It's An ED RN

There's calling in sick and there's calling in "sick." In 11 years of nursing, I've never called in "sick." Until today. Let's talk about it. 

The thing about being a nurse is sometimes we don't take our lunch break, but the thing is lunch is the basement. We should be taking lunch breaks, breakfast breaks and nearly-end-of-shift breaks. Less work, more breaks! References: This excellent paper by Stefan D. Arias on how breaks prevent burnout: https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1162&context=nursing_msn

Being a patient in the ED is hard and it can be frustrating when it seems like you've been waiting a long time. So what's really going on? Why does it take so long? What are these nurses even doing over there? Here are some answers, plus some tips on how you can have a better experience waiting your turn. 

I'm back! It's been a shitty couple of weeks and I'm not doing great! So let's talk about religion, morals and other fantasy thinking that people use to justify denying others safe and legal healthcare. 

With everything we as nurses are already expected to do, why is it that every other thing is also considered our responsibility? Why are staffing models based on the idea that we will have adequate supplies and support from other departments despite the fact that national shortages and understaffing of every department have become the norm? I, for one, am not having it. 

Being a nurse means if you make a mistake at work, someone could die. We can do everything in our power to prevent mistakes and yet, since To Err Is Human , we also understand that they are inevitable. Since the felony conviction of RaDonda Vaught , nurses are left wondering if the risks are worth it to us. So let's discuss. 

A Nurses' Week Sonnet: I do not like these nurses' weeks, I think your cheap cold pizza reeks, I do not need a free lunch box, I do not think you give two fox, I want more money and if you laugh, I hear traveling pays three times what you do so who's laughing now motherfuckers? Happy (belated) Nurses' Week!

What happens after you die? Well, if you're in a hospital, we bring you back to life. Hopefully. 

You know that feeling in your body after working three in a row? That pained, backed up, congested yuck feeling? That's workstipation and I'm here to talk all about it. 

Raise your hand if you've never, in your nursing career, been yelled at by a physician. Zero hands detected. When every nurse you know has a story about being dressed down by a doc, it stops being anecdote; it's endemic. References from this episode: Women are seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed during a heart attack 90% of female docs have experienced sexism at work One woman rec...

Being a nurse means having to perform in high stress, high stakes situations. Being a human means sometimes that stress makes you a real asshole (and by you I mean me). 

Content Warning: suicide. Being nurses places us at increased risk for a number of things, not the least of which is a lifetime of mental health struggles that have a direct link to the work that we do. Let's talk about it. Resources: - National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK(8255); -  Safe Call Now: 206-459-3020 (crisis referral for public safety employees, emergency services pe...

In this ranty, slightly unhinged episode we're going to discuss the Nurses' Hierarchy of Needs, which is to say that if I have had no water, no pee break, no green top tubes and no respect from my patients I am probably not doing bedside shift report. Who can relate?

On this episode I'm talking about what I make as a bedside RN in the Emergency Department because when we don't talk about our pay the only people who benefit are not us. Talk about what you make, negotiate for a higher rate with every new job offer and listen to this episode for more.  References: It is illegal for employers to forbid you from talking about your pay: https://www.nlrb.go...

It's time to talk about workplace violence and the fact that, as nurses, we are four times more likely to experience it than any other profession. You don't need a bunch of statistics to tell you how dangerous our work is, but I brought them anyway (links to receipts are below).   References: OSHA guidelines for preventing workplace violence: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publ...

Being the new kid is hard; you're slower at everything, you don't know where things are and you're held to a level of scrutiny that is probably not sustainable. It sucks and it won't last. 

The Panini changed so much of how we do things in hospitals, including the emergency department, so let's talk about COVID. 

I spent five years as a Nurse Manager on an acute care trauma unit. I hired and fired. I did spreadsheets (so many spreadsheets). I went to meetings. I wore blazers. I escaped to tell the tale. 

These are grueling, long-ass shifts that occasionally have me thinking things like "is being an influencer that hard?" and "how can all the bathrooms be full all the time?" and "if I pee my pants can I go home?" 

The most important part of an ED RN work schedule are the days off; here's what I like to do with all that glorious time.

I may be newly back to bedside but a new nurse I am not; I'm here to tell you that you don't have to put up with it. You are not a human sacrifice on the altar of Healthcare Heroism. You deserve a pee break. Let's discuss. 

This episode is all about the ED RN SWAG: Stuff We All Gotta carry with us if we don't want to find ourselves in a sticky situation without the proper tools. From which scrubs, to what trauma scissors to those hair accessories, I'm gonna lay it all out. 

Welcome to my show It's An ED RN, I am your host an ED RN and we're going to talk about what it's like to be a nurse in the emergency department right now, from fanny packs to foleys, NSAIDs to N95s, I have thoughts and maybe even some tips and tricks to get us through. I hope you'll stick around to listen.

I quit my cushy Nurse Manager office job to go back to bedside in a level 1 trauma center emergency department during a global pandemic. What could go wrong...?