A usual setting at the emergency room is when a trauma patient is rushed on a stretcher unresponsive, uncertain injuries, and unknown vital signs. The feeling is always the same, the thrills, the nervousness, and the curiosity will always be there. Studying for four years as a nurse does not assure calmness when you are in an actual emergency room. The nursing school does not teach how to calm your mind and your heart when patients are rushed in.

All medical professionals are paged: Emergency Service Assistants, Nurses, Respiratory Specialists, OR Residents, MD Resident, and MD Attending. The pager overhead announces that a trauma patient has been rushed to the ER. All clinicians put on their glasses, gloves and gown to transfer the patient from the Paramedic’s stretcher into the hospital stretcher. The Paramedics provide a detailed report about what happened on the 19 year old patient, female, very pale and blood all over her body. The patient is all bruised and bloody, both arms seem to be broken, deep cuts are found in her nose, face and along her eyes, glasses are strewn on some of her hair, and a swollen head. All clinicians listen to the paramedics’ report while stabilizing the patient. This patient was in a motor accident because of high speed and was found unconscious at the scene.

The MD Resident then assesses the trauma patient. The resident was a 29 years old lady, tall and dark, and was in charge. Another person, who is the attending physician, also looks at the patient while the resident examines the full body of the young patient who has been in a motor accident. A team of nurses and other practitioners listen to the resident doctor while taking off the clothes of the patient and bringing all necessary equipments beside the bed to be used for emergent imaging assuring that no damages were done to the internal organs of the patient. Once the MD resident dictates the findings on the trauma patient, a nurse from the team documents it. The cardiac monitor is then placed by another assistant of the emergency service on the patient so that the current vital signs of the patient are checked. Results show a heart rate of 130’s, a respiratory rate of 26, and a blood pressure of 82/54.

Trauma nurses were there at the emergency room to administer fluids to the patient, give medications as well as blood products. A trauma nurse was there observing the patient and her injuries. The trauma nurse should put an IV on the patient. She examines the veins of the patient and tries her first attempt on the left forearm of the patient. The first attempt was a failure since the patient had weak veins and her bones were broken because of the accident. The second attempt was on the right wrist of the patient. The nurse was able to put a large IV on her right wrist, and it was followed by another large IV into her elbow. The IV insertions were successful so all the fluids started running into the patient while the resident doctor proceeds on her assessment of the patient. The resident doctor then ordered the trauma nurse to start giving blood products since the blood pressure of the patient was very low. This indicates that the patient has lost a lot of blood because of the motor accident. The trauma nurse grabs the bag of blood inside the coolers and started giving it to the patient through her IV.

Issues concerning the nurses are: do they need to intubate the patient? Or should they begin to formulate the needed medications for that procedure? Or if the patient is breathing on her own? Right now, they are concerned about the vital signs of the patient, her blood pressure, her heart rate, her temperature, and her respiratory rate. Right now, the only obvious things they know are that the cuts of the patient are deep and her legs are broken. There are also bruises around her abdomen but they don’t know if she has internal bleeding.

According to the MD resident, the injuries of the patient are not known completely at this point because she is still loosing blood a lot. And also, she has a low blood pressure, fast heart rate, and rapid breathing pace. The resident then decides that they need to place a tube down the throat of the patient where a ventilator will help the patient to breathe easier. The resident doctor yells all the medications and the doses to be used for the process of intubation. The trauma nurse quickly prepares the instructions of the resident doctor to intubate the patient. A respiratory personnel was there in the room to prepare the ventilator to be used. After preparing all the necessary equipment, the trauma nurse then administers the medications to sedate, and paralyze the patient. This takes away all the pain felt by the patient at the moment. The trauma nurse has successfully placed the tube down the throat of the patient and her chest started to rise with the help of the ventilator breathing for her.

The patient needed CT scans and x-rays so she was moved to the radiology. Results show that her left arm was broken, she has a femur right arm, two of her vertebras were broken at her middle back, she has multiple fractures on her face, mouth, and around her eyes, and her liver has a cut which causes her bleeding.Every person inside the emergency room worked as a team and performed their tasks to save the life of this patient. All nurses, Emergency Service Assistants, Respiratory Specialists, Residents, and Attending Physicians did their best to take care of this patient.

Many people think that becoming an ER nurse was very exciting and thrilling, and there is never a boring moment inside the ER. But that is not the only reason why people choose to be an ER nurse, the excitement, the teamwork, the energy, and the ability to save many people is an important part of being an ER nurse. They have the knowledge and passion to help patients in different kinds of situations. Whatever situation they may face, the most important offer they can give is their compassion and comfort to the people around them.