Proud to be an Emergency Nurse: Life in the fast lane!!!

Shajan Samuel

Staff Nurse, Department of Emergency Medicine, Kauvery hospital, Chennai, India

The day of a nurse in the ‘Emergency’ is unpredictable. It is a roller coaster ride over the rails of expectations, emotions, endeavor, and excitement when you see off your patient to a safe destination. One moment you are high, the next moment you could get low! At the peak, you feel great when you save a patient, at the low point you could break down and cry when you lose!

How would the day start, run and end? Your guess shall be as good as mine! But, one thing is certain, never would there be a dull moment.

There would be different kinds of patients coming through our doors every minute at our emergency but without any hesitation, we care and treat them with love and comfort, and with experience and expertise. To care for a patient with love and dedication when you are performing under high-stress levels is an art mastered by the Emergency nurses. Being in the emergency department as a nurse and a front liner, we are keenly aware that the care we give at the emergency room of the hospital is a reflection of the quality of service provided by the entire hospital.

Every Emergency nurse is an expert at multitasking. While one hand secures a difficult IV, another hand holds the hands of an anxious patient, while the eyes are looking at the scary rhythm on the cardiac monitor, the ears are listening to the instructions of the doctors; simultaneously the brain is planning for the anticipated shift of the patient to the respective ward/ICU. The legs tread rapidly on the floor, always steady, ready to move briskly and untiringly to the next patient who needs attention. All this time, we choose to ignore the loud rumblings of our stomachs for food; “later,” we keep telling ourselves, because we rejoice in the everyday ritual of sitting and eating together, taking a brief break from the weird hours of our shift.

While our body multitasks, we shoulder multiple roles too- nursing duties to our patients, we become the caretakers for the frail and elderly, an educator towards our colleagues, a disciplinarian when implementing our protocols, and of course, we provide emotional support, as counsellors, and comfort the anxious patients and attenders.

Though all of us are multifaceted and adept at donning multiple roles, what makes our work success is the team spirit. That’s the glue that binds us all together. We are never alone, We support each other all the time, We work for and with each other, for ensuring the quality of care that makes patients’ life safer. We share the closest of bonds with the patients, that we develop rapidly, and with responsibility.

We shared the same tight bonds with COVID patients, with whom the family themselves were scared to be in the same room. For us, every life matters, be it a newborn baby with a fever, a child who fell from his bicycle, a guy who met with an accident, a pregnant girl who is bleeding, a cancer patient on chemotherapy, a bedridden paraplegic patient, a patient who has opted for end-of-life-care, whatever be the situation – We are always there for them. We personify of equality and indiscrimination. Emergency is the place where the patients often come with their “last breath” and are given a second chance for a new breath of life -a miracle we get to watch every other day.

We are not GOD, but we are his favourite angels.

Life in the fast lane is always thrilling, adrenalin pumping, and full of surprises.

I am so happy and proud to be as a nurse in the emergency department.

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