A&E nurses - what is your job really like?

[hazelnutlatte]

And would you recommend it? I'm thinking of applying for a staff nurse post but I really don't know if it's the right thing to do. I work on a surgical ward at the moment, but I'm on maternity leave and not looking forward to going back.

Oops posted too quickly - was going to say that I'm a bit bored in my current job, every day is the same, and the management are not very supportive when it comes to learning new skills / training.

I think my job is the best job in the world. And the worst job in the world!

Some days are amazing and you bound out after having had your 13 hour shift fly by in a haze of adrenaline-fuelled life-saving interventions. Other days you stagger out after 13 hours of have figurative and literal shit thrown at you by management and patients, all you want to do is sit and cry and you question why the hell you ever wanted to do it in the first place.

You'll never have a shift where nothing new happened though, and that's one of the main things that attracted me. I haven't got anything to compare it to as I've worked on A&E since qualifying - I did do a flexi shift on an emergency surgical ward once and was amazed at how relaxed I felt compared to in my normal job - when you're used to having to move at 110mph, 90mph feels like walking even if less busy wards only operate at 30mph! No offense meant to my ward-based colleagues, I know you work damn hard.

One thing new members of staff tend to struggle with is the cliquey atmospheres you often find in A&E - the area attracts 'strong personalities' and these often clash. But, certainly in my department at least, when needed everyone works seamlessly as a team and that's when I really love my job.

Hi, thanks for the reply, your job sounds amazing but also horrible at the same time! I reckon I can cope ok with the likely strong personalities (am not the type to be intimidated and seem to have a knack for keeping the peace too), but I might struggle with all the management crap, as that was what I hated when I last worked in the nhs. Funnily enough, the most hated part of my last nhs job related to pressure from a&e - there was always a bed crisis and I was always expected to find some way of accepting more patients from a&e despite the ward being full! I assume that it's equally frustrating from your end too.
Can I ask if dealing with bed issues / audit crap / other non patient care rubbish takes up a lot of your day, a lot of the time? I really don't think I could return to that!
I have this idea that in a&e everyone is spot on with what to do in an emergency (eg no flapping about trying to work out where to find stuff etc) because my last nhs ward was really shoddy in that respect. Are you all a well oiled machine or is that wishful thinking?
I work in a private hospital now and worry that if I don't move soon then I'll get too settled and lose my skills.

Sorry in advance for any gibberish - just got in from a 9-10 shift after 90 minutes sleep thanks to DS! I'd say 80% of my time is in direct patient care, it gets frustrating when we get bed-blocked and have new patients pouring in and nowhere to put them though!

We've had a flock of suits gathered in the department recently trying to 'identify opportunities to reduce the patient footprint and therefore improve the patient's experience of their A&E journey' or some such shite. They'll go away soon though. We've also had Dolores Umbridge the infection control nurse following us around the last few weeks, checking our handwashing technique at the most inappropriate moments as we perpetually fail her audit. But I think you get these things in all areas, so don't think you'll ever fully escape it!

I'd like to think we're a well oiled machine when it comes to it, everyone knows their role and gets on with it. Certainly when I first started I was hugely impressed with the way everyone seems calm and relaxed even the most dire emergencies. Now I know it's neither calm nor relaxed on the inside, but the team still works well. I love the relaxed hierarchy too, there are no 'Dr Smiths' or 'Nurse Blacks' in A&E, although we do still use Sister!

Sorry for rambling