|
Member of the Quarter: Elaine Christiansen, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CEN
Position: Emergency Department Nurse
(also have private practice as nurse practitioner but function as staff RN in ED)
Employer: BryanLGH Medical Center
How Lorg have you been there? 2002-2005 as emergency technician; since 2005 as RN
 1.
Why did you become a nurse in the Emergency Department?
I am an emergency department nurse at BryanLGH East in Lincoln, Nebraska. I have only been a nurse since 2005 and have only worked in the ED. I came to nursing later in life, although my previous professional role was as a health/health systems researcher as well as a paramedic. I have since gone on to pursue graduate education in nursing because I want to continue to learn.
I specifically became an Emergency Department nurse because I felt it was best suited to my personality and also allowed me to best use my critical thinking skills. I have always enjoyed the challenge of a puzzle. Helping patients and their families fit together the pieces of “what brings you to the ED today” is indeed a puzzle. I did not choose to work in the ED because of the drama – of course there is some from time to time, but anyone who’s worked as an ED nurse for any length of time knows the high drama depicted on television is certainly the exception, not the rule. The majority of patients we see in our emergency department are frightened people in varying stages of actual medical distress. But what really matters is how I, as an ED nurse, help sort through to the real underlying problem. That sorting, that reading between the lines, that trying to stay a step ahead of what is really wrong (or could go wrong) – that is why I am attracted to emergency care.
2. What inspires you most about Emergency Nursing?
The truth: I don’t like all my patients although I do care about them all. Any ED nurse who says s/he likes everyone is being dishonest. We seldom see people at their best, but I am inspired by a deeply held belief that people have inherent value, despite their behavior at a single point in time. Fear, pain, frustration, any number of things can mask that basic value. I am inspired by a job that demands me reach down deep for compassion and try to set aside judgment in order to address whatever brought the person to my department on a given day. What inspires me to keep coming back? I can honestly say that despite long hours, often less than optimal working conditions, and endless demands for me to do better, work faster, and to do all that with fewer resources and less appreciation… despite all of that, I know at the end of 12 hours, I have made a positive difference in at least one person’s life that day. I know that 100% of the time – in what other profession could I make that statement, so how could I not be inspired?
3. Why did you join ENA?
4. How would you recruit other emergency nurses to become members of this wonderful organization?
(Combined response to #3 and #4)
I joined both the state and national ENA because I believe it is the single best way to collectively share our experiences and to continue to promote nursing. I am offended by commercials for “training to be a nurse”. Nurses are professionals; nurses are educated; nurses are not “trained”. That terminology implies rote tasks and no need for critical thinking. I think the ENA has done much to raise the status of nursing to the professional level but there is much work to be done. This is also why I encourage all emergency nurses (or nurses in any specialty) to join their respective organizations. Not only is it a way to create change at the legislative level but it is an invaluable resource for networking. Nurses of all experience levels want better pay, better conditions, to be treated with respect. We have to act and think like the professionals we are and ENA is a primary source to enable us to achieve this.
I think membership will grow when nurses believe they are empowered and professional. That’s the message I would use to recruit. I think in this economy and in an age where every spare minute seems to be taken, it is difficult to get someone to join one more thing, for one more fee. But I think recruiting must be positioned as a professional investment in the future of nursing. I think face-to-face discussions are most effective in recruiting new members. |
