Will I Know What to Do When it Matters?

I’ve heard many young nurses or nursing students ask this question: 

“Will I know what to do when it matters?” 

The reality is that even more experienced nurses often ask this same question. Many of us are used to jumping into action when things happen at work. Still, the question remains, what would I do if I faced an emergency outside of work? At work, it’s much easier because even in the chaotic ER there is a sense of order. There is also help. 

What if an emergency happens when I’m not at work?

My son was choking

I often wondered the same thing. One day, when our son was a toddler, he and I went to have lunch with my wife. She was breaking up pieces of her hamburger and feeding them to him. Suddenly, I hear her call my name with clear stress in her voice. She had snatched him out of the high chair and was handing him to me. 

Quickly I realized that he was choking.

I grabbed him from her, flipped him over, and began doing back blows. Thankfully, after a couple of blows, he coughed and the hamburger came out. He was fine. In that moment I did exactly what I needed to do. I wasn’t thinking about it. By this time I had been a nurse for a couple of years, had worked at the hospital for about 6 years or so, and had taken basic life support several times. I had trained for this exact moment and, without even thinking about it, I was able to do what needed to be done. My training saved my son’s life.

It happened again

I remember on another occasion we were having a meal at my in-law’s house. I think it was Thanksgiving or Christmas. Everything was going well when, again, I heard my wife calling my name. I look up and realize this time it is my mother-in-law that is choking. I stand up and perform the procedure that I had been trained to do. After a couple of abdominal thrusts, she coughed up what she had been choking on. My training saved my mother-in-law’s life.

It’s not just about me

But, this isn’t all about me. More recently, I received notification that an old friend from church was in the emergency room after an apparent heart attack. My wife and I loaded up and went to the ER to be with his wife. As we sit in the ER waiting room the story of what had happened begins to be shared. Sitting next to me is a young woman I have known since she was an early teen, or even younger. Turns out that when this old friend collapsed, this young woman checked him out, found that he was pulseless, and began CPR. 

This story happened back in January or February of that year. That young woman graduated from nursing school a few months later. She hadn’t even graduated from nursing school, yet in the heat of the moment was able to step up and do what needed to be done. 

You can do it, too

It can be easy to look at my two stories and discount them because I had, by that time, been a nurse for a bit and had worked in the ER for a few years. However, this young woman hadn’t even finished nursing school. For a nursing student or even an inexperienced nurse, this young woman is much more representative of where you are and, probably, how you feel. As she and I talked, she confessed how scared she was. When I had to work on my son and mother-in-law, I was also scared. Yet we were able to act. That is true courage.

Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is a willingness to take action, even in the face of fear.

The point of all this is that you can do this too. Whether you are a nursing student, a new nurse, or have been a nurse for years, you can do this. You have what it takes to step up when the time comes, to take action in the moments that require it of you. 

Your training will save lives

One of the major factors that can help you be better prepared to take action is training. Take the training you are offered or required seriously. Learn all you can from that training. Look for opportunities for more training and experience. When you are on clinical rotations, look for stuff that’s going on around you and ask how you can be part of it. When I was a charge nurse in the ER I used to have nursing students do chest compressions in codes. There is no better spot to see all that is going on in a code than right there, in the middle of it all, doing chest compressions. Some didn’t appreciate it much at the time, but it turned out to be a great learning experience.

Look for opportunities to learn, wherever they may be. Someday you will use that training to save someones’ life. Maybe even someone you care about.

I’m here to help

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