Emergency nurses are professionals who work in stressful and often fast-paced environments. These nurses have an enormous amount of responsibility, but ultimately they have one of the most rewarding careers in the nursing field.

Emergency care nurses are also known as ED nurses, A&E nurses or trauma nurses. These nurses deliver care for patients as the name suggests in emergency situations. They will work with other emergency medical experts such as physicians and paramedics. Working as an emergency nurse will involve working in a fast passed and stressful environment. It is not for everyone as the hours can be long and excellent skill sets and communication skills are required.

Role of an Emergency Nurse

According to a nursing agency in Hull, an emergency medical nurse handles a wide range of medical emergencies. These will include illnesses, injuries, accidents, immensely high fevers, drug overdoses, stab wounds, heart attacks, broken bones, and strokes. In addition to this, an emergency nurse will deal with patients from all walks of life and coming from many different back grounds. Once moment you are caring for an infant and the next you are looking after an elderly patient. A&E nurses will also have to deal with patients from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

What Does an Emergency Nurse Do?

The working hours of an emergency nurse starts just like any other nurse’s shift. However, their role is not as predictable as other nursing specialities. In the ED department you will be exposed and have to deal with patients with varying levels of illnesses and there is often no advanced warning as to how busy you day will be.

Time in the ED is often critical and it is important for an ED nurse to diagnose each patient as quickly as possible.

During the diagnosis process, they have to identify patients who require quick medical attention. For example, a patient in an unconscious state would require immediate assistance as compared to those with a low-grade fever. Hence, based on the diagnosis the emergency care nurse assists a doctor in offering adequate treatment to the patient.

In order to stabilise patients in an emergency room, these nurses are called upon to perform different kinds of medical procedures. Some of such procedures include:

• Blood Transfusions
• Administering Medication
• First aid
• Starting intravenous lines
• Rescue breathing
• Bag-valve-mask ventilation
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Tracheotomies
• Setting broken bones
• Suturing
• Intubation

In addition to these procedures, emergency care nurses must have excellent knowledge about other diagnostic procedures and tests, such as X-rays, ECGs, and using specialised diagnostic equipment.

Where Do Emergency Nurses Work?

The common settings where emergency nurses work are triage centres, trauma centres, hospital emergency rooms, and urgent care centres. Besides this, the emergency care nurses may work within clinics, poison control centres, emergency response units, prisons, and branches of the military.

How to Become an Emergency Nurse?

If you think that an emergency care nurse is the correct profession for you, you have to follow the steps necessary to become a registered nurse. You will have to obtain a nursing degree. This will involve a minimum of 3 years study with 50% of the time working as a student nurse in a clinical setting. You can continue your education and study for a master’s degree to become an advanced practice nurse.

In order to work as an emergency nurse with a nursing agency in Hull, you have to be a qualified nurse, hold full NMC registration and have a minimum of six months post qualification experience working in A&E or and ED.