Every three minutes, a person expires from the injury. That is 20 people an hour, or 480 people a day. Burns, trips, stabbing, electrocutions, car accidents, work events, and more. Trauma-certified registered nurses (TCRNs) are at the vanguard of dealing with these critical or life-threatening injuries. They are the ones that serve as first responders in emergency departments, often in tandem with emergency transport teams, to help save lives and care for victims/patients. They work directly with ER physicians, trauma surgeons, and more. High numbers of accidents and violent offenses mean that these nurses will continue to be in high demand for years to come. These nurses work in emergency rooms, critical care wards, trauma centers, and more. Trauma Nurses are the life-saving keys to patients.
Duties of Trauma Nurse
The main role of emergency/trauma nursing is to stabilize patients and keep them alive. Some of the duties of these nurses include:
- Triage patients or work with triage nurses to help concentrate on the most critical patients first.
- Identify the signs of deterioration in unstable patients.
- Give first aid, CPR, or other emergency medical attention as needed.
- Provide emergency medications.
- Give IV fluids or blood.
- Perform wound care.
- Work directly with physicians and trauma surgeons to give updates on medical conditions, wounds, injuries, etc.
- Work with patients and their families to give reassurance and information regarding the patient’s condition.
- Provide support to patients who have gone through a traumatic injury or event.
- Report cases of abuse or chaos to protective services organizations.
- Work with law enforcement if criminal activity is concerned.
- Maintain precise documentation of the care of patients.
- Work calmly and prudently while dealing with life-threatening injuries.
- Make quick decisions to be able to help patients.
- Balance many different tasks and cases at once.
- Follow instructions carefully during the chaos.
No two days will be identical for a trauma nurse, and while some days in the ER may be quiet, a large car accident or criminal violence can instantly throw many patients into the ER at once. Working in trauma means conceiving quickly on your feet and being prepared for whatever comes in the door. These nurses need to be ready for anything, equipped and confident in their skills and abilities. This is how they can do their best work to save lives and help victims heal from trauma and injury.
What does Trauma Nursing involve in the Healthcare Sector?
- Specialized trauma nursing requires knowledge of multilevel injuries as well as various health issues and complications that can arise from different types of trauma. The first steps include stabilizing the trauma patients the moment they are brought into the trauma center or trauma division within the ER. The highest number of hospital or ER deaths happens in trauma and injury cases, so they need instant caregiving. Trauma nurses are trained to actively perform methods even before the doctor steps in, which means they have been responsible for saving more lives than any other medical practitioner.
- Specialized trauma nursing courses furnish nurses with a specialized body of knowledge that enables them to quickly assess a trauma situation and the injuries. After the accelerated assessment, they administer emergency treatment to relieve pain and contain further damage and deterioration. The approach of this specialized area of nursing has been responsible for increased mortality rates, a heartening fact that has provoked governments to sit up and take notice and create more program options along with increased funding for the same.
- A major part of trauma nursing involves counseling patients and their families. Nurses are accountable for explaining the state of the patient, the depth of injuries, and treatment details. Naturally, this also means they have to handle panic, fear, and other related emotions with equal patience and compassion.
- A training course with a dedicated section on communications helps nursing students know the depth of these requirements and how to handle them in the future. Needless to say, along with the necessary knowledge and expertise, one needs an enormous amount of patience and endurance to handle such pressure day in and day out.
In recent times, there has been a surge of new schools dedicated to specialized trauma nursing training. This has followed the national outcry over nursing shortages, which is a major challenge faced by the healthcare industry today. The availability of qualified nurses is directly proportional to optimal patient care and advanced mortality rates, especially in ERs and trauma centers.
Trauma nurses are integral to the development of healthcare and treatment for severely injured patients. Efficient nursing leads to faster diagnosis, treatment, and recuperation, thereby reducing health risks and leading to decreased treatment costs.
Trauma Nurse Outlook
There is currently a nursing shortage, making qualified Trauma Nurses more in demand than ever. Job opportunities for Trauma Nurses are expected to grow 12% by 2028, and some areas with high demand due to large populations are expected to grow even faster. Trauma nurses are in particularly high demand, as it is a rigorous and challenging field of nursing in need of extremely skilled nurses. Additionally, hospitals are continually working toward magnet status, so they are looking for Certified Trauma Nurses to help them meet their goals.
