I used to work in the Emergency Room and here is what I learned
I worked in the Emergency Room for 9 years. Yes, 9 years!!! I loved it. All of it, from the good days to the meh days to the "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" days. Only thing I didn't really care for were the workings of the weekends and holidays. I'm all for spending time with friends and family during those times. I was a PCT (Patient Care Tech aka Nurses assistant). Most days it was hard work. Hard from walking anywhere from 7-14 miles in one 12 hour shift, to having patients and/or family members cuss you out, to being assaulted in some form or fashion in other ways, to trying your hardest to do CPR on someone in order to bring them back from the brink of death. Most times that we did CPR, our patient(s) did not make it. It weighs down on you..a lot. One thing I learned is that you have to wire yourself with an on/off switch. Meaning, you have to switch your emotions OFF during things like a code or when you're trying to restrain someone to the be...