Reasons I Love Working in the ER

I can see how many would be under the impression that I hate my job. All I do is vent my complaints through mean spirited, sarcastic "not to dos". Sorry to deceive you. There are definitely negatives, but the truth is I really enjoy my job most of the time. I'm sure there are many more than aren't coming to mind at the minute, but here are my favorite reasons for staying put with my job (in no particular order).

1. Teaching. I love sharing what little knowledge I have with other people who need it to make a difference in their lives. Because of the mess of our medical system, patients either don't get the opportunity or don't take the time to learn important information about their conditions. I love teaching them something and hearing them say, "OH! Well THAT explains why....Thank you so much!"

2. Playing with babies. Last night I got to hold the sweetest little 7 day old. His parents just left him lying on the bed crying while they slept in chairs. I walked in, picked him up, and he automatically hushed and closed his eyes. It was so surreal. It's nice to know you can brighten even the youngest of hearts.

3. Talking with older people. Some of them have the sweetest stories, and they're more than willing to share. A man in rm 11B was being admitted the other day. The first thing he told me about himself was that he had been happily married for 45 years to the sweet lady sitting at his bedside. His secret to keeping your man happy forever? "Homemade biscuits. No man can leave a woman who can cook good homemade biscuits." (I told him Bisquick biscuits are made at home.)

4. I work with some amazing people. Some very intelligent people. Some very caring, sacrificing people. Most of them are not quick with their temper and are aware of others' feelings. The nurses watch each other's backs. One of the most kind hearted people I've ever met, who happens to be a doctor, prayed with a little boy who lost his mother in the ER the other night. The whole staff cried. Amazing.

5. It's a great learning environment. We are not confined to one age group or one gender. We see newborns, children, pregnant women and the elderly. The very, very sick and the....well, not so sick. We are minor med, critical care, ICU, telemetry, and med surg unit rolled into one. We work with less than the floors and do a pretty darn good job.

6. RN=registered nurse, cleaning crew, lab technician, and dietary lady. When something needs to be done, it's a lot faster to do it yourself than to call on the appropriate person! :)

7. I have learned to work under stress. When the instructors taught us about the priority patient in nursing school, that pretty much summed it up. You take your sickest one and work your way down from there. You learn to deep breathe, talk quickly, and put an extra jump in your step to move things along quickly.

8. I've become a little braver. I say a little because I still have a way to go on this one. I've tried many new things, stepped into critical situations to help when I had no clue what I was doing, stuck tons of babies by myself, and managed to successfully put down NG tubes and an oragastric tube (something I hate). I'm not sure the day will ever come when I won't break a sweat to insert a Huber needle into a port-a-cath. I'm terrible at that. I'm getting braver though! :)

9. The cafeteria isn't open at night so I'm forced to eat my Lean Cuisines which probably makes me a little healthier!

10. You simply see some really cool stuff.

I'm sure the day will come where God leads me down a different path, but I know I'll be able to look back at my time spent where I am and know that it was well worth the effort.