Emergency Department Essay
Emergency Department
Northeastern
Intermediate Clinical Practice
04/23/2013
Emergency Department Experience
I started my day in the emergency department (ED) by meeting the staff. One charge registered nurse (RN), five staff RN’s, four paramedics, one patient care technician, and one doctor. Jennifer Thomas was also in the ED today and informed me that to get the best experience I should invite myself into the rooms as the patients arrive.
Most Common Medical Diagnosis
The first patient was a fifty three year old female. She came to the ED with chest pain that started two weeks ago, but is worse today. She had open heart surgery two years ago, and was worried she might be having a myocardial infarction (MI). After the patient was wheeled into the exam room everything was happening so fast. The paramedic was connecting her to an EKG machine and the RN was hooking her up to the monitors while trying to get her history. Once we got a baseline assessment, and put her on oxygen, the RN informed me that I can start an IV. The RN showed me where the “IV cart” was, and told me that 10ml of blood has to be withdrawn with every IV start. With the RN’s guidance I started the IV and sent the blood to lab. The RN showed me the standing orders for chest pain. The next step was to administer oral aspirin, nitroglycerin, and normal saline via IV at 50ml per hour. When the patient came to the ED she rated her pain as five out of ten, and after all of the treatment above her pain was still five out of ten. After monitoring her for a couple of hours she was transferred to a hospital in Green Bay per her primary doctors request.
A total of five patients came to the ED with chest pain. The treatment was the same for all of them, and by the third patient I felt like I was part of the routine. I knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. I felt like I was a helping hand, rather than being in the way. Besides the patient I mentioned above, everybody who came in
Northeastern
Intermediate Clinical Practice
04/23/2013
Emergency Department Experience
I started my day in the emergency department (ED) by meeting the staff. One charge registered nurse (RN), five staff RN’s, four paramedics, one patient care technician, and one doctor. Jennifer Thomas was also in the ED today and informed me that to get the best experience I should invite myself into the rooms as the patients arrive.
Most Common Medical Diagnosis
The first patient was a fifty three year old female. She came to the ED with chest pain that started two weeks ago, but is worse today. She had open heart surgery two years ago, and was worried she might be having a myocardial infarction (MI). After the patient was wheeled into the exam room everything was happening so fast. The paramedic was connecting her to an EKG machine and the RN was hooking her up to the monitors while trying to get her history. Once we got a baseline assessment, and put her on oxygen, the RN informed me that I can start an IV. The RN showed me where the “IV cart” was, and told me that 10ml of blood has to be withdrawn with every IV start. With the RN’s guidance I started the IV and sent the blood to lab. The RN showed me the standing orders for chest pain. The next step was to administer oral aspirin, nitroglycerin, and normal saline via IV at 50ml per hour. When the patient came to the ED she rated her pain as five out of ten, and after all of the treatment above her pain was still five out of ten. After monitoring her for a couple of hours she was transferred to a hospital in Green Bay per her primary doctors request.
A total of five patients came to the ED with chest pain. The treatment was the same for all of them, and by the third patient I felt like I was part of the routine. I knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. I felt like I was a helping hand, rather than being in the way. Besides the patient I mentioned above, everybody who came in