What does a Trauma Nurse do?

Trauma nurses are employed by acute-care and specialty hospitals where they attend to emergency situations. They might be based in a hospital, on mobile units or even in an airborne response unit. It requires the fastest response times possible in attending to a wide variety of injuries, from the critical to the less serious. The trauma nurse is responsible for assessing and stabilizing patients with minimum information available. They handle medical emergencies with injuries caused by car accidents, drowning, poison, fire and natural incidents like an earthquake.

These incidents happen without warning and trauma nurses have almost no time to prepare. Due to the nature of these incidents, trauma nurses are often flooded with a large number of seriously injured patients and therefore need to make accurate assessments in the shortest time possible. They often have to deal with language and cultural barriers and have to build strong relationships in which maximum trust must be gained in a very short timeframe.

As you can imagine, being constantly surrounded by high pressured, stressful and traumatic situations can become a challenge for many trauma nurses as the emotional element of this role is very intensive. Trauma nurses often have to deal with people in a state of shock or grief and the emotional stresses on them can be overwhelming.

Trauma nurses are often the first person to attend to a new emergency patient and decisions must be made speedily and with absolute accuracy. They must monitor emergency patients and inform the doctors as to the status of the patient, the nature of the injuries being suffered and alert him to anything that might help him save the patient's life. This includes preparing any equipment that might be needed by the doctor, ensuring that he can work as efficiently as possible. Medical technologies are advancing so rapidly and so trauma nurses are required to continuously attend courses in order to stay up to date with new developments and medical advances.

What skills or qualities do I need to become a Trauma Nurse?

As with other types of Nursing careers a Nurse must be attentive, observant and creative. Being a Nurse and especially a Trauma Nurse, you can often be put into life-and-death situations. Your ability to remain calm, assess the situation and potentially speak with family members in an affable manner can ease any distress.

Most of all, you need to be caring. You need to care about every patient you see.