| Name: |
Trauma Nurse |
| Description: |
Trauma nursing involves responding quickly to a wide variety of single- and multisystem trauma involving different patient needs, ages, cultures, and severity of presenting symptoms. The trauma nurse must respond with decisiveness and clarity to unexpected events by assessing, intervening, and stabilizing patients about whom there is minimal information. |
| Practice setting: |
Inpatient critical-care settings and transport units |
| Client age group: |
All age groups |
| Diagnoses: |
Emergent conditions, including major multisystem trauma and shock from drowning, diving accidents, poisoning, and other medical emergencies |
| Practice
roles: |
Clinical
— staff nurse, flight nurse, clinical nurse
specialist
Management — nurse manager, coordinator,
supervisor
Administration — director
Nurse educator
Research nurse |
| Characteristics: |
Role autonomy and independence, variety of duties and assorted challenges, patient care and nurse-patient relationships, teamwork, innovative thinking, patient teaching |
| Challenges: |
Stress, conflicts, high pressure, patient/family grief and difficult contacts, short-term patient relationships, language and cultural barriers |
| Desirable skills: |
Medical/surgical, emergency, and/or critical-care experience (hands-on skills with IV therapy, ventilators, cardiac monitoring, pain management, pre- and postoperative care), flexibility, stress management, decision making, and assessment, assertiveness, communication skills, motivation, and interpersonal skills |
| Education: |
RN with AD, Diploma, or BSN (preferred) |
| Employers: |
Acute-care and specialty hospitals, emergency medical systems |
| Certification: |
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| Organizations: |
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| Publications: |
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