is very challenging but very rewarding. Russet loves her new job and life and it was all due to a little extra schooling, hard work and dedication. She inspires me because I always used to want an administrative job and it took me a long time to choose nursing but I did and she makes me feel more sure of myself. I hope to enjoy being a nurse as much as Joan does one day.

(Source: edu411.org)

According to this article, the ER is basically the portal for the hospital—all patients are sent to the ER to be “sorted out”. At the ER 2 questions are asked:

1)      What’s the nature of the illness? (from this question they can begin to try to determine where the patient should be sent)

2)      Where will the patient best be suited? (from this they begin to try to determine where the best place to send the patient because the ER is constantly flooded with patients)

The decision making is complex because it is hard to pinpoint where to send the patient. Also, often doctors fight to not take care of new patients because they already have many patients in front of them and don’t want to be overworked. “Monday morning quarterbacking occurs in hospitals on a daily basis. ”If this patient had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the first place, a lot of these mishaps could have been avoided,” is a frequent refrain heard the morning after a very sick patient has been admitted.”” Obviously there are a lot of problems that could occur because all patients are sent to the ER to be “sorted out” and don’t end up where they ultimately need to be. “The hospital’s admitting office does not want to receive and then admit patients who might be “unstable.” At the hospital at which I work, if a patient even has an IV placed (customary for a patient admitted to a general medical service) they are deemed too “unstable” to wait in the admitting area. Something has to give.”” This is a big problem because not all patients can be just sent to the ER because it is supposed to be for EMERGENCIES only, not for every patient that enters the hospital. This slows down the ER and does not benefit the patients that truly need assistance immediately. This problem needs to be fixed otherwise where are people that are severely hurt going to be able to go for immediate care?

(Source: kevinmd.com)

So I wanted to know what a day in the life of an ER nurse was like and as I searched I found this interesting story.  It’s by an ER nurse, Sarah Carlson, who told a crazy story of what it was like for her. What scared me was that she said that 4 years of school, studying and practice did not prepare her for the world that she was put in. She begins by describing a critical patient that she knew nothing about rushed into the ER as all the doctors and nurses were donning gloves and preparing to care for her. “Like clockwork, the Paramedic begins to report, as all eyes in the room are on the pale, female, approximately 19 years old, lying before us covered in blood under a white blanket. Both her arms appear broken, glass is strewn in her hair, deep cuts line her face along her eyes and nose. Her head is swollen, bloody and bruised. The room is silent as the paramedic describes what happened. While we try to stabilize the patient I hear bits and fragments of the paramedic’s report. High-speed motor vehicle accident?… What?… Unconscious at scene?… I think to myself, is that what I just heard?” OMG! This would be such an adrenaline rush for me! I would not know how to handle situations like this (it’s only my first year as a nursing student) so its amazing to me that one day I will be trained to do so. Sarah’s role was to administer fluids, medications and blood products. She has trouble finding a vein but eventually does, the crazy part is that everyone is rushing and must think fast to be able to save this patient and there is virtually no room for mistakes. There are many unanswered questions and the only source she has to look at is the patient herself because she cannot fully evaluate the patient.

The patient is finally evaluated to everyone’s best knowledge and it is found that “she has a broken left arm, broken right femur, multiple facial fractures around her eyes and mouth, and two broken vertebras in the middle of her back and a cut on her liver causing her to lose a lot of blood.” It’s apparent that the patient is severally hurt and although it is difficult to stay calm in this kind of situation it is vital that health professionals are trained to do so. Team work is essential for the wellbeing of the patient because it delivers faster and more accurate care.

Sarah chose to become an ER nurse because she wanted to constantly be kept busy and help save lives. She loves her job and has a passion for it which is very important when it comes to helping save lives. She wants to provide the most comfort she has to every patient no matter how tired and aggravated she is, which is exactly what I want to do and hope to do. Every day is a new day with new experiences to learn from which is why I want to become an ER nurse. Although it may be very challenging, the best part is being able to care for those that have it far worse than you. And even if you cannot cure them, you can comfort them through one of the toughest times of their lives.

(Source: insideout.wbur.org)