Emergency Nursing Resource Guide
Emergency room nursing is one of the fastest-growing medical professions, and the need for emergency room nurses is expected to greatly increase in the near future. Nurses in this field provide care for patients in the critical or emergency phase of an illness or trauma, and they are able to recognize life-threatening problems and arrange the appropriate care.
The following information and resources will help you learn about emergency room nursing as well as how you can become one.
Quick Facts - Education - Career Resources - Job Boards & Opportunities -
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Quick Facts
- Emergency nurses are registered nurses, most of whom acquire additional certifications in the areas of trauma nursing, pediatrics, and various areas of injury prevention. (Discover Nursing)
- Emergency room (ER) nurses work in an ever-changing environment and work with patients of all different ages and medical histories. (Nurse Zone)
- An emergency nurse is skilled at dealing with people during the phase in which a diagnosis has not yet been made and the cause of the problem is unknown. (ENA)
- Emergency nurses must assess and respond correctly to traumatic injuries and acute illnesses with speed, professionalism, and compassion. (New York Nursing)
- Emergency nurses care for patients and families in hospital emergency departments, ambulances, helicopters, cruise ships, sports arenas, and anywhere someone may have a medical emergency. (NHT)
- Although emergency nurses work alongside and under the supervision of other healthcare professionals, they must still be able to take charge and assume a leadership position. (STN)
- The ER nurse is the first one to prioritize injuries and make decisions regarding which injuries are most serious and must be attended to first. (STN)
- Emergency room nurses must meet certain physical requirements which include good vision and hearing and the ability to lift at least 50 pounds. (NHT)
- Emergency nurses may also educate the public on safety issues such as car seats or work as administrators to improve emergency care. (Discover Nursing)
Education Requirements and Resources
A certified emergency room nurse must have a registered nursing credential, which requires completion of a nursing program. Upon completion of a registered nurse degree program, prospective ER nurses must take and pass the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses, which tests nurses on a variety of emergency room situations. In addition to formal and specific emergency nursing education, prospective ER nurses must also ensure that their nursing license is in good and legal standing, have experience in emergency medicine, pass a competency test, and meet state-specified health requirements.
There are several paths to choose from when determining how to fulfill the education requirements for emergency nursing. Most traditional colleges and universities offer a Bachelor’s of science degree in nursing, although certain nursing-specific schools offer Associate degree or other diploma programs that also culminate in an accredited nursing degree. Various nursing degree and certificate programs will foresee a broad assortment of employment opportunities, as those trained in emergency nursing work in a variety of settings. Click on the links below to learn more.
- Choosing a College and Program: This resource was generated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and provides a comprehensive listing of the leading colleges in the United States that offer degree or certificate programs in emergency nursing. Nursing school listings are grouped based upon what level and type of program they offer, and each school in the various lists is hyperlinked to its respective homepage. The site also specifies which schools offer online courses and which do not.
- Education and Training: Emergency Nursing World is a website that was created by a working emergency nurse to serve as an internet resource for emergency nurses throughout the world. This site specifies the training, education, and other certifications that are necessary for emergency nurses, and distinguishes these certifications depending on the type of environment the ER nurse works in. In addition to listing the requisites, the author also provides links to the Board of Certification in Emergency Nursing, the Emergency Nurses Association, and other useful training and education resources for prospective ER nurses.
- Why Become an Emergency Nurse: If you are curious, nervous, or contemplating whether or not you should become an emergency nurse, this testimony from an ER nurse at Highland Hospital will address many of your questions. The nurse offers information on her educational background, how her personality traits interact with the job environment, and what it’s like to work in the “organized chaos” of the ER. Her story will persuade you as to why it is a privilege to be an emergency nurse.
- Career Overview: This resource highlights the variety of occupations within the field of emergency nursing. In addition to job descriptions, it also offers salary information and future job prospects for ER nurses depending on their particular employment setting.
Career Resources
- Acute Care Geriatric Nurse Network: The Geriatric Emergency Nurse Initiative was launched in 2005 to provide better emergency medical treatment for elderly patients. This website provides information on what it’s like and what it takes to pursue a career as an emergency nurse for the elderly.
- Air Guard: The Health Professionals section of the United States National Guard website presents a guide on how to pursue emergency nursing as a member of the National Guard. ER nurses in the National Guard can pursue the same careers found in the civilian world, but also have the opportunity to take their practices to new heights as a flight nurse or a member of a medical air rescue team.
- Career Cruisin’: This resource provides a wealth of information about practicing emergency nursing on a cruise ship. The article discusses the obstacles and benefits associated with transforming a luxurious escape into a unique career opportunity.
- Emergency Nurses Association: The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) provides various resources that contribute to the professional growth of all employees involved in emergency nursing, including emergency department, administrator, flight, pediatric, or trauma emergency nurses. Resources offered include a subscription to the Journal of Emergency Nursing, a direct connection to the ENA, and a Trauma Nursing course.
- Health Guide USA: This website serves as an online health resource guide and offers a forecast for the job prospects and employment desirability of ER nurses within the next decade. The site also makes predictions pertaining to the type of environment emergency nurses are most likely to work in during the coming years.
- Making the Transition to ED Nursing: This article was written by a registered nurse (RN) from New York and offers great information on how to make a smooth transition from an RN to an ER nurse. The article offers networking advice, tips on how to control ER anxieties, and suggestions for achieving the autonomy that is required of an ER nurse. The information is based on the author’s firsthand experiences, but also includes more formal sources.
- Nursing A Shortage: As part of a documentary on the shortage of nurses in American hospitals, this resource offers a career profile and a story on a day in the life of an emergency room nurse. The subject of this portion of the documentary shares her story regarding the inability of nursing school, textbooks, or classroom lectures to calm her heart or mind as a trauma patient is rushed through the ER.
- Nursing Salaries: This resource organizes emergency nursing salary information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics into an easily searchable database. The site features an option to search for nursing salaries based on specific field, city, and/or highest degree obtained.
- Pediatric Nursing: The information on this site pertains to emergency nursing in the pediatric department of a hospital or other healthcare facility. The site offers 18 frequently asked questions and thorough answers regarding pediatric emergency nursing. Questions cover a broad range of topics related to the career and range from how the job intersects with one’s personal life to the education and salary information for pediatric ER nurses.
- Pre-Hospital Care & Field EMS: This resource offers a comprehensive set of links pertaining to emergency care for patients before they arrive at the hospital and emergency medical services (EMS). Emergency nurses often travel in ambulances or alongside EMS teams, and these links are particularly relevant to those ER nurses.
- Responsibilities of a Trauma Nursing Job: As the article title suggests, this resource provides a job description and a list of employment prospects for emergency nurses who work in the trauma department.
- Wyoming Emergency Nurses Association: The Wyoming Emergency Nurses Association is an internationally recognized leader when it comes to providing knowledge, resources, and responsiveness for emergency nurses, their patients, and their families. This website is a great tool for personal and professional growth for those interested in or already practicing emergency nursing.
Job Boards and Opportunities
- Great Sample Resume: This website provides sample nursing resumes whose templates can be used when applying for a nursing employment position.
- Health Career Web: This resource serves as a forum for networking with healthcare professionals. From hospital jobs to jobs in nursing to allied health jobs, Health Career Web allows nurses and prospective nurses the networking forum they need to start their career.
- Navy Health Care: This United States Navy job resource offers a step by step guide to working as a nurse or other health care professional with the U.S. Navy. The nursing employment opportunities that this resource offers are not limited to the Navy, as there is also a section for nursing employment prospects for life after the Navy.
- Nurse Universe: Nurse Universe features an online career development center full of links and resources to help you land a job in nursing. Some of the resources the career development center offers include top interview questions, skills checklist, daily planner sheets, and several nursing job listings.
- Nurse Zone: This is an excellent resource for recent nursing graduates and provides guidance and tools to help new graduate nurses begin their nursing career. Career-building tools featured on the website include a résumé-builder, salary calculator, and licensure and certification checker.
- Nursing Jobs.org: This website serves as a nursing employment resource and offers job listings for emergency nurses throughout the United States and offers a listing of emergency nursing jobs by title. Employment opportunities are updated daily, and Nursing Jobs.org helps nurses find ER nursing jobs every day.
- Nursing-Jobs.us: If you are looking for a permanent, per day, or travel nursing job, this website is ideal for you. The website’s creators have partnered with the leading hospitals, travel nurse companies, and recruitment agencies to help prospective nurses land their dream job. Online registration is necessary to access employment listings.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: This resource was generated by the United States Department of Labor and provides extensive coverage of the occupational outlooks for emergency nurses, medical technicians, and paramedics. In addition to information on job outlooks, the handbook also offers information on employment projections, earnings, wages and sources of additional information.
- Rush University Medical Center: Rush University Medical Center is a teaching hospital in Chicago. The hospital’s website offers nursing job listings for the hospital itself and for employment at healthcare institutions in the surrounding area. There is also a sign-up tool so that even if there are no relevant nursing job openings at a given time prospective nurses can sign up to be informed of when new employment opportunities become available.
- Stanford Hospital and Clinics: The career page for the Stanford University Hospital and Clinics allows prospective ER nurses to create an online profile and sign up to receive job alerts for positions of specific interest.
- Top USA Jobs: This simple yet extensive user-friendly search database is an excellent tool for those seeking employment as an ER nurse as well as those seeking to recruit ER nurses. The search tool allows prospective employees to enter the city, state, job title keywords, and/or job detail keywords they desire for their position, and the search generates all relevant job openings that meet the search criteria. Employers are also welcome to post ER nursing jobs on this site.
- Travel Nurse Jobs & Allied Health Jobs: This site offers a listing of employment opportunities for nurses across a broad spectrum of specialties. There are links to employment opportunities for registered nurses, travel nurses, emergency nurses, graduate nurses, and international nurses.
- Ultimate Nurse: Ultimate Nurse allows nurses to search for nursing jobs and post their resumes. Resources are split into two sections—one for jobseekers and one for employers and recruiters. Jobseeker resources include anonymous resume posting, personal job alerts, and creating a jobseeker account.
- Working Nurse: Dedicated to publishing career opportunities for registered nurses, Working Nurse’s goal is to help nurses find a more inspiring position. The website features an employment search tool, links to relevant articles in Working Nurse Magazine, and a forum for “nurse talk.”
Financial Aid and Scholarship Resources
- Black Excel: Black Excel is a listing of 26 nursing scholarships specifically aimed at minorities and nursing students of color.
- ENA Foundation Scholarship Program: Each year the Emergency Nurses Association offers various academic scholarships for continuing and new nursing college students. The website features eligibility requirements and important deadlines for each of the scholarships.
- Financial Aid Finder: Financial Aid Finder offers some general tips on how to access the scholarships and grants available to finance nursing school expenses. The resource also provides a direct link to eight nursing scholarships available for students who meet specific eligibility requirements.
- Grants for Nursing Students: This resource is a guide to government and federal grants for nursing students. In addition to government grants, the article also features nursing grants from nursing organizations, the United States military, and nursing incentive programs that offer grants to students who will work as a nurse in an underrepresented medical facility or geographic region.
- Loan to Learn: This resource provides an overview of different loans available to nursing school students. The student loan frequently asked questions sections covers all of the relevant information regarding nursing school loans including consigners, interest rates, credit score, and terms of repayment.
- Minority Nurse: Minority Nurse provides an extensive listing of scholarships available to first generation nursing students, racial minorities, and other underrepresented persons in the field of nursing.
- National Health Service Corps: For those with an interest in emergency nursing and a passion for serving the underprivileged, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) offers to fund nursing education in exchange for two to four years of service in an NHSC approved site.
- Nursing Scholarships: This website is a thorough listing of the nursing scholarships, grants, and financial aid resources for nursing students. In addition to listing scholarship availabilities, there are also links to articles about how to write a winning nursing scholarship essay and how to avoid scholarship scams.
- Scholarships.com: Scholarships.com is a comprehensive search engine that features scholarships from a variety of sources. When you click on the link you will find scholarship availabilities for nursing students from a variety of different sponsors and for a plethora of different student types.
- Scholarships and Financial Aid Resources for Nursing Students: This resource was generated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and provides links to scholarships for students completing varying phases of their nursing education. Resources are grouped into sections for graduate and post-graduate nursing students, undergraduate nursing students, general scholarship and financial aid resources, and loan payment or forgiveness programs.
- Scholarships for Nursing Students: This article exposes readers to a few of the many nursing scholarships for those enrolled in two and four-year college nursing programs.
- Scholarship Programs for Male Nurses: Nursing has long been a female-dominated field and traditionally it has proved difficult to find scholarships and grants for male nurses. This resource provides a commentary on the shortage of men in the nursing profession and offers leads for possible resources for minority male nursing scholarships.
- State Nursing Scholarships: The nursing scholarships and financial opportunities on this website are divided by states. Scholarship opportunities are listed for at least 28 of the states in the continental U.S.
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