ER Nurses' must-haves

I have been working as an Emergency Room nurse for roughly 15 years now in total. The general rule is - work smart, not hard.

Because of the size of the emergency rooms that I have worked in and especially the one where I am working now, what tends to happen is, you will realize you need something but did not bring it with you so you will have to go around the entire ER again and this causes early burn out.

So, here are some items that could help you have a successful shift minus the struggle.

1. Saline Flushes. When I started working here in the USA, I discovered that doctors are actually ordering saline flush as part of the patient's medications. I mean it is routine for us nurses to always check the patency of our intravenous lines - but here, it is part of your medications. So I suggest that you put some saline flushes in the cargo pocket of your uniform. You wouldn't believe how much handy it will turn out to be.

2. A good scissor. I am working in a Level 1 Trauma Center so this is a must. Patients are brought in here from the surrounding towns as trauma alerts so the moment they hit our trauma bay, we need to cut their clothes off and do a full body assessment. I bought myself the Leatherman Raptor Rescue shears. This one is a badass. It also comes with a strap cutter and glass breaker plus you can contact the company and they are going to sharpen it up for you for free.

3. Alcohol spray / sanitizer. I know, I know. Covid era. But if you are going in and out of patient's room, we tend to forget to do the basic of handwashing. Try using a small refillable spray bottle that you can put in your pocket so it will always be easily accessible.

4. Plaster / Cloth Tape / Micropore (whatever you want to call it). Do not, I repeat, do not put this in your pockets. It tends to transfer the sticky things to the cloth or like what happened to me - it messed up my phone's screen protector because I mistakenly placed them in the same pocket. I put it together with my ID holder. You need to keep this handy because you'll never know when you'll meet a patient in the hallway with a bleeding arm because they just removed the intravenous line (I told him to keep pressing on it for a couple of minutes because he's on blood thinners!)

And last but definitely not the least..

5. Charm. Yes, based on experience, this is the best thing you can use while on duty. Patients are patients. They are sick and we have kept them waiting in the waiting area for God knows how long because we do not have rooms. The last thing that they need is another snappy nurse. Talk to them like you would talk to your friends or parents - they will really appreciate you for it.

Well, that's all for now. Till the next one!