Emergency Nurses Week
EN Week 2021 is celebrated October 10–16, with Emergency Nurses Day on the 13th. The theme this year is “Grit: Passion and Persistence.”
Why, you might ask, is grit and persistence tied with passion? If you’re not a nurse, you might think that nurses are expected to be passionate, but “grit” and “persistence” don’t seem like words you’d normally associate with nursing.
The initial response during COVID highlighted the narrative that nurses are heroes, which most of us admit we aren’t actually comfortable with. However, we appreciated the recognition. It felt deserved. COVID showcased our value in a way in which it had not been before.
But the truth is, being a nurse — especially an ER nurse — required a special set of skills worthy of recognition even before COVID. Whether getting prehospital care from EMS or by walking through the front doors, ER nurses are the first people patients see when they are brought into the hospital. Patients come in screaming and cursing out in pain. They come in with gunshot wounds and delivering babies. They come in with heart attacks and panic attacks alike. We treat them all; often at the same time.
Compared to other types of hospital nurses who have a maximum number of patients, whom have already been stabilized and diagnosed, the ER has no maximum capacity, and we do the stabilizing.
Maybe the patient was delivered by an excellent EMS crew who compiled a coherent history of events from the patient’s family, started an IV, and administered medication. Maybe the medics didn’t have time to do anything and brought you an unconscious person with no information at all. Or maybe the patient was dumped off in the driveway by a gang member. Either way, ER nurses have always had to be investigators, as well as advocates for their patients. We’re required to have grit just based on the nature of the role.
“But the doctors do that, not the nurses,” some might say. Sure, yes, physicians play an integral role in the ER. They also evaluate patients and are ultimately responsible for the patient’s plan of care. They do not, however, physically execute those treatments. You’d be hard-pressed to find a physician who could readily handle a bunch of life-saving medication infusions, for example. Trust me, the nurses play an equally integral role in keeping patients safe and alive.
It seems strange that a nurse is charged with such a wide variety of responsibilities. I could be cleaning feces off a homeless person, and minutes later, I could be managing multiple high-risk IV medications with different titration parameters — one wrong move could cause death.
ER nurses run from one patient to the next, ensuring we provide the right care to the right patient at the right time. Instead of being recognized for our agility, speed, and knowledge, we get yelled at and abused by patients and their visitors for not tending to them in the way they think is best. Sometimes we get yelled at and abused by the nurses in other departments, or by the lab, or by our own doctors and coworkers. Still, we provide quality care with smiles on our faces because patient satisfaction is something we are graded on.
To make matters worse, we get assaulted…a lot. (See this article for more on that.) We are expected to work under immense pressure for up to twelve hours straight, with maybe a 30-minute break for lunch.
We have an important job which can be incredibly stressful. We don’t always have enough staff or resources. We are often not paid what we’re worth. When others are panicked, we remain calm. Where others would quit, we thrive.
It takes a certain kind of person to do what we do and keep coming back for more. We love what we do. We try to make changes where we can. And we persist. With freaking grit.
Want to help celebrate ER Nurses Week?
- Tell an ER nurse you appreciate them on social media. Tag your ER nurse friends. Spread the news that this is our week!
- Send food! You could send doughnuts or bagels to your local ER for breakfast.
(Please refrain from sending pizza, as it’s likely hospital administration is already sending pizza.) You could send cake for dessert, though!
Oh, and don’t forget about the night shift! You could Doordash them some snacks at midnight! - You could write a card or send flowers with a nice note.
- If you’ve had a positive personal experience, you could write it on a Google Review for the hospital. Trust me, these things get noticed!
But, the best thing you can do is remember that we are humans too, if you’re ever a patient or a visitor in an ER. Be kind to us and simply allow us to do our jobs: effectively care for you or your loved one.
David I. Mancini is a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Paramedic. He’s a tech enthusiast, world traveler, and an eclectic eater. https://davidmancini.xyz
