Emergency room nurses are sometimes referred to as ER nurses, trauma nurses or critical care nurses. No matter the title, they are licensed registered nurses that work in a hospital’s emergency department or emergency room. These nurses are responsible for stabilizing patients before they are transferred to the operating room, intensive care unit or medical-surgical unit. They also discharge medically stable patients.
To enter the field, nursejournal.org reported, hopeful emergency room nurses need roughly two to four years of preparation.
It’s a fast-paced career path, but it is rewarding financially. ER nurses in Georgia make an average of $73,868 per year, according to Salary.com. ZipRecruiter, however, reported a much higher average salary of $83,051 for emergency room nurses in Georgia this year. Meanwhile, ER nurses in Atlanta make an average $142,281 per year in 2023, according to Indeed.
According to Nurse.org, ER nurses have a number of special duties and responsibilities. Here’s what to expect.
- Administering blood products, medications and vaccinations
- Assisting in the care of traumas, cardiac arrests, strokes, sexual assaults and conscious sedations
- Cleaning and dressing wounds
- Conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, rescue breathing, or bag-valve-mask ventilation
- Discharging medically stable patients
- Educating patients, families, and caregivers about their disease and treatment plan
- Performing tracheotomies and intubations
- Placing Intravenous lines
- Responding to emergency situations throughout the hospital
- Setting broken bones
- Stabilizing trauma patients
- Treating critical injuries, allergic reactions, and trauma
- Triaging patients upon arrival to emergency room
To become an ER nurse, you’ll need to complete a few steps. Hopeful ER nurses must first earn either an ADN or a BSN from an accredited nursing program.
Once you’ve graduated, you will have to pass the NCLEX examination in order to become a registered nurse. The percentage of U.S. educated test takers that passed the exam on the first try fell from 88.2% in 2019 to 82.5% in 2021 to 80.9% in 2022. The pass rate in Georgia was 87.6% in 2021 for those taking the test for the first time. A total 749 people took the test in Georgia that year, with 656 ultimately passing the test on their first try.
Most emergency rooms will require two to three years of prior bedside nursing experience before hiring a candidate, with some requiring bedside nursing experience specifically in a medical-surgical unit or intensive care unit. According to Nurse.org, it is possible to find a position as an ER nurse without experience, but it can be difficult unless you’ve completed some sort of internship or externship with the hospital.
Finally, advanced certification, while not required, is a great way to separate your resume from the competition and to climb higher on the pay scale.
“The CEN exam is for nurses in the emergency department setting who want to demonstrate their expertise, knowledge and versatility in emergency nursing,” the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing reported. “BCEN is the only source for emergency nursing professionals and their employers to obtain recognized certification with proven results for greater knowledge and performance. Enhance your knowledge, your career, and patient care with specialty certification in emergency nursing.”
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing’s Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) certification comes with a few requirements of its own: There is a $370 examination fee to take the three-hour timed exam necessary to earn the certification. Nurse.org also suggested that nurses should have two or more years of experience within the emergency room before pursuing a CEN.
