What does an emergency room nurse do?
As the name entails, emergency room nurses typically work in emergency rooms of hospitals to provide care for patients in need of immediate treatment for severe medical conditions such as injury or trauma. They work with a team of healthcare professionals such as physicians and other nurses to administer medications to patients, monitor health conditions, and plan for long-term care needs. Other duties of emergency room nurses include assisting with the diagnosis and treatment of patients, maintaining a sanitary, organized, and clean work environment, and providing patients with follow-up care instructions.
Emergency room nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real emergency room nurse resumes:
- Manage Gyn complaints, in- cluding colposcopy, infertility and minor surgical procedures.
- Manage assessments, nursing diagnosis, precept newly employees, rotation from ICU to ER.
- Assess patients in active withdrawal and provide interventions to manage physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms.
- Care for GYN patients immediately after surgery and until discharge.
- Perform CPR and a for patients to restore heart and breathing functions.
- Provide conscious sedation for patients in endoscopy department.
- Perform cardiac monitoring, identify arrhythmia, and intervene using ACLS algorithm and physician orders.
- Conduct medical assessments and review other medical information relate to condition of patients to foster their rehabilitation.
- Assist with all MRI's.
- Assist in endoscopy suite as needed.
- Work in MICU taking care of acutely ill patient population.
- Maintain BCLS, ACLS, certifications with instructor level performance in all areas.
- Award special advancement for superior performance in clinical nursing and management of MICU.
- Assume recovery RN duties for patients when PACU are closed during weekend cases.
- Utilize advanced care in neurological patients with ICP pressure monitoring and CPP calculations.
Emergency room nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Emergency Room Nurses are proficient in Patients, BLS, and Acls. They’re also known for soft skills such as Critical-thinking skills, Communication skills, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Emergency Room Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Immobilized Orthopedic injuries, administered Immunizations and Injections, initiated and maintained Intravenous Therapy, and managed patients with Artificial Airways.
- BLS, 14%
Utilized all certifications including BLS, ACLS, PALS, and stroke to provide emergency nursing support.
- Acls, 10%
Performed cardiac monitoring, identified arrhythmia, and intervened using ACLS algorithm and physician orders.
- Triage, 6%
Performed triage assessments by obtaining health histories and performing ongoing physical and mental status assessments while expediting medical treatment.
- Acute Care, 6%
Provided acute care for patients recovering from conscious sedation and other various emergency interventions as necessary.
- TNCC, 4%
Received training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, TNCC Certificate for care of patients with physical trauma.
Most emergency room nurses use their skills in "patients," "bls," and "acls" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential emergency room nurse responsibilities here:
Critical-thinking skills. The most essential soft skill for an emergency room nurse to carry out their responsibilities is critical-thinking skills. This skill is important for the role because "registered nurses must assess changes in the health status of patients, such as determining when to take corrective action." Additionally, an emergency room nurse resume shows how their duties depend on critical-thinking skills: "provide safe and effective patient care using critical-thinking skills. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling emergency room nurse duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." According to an emergency room nurse resume, here's how emergency room nurses can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "set up, monitor and interpret ekg systems; immediate communication of deadly or problematic rhythms to attending physician. "
Compassion. This is an important skill for emergency room nurses to perform their duties. For an example of how emergency room nurse responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an emergency room nurse: "leveraged compassion in facilitating pain management and completing prescribed treatments and reassessing effectiveness of therapy. ".
Detail oriented. A big part of what emergency room nurses do relies on "detail oriented." You can see how essential it is to emergency room nurse responsibilities because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical emergency room nurse tasks: "performed detailed patient assessments to include triage in emergency situations. "
Emotional stability. Another crucial skill for an emergency room nurse to carry out their responsibilities is "emotional stability." A big part of what emergency room nurses relies on this skill, since "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." How this skill relates to emergency room nurse duties can be seen in an example from an emergency room nurse resume snippet: "provided medical and emotional support to patients in emergency situations. "
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on emergency room nurse job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in emergency room nurse duties, since "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day emergency room nurse responsibilities: "provided patient care utilizing critical care skills, organizational skills and interpersonal skills. "
The three companies that hire the most emergency room nurses are:
- MedPro Healthcare Staffing848 emergency room nurses jobs
- Nomad Health556 emergency room nurses jobs
- AVI
328 emergency room nurses jobs
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Compare different emergency room nurses
Emergency room nurse vs. Nurse extern
The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies. They provide or help with personal patient care, including changing bed linens, oral hygiene, and bathing. Nurse externships typically have different requirements that include having finished nursing school, completing a clinical nursing course before the training, and being registered in a nursing program.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between emergency room nurses and nurse extern. For instance, emergency room nurse responsibilities require skills such as "bls," "acls," "triage," and "acute care." Whereas a nurse extern is skilled in "direct supervision," "medical-surgical," "infection control," and "patient safety." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Nurse externs really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $39,085. Comparatively, emergency room nurses tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $72,872.On average, nurse externs reach similar levels of education than emergency room nurses. Nurse externs are 2.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Emergency room nurse vs. Icu staff nurse staff
A registered charge nurse is responsible for supervising nurses' workflow in a particular department or area, ensuring every patient gets the proper care that they need. A registered charge nurse has the discretion to direct tasks, arrange schedules, and monitor patients, such as in the aspects of admission and discharge. Furthermore, a registered charge nurse must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among nurses, physicians, and other personnel involved as the conditions in a hospital can be unpredictable.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, emergency room nurse responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "triage," "acute care," "tncc," and "emergency care." Meanwhile, an icu staff nurse staff has duties that require skills in areas such as "good interpersonal," "family education," "ccrn," and "med-surg." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Icu staff nurse staff may earn a lower salary than emergency room nurses, but icu staff nurse staff earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $68,704. On the other hand, emergency room nurses receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $72,872.In general, icu staff nurse staff achieve similar levels of education than emergency room nurses. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for emergency room nurses in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Emergency room nurse vs. Registered nurse charge nurse
Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from emergency room nurse resumes include skills like "tncc," "life support," "emergency care," and "allergies," whereas a registered nurse charge nurse is more likely to list skills in "resident care," "infection control," "quality patient care," and "medication administration. "
Registered nurses charge nurses earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $68,929. Emergency room nurses earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $72,872.Most registered nurses charge nurses achieve a similar degree level compared to emergency room nurses. For example, they're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency room nurse vs. Staff nurse
Types of emergency room nurse
Updated January 8, 2025
