EMERGENCY NURSE: I have been spit on; Bitten, Slapped and Beaten-But always I win at the end.

Emergency Nursing is a nursing specialty in which nurse’s care for patients in the emergency or critical phase of their illness or injury. While this is common to many nursing specialties, the key difference is that an emergency nurse is skilled at dealing with people in the phase when a diagnosis has not yet been made and the cause of the problem is not known. Emergency nurses also deal with non-emergent populations that present with non-life threatening issues as well. Patients that present to the Emergency Department may range from birth to geriatric. The term emergency is used for those patients who require immediate action to prevent further detoriations or stabilizing the condition till the availability of the services close to the patients. The nurse as a team member plays significant role in the early assessment, intervention either in the form of care or transferring the patient safely to the health services.

Common Nursing Emergencies

·         Choking

·         Bleeding

·         Seizures

·         Difficulty breathing.

·         Fainting.

·         Chest pain or pressure.

·         Uncontrolled bleeding.

·         Coughing or vomiting blood.

·         Sudden severe pain.

·         Poisoning.

·         Major injuries, such as broken bones.

Role of Emergency Nurses:

In addition to addressing these true emergencies emergency nurses increasingly care for people who are unwilling or unable to get primary medical care elsewhere and come to emergency departments for help. Besides heart attacks, strokes, gunshot wounds and car accidents, emergency nurses also tend to patients with acute alcohol and/or drug intoxication, psychiatric and behavioural problems and those who have been raped. They must be adept at working with patients of many different backgrounds, cultures, religions, ages and types of disabilities. Emergency nurses must also have a good working knowledge of the many legal issues impacting health care such as consent, handling of evidence, mandatory reporting of child and elder abuse and involuntary psychiatric holds.

In their role as patient educators, they must have a thorough knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and psychology and be able to communicate effectively with patients and their families. An emergency nurse is typically assigned to triage patients as they arrive in the emergency department and as such are the first professional patients see. Therefore, the emergency nurse must be skilled at rapid, accurate physical examination, early recognition of life-threatening conditions. In some cases, emergency nurses may order certain tests and medications following collaborative practice guidelines or standing orders set out by the hospital's emergency physician staff.

Key Responsibilities of an Emergency Room Nurse

·         Triage

·         Taking vital signs

·         Administering medicine

·         Providing treatment

·         Monitoring patients

·         Charting

·         Discharge

Emergency Nursing Education

Education and best practices about women's health issues during disasters is needed on relevant topics including the following:

·         Delivery of care in low resource settings,

·         Issues with special implications in disasters (e.g., infectious disease and violence against women in shelters),

·         Triage and appropriate care of perinatal/neonatal populations in disasters,

·         Altered basic life sustaining requirements for the pregnant woman and her foetus (e.g., adequate rest/sleep, clean water, hygiene, nutrition, and safe bathroom facilities),

·         The psychological burden for women and children in disasters, especially issues related to separation from their significant others,

·         Long‐term mental health needs,

·         Nutrition for pregnant and postpartum women and infants, and

The importance of access to contraception in shelters.