A Journey of Unexpected Discovery and Transformation

A Peek Inside the Life of an Emergency Nurse

From an early age, Lauren Lovin knew she had no desire to become a nurse, nor work in the medical field in any capacity.

Her family was replete with healthcare workers, including her mother who is a registered nurse. Lauren strongly felt there was no need for yet another RN in the family; her path was going to be different. But one thing she did not count on, was the slow-burning, yet profound impact her family’s dedication to caring for others would have on her life.

This unexpected realization sparked a radical transformation in Lauren’s outlook, leading her to embrace the possibility of forging her own unique path within the healthcare field.

Lauren took her career epiphany in stride, despite it coming three years after earning her bachelor’s in psychology from Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

“I studied and prepared myself to become a forensic psychologist; that field was so exciting and different to me,” Lauren remembered. “But, as I like to say, ‘what will be, will be.’ I couldn’t deny what I felt inside; I needed to be a nurse. So, I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Florida campus of Utica University.”

But if Lauren was destined to be a nurse, she wanted to feel the same spark of excitement she felt while preparing for her career in forensics. How could she rekindle that? What area of nursing would satiate her need for high energy? And, how could she create a career in contrast to her healthcare relatives? She found everything she was looking for, including like-minded colleagues, in Thompson Hospital’s emergency department.  

“In the ED, time moves quickly. It is a rapid-paced environment requiring quick thinking and quick actions with not a lot of time to adapt,” Lauren said. “One moment you could be caring for a critically ill patient, and the next caring for someone with a cold. Every day is different; every minute is different. I love that.”

In addition to an immense sense of satisfaction and self-worth Lauren feels when caring for someone in need, she relishes how the ED environment helps effectively develop her leadership, time management, and communication skills, along with critical thinking abilities. These proficiencies, along with her innate sense of calm, serve as the foundation for a career in one of the most demanding areas of nursing.

A Day in the Life

Lauren starts her 12-hour night shift in the emergency department the same way every day, without knowing what to expect. With her high-caffeine beverage always close by, Lauren first huddles with the day-shift nurses to review the patient charts and plan of care. When the shift change process is complete, she starts prioritizing which patient to tend to first.

“Unfortunately, the ED is not first-come, first-served. Patients are cared for by their severity and need for critical attention,” Lauren said. “I know this can be frustrating for some patients in the waiting room who may have been waiting for a while, but all of the nurses, techs, and doctors bust our collective humps to ensure everyone is seen and cared for as soon as possible.”

Lauren says it’s difficult trying to explain why the wait may be long and why it appears there isn’t a lot of action. Patients don’t see what is happening behind the scenes – the rooms being changed over by environmental services, the radiology techs wheeling patients down to x-ray, the prep work being done in anticipation for ambulances arriving, or the multiple nurses being pulled away to save the life of a patient who is undergoing cardiac arrest or stroke.

“Another thing to remember, is the sheer number of patients flooding the emergency department is drastically higher than in years’ past.” Lauren said. “With the ED oftentimes being the entry point for an overnight hospital stay, it’s important there are beds available on the floors and in the Continuing Care Center so we can safely move patients out of the department.”

According to Lauren, while every area of nursing can be high stress at times, she and her ED colleagues cannot ever fully prepare for what may lie ahead of them at any given moment, or what physical or emotional toll she and her team will bear. Although she fully prepares herself mentally before every shift, there are rare times – even with the herculean efforts of the physicians, nurses, techs, and others – when a patient may not make it out of the ED. Losing a patient and witnessing the family’s sorrow is one of the most difficult things Lauren has ever experienced.

“It’s an enormous amount of weight to carry on our shoulders,” she said. “It is most difficult not having the time to cope with a loss knowing there is another patient or family who desperately needs my help right away. I may head out after my 12-hour shift with my stethoscope and badge, but I bring home a lot more with me – intense emotions I need to process before my next shift.”

Her Team is Her Family

To help her manage her feelings, Lauren leans on her ED coworkers, and they do the same with her. To Lauren, this tightknit family is what makes their team of nurses, technicians, and providers so effective. She understands patients trust them with their lives every day, and while she knows each nurse excels on his or her own merit, without teamwork they could never be as successful as they are.

“My coworkers are a big reason why I love my job. We thrive off of each other, we help each other through every shift, and we always try to maintain a positive attitude,” Lauren said with a smile. “Aristotle is attributed with saying, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.’ This is so true! My Thompson emergency colleagues are my second family. We see each other and put our trust in each other every day; this is a bond few may ever understand.”

Giving your all to the team is the most important piece of advice Lauren offers to those who are considering becoming an emergency nurse. She says understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses leads to a natural sense of mentorship, as well as a continual need to ask questions. She believes firmly this is how emergency nurses grow, adapt, and thrive. But committing personal energies to benefit the team, and ultimately the patients, should not be at the expense of self-care.

“The fast-paced and physically demanding emergency environment is not meant for everyone, and burnout can happen quickly,” said Lauren. “If you don’t care for yourself, you won’t be able to care for others. Yes, we serve in a field that requires us to put our needs aside to help others, but in order to be the best we can be for the patients, we must also remember to care for ourselves.”

Looking back at her schooling and what she thought she wanted from a vocation, Lauren laughs. She is pleased she ultimately came to the realization of how honorable and worthy the nursing field is, one she should not have disregarded so hastily.

“As a nurse, people put their lives in my hands; this fact will never be lost on me,” said Lauren. “Although many days seem physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding, they never eclipse the days that make me proud to be a nurse, and proud to join my family in the service of others.”