Nurses and the EC

• 5/15/2010
• Author: Kristine Miller
• Category: EC News Blog
• 10376 Views
• 0 Comments
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Did you know there are 3.1 million registered nurses in the United States? That’s a lot of care—and a lot of interaction with the care environment.

Think about it. Who are many of the end users of medical equipment? Who handles hazardous materials like chemo drugs and sharps? Who’d probably be the first to notice if an isolation room air flow became reversed? Who has to know how to respond if there’s a fire in a patient room—or an emergency demands patient evacuation—or there’s an infant abduction?

If your answer to all the above was “nurses”—you’re right.

Nurses, you might say, live in the care environment. It’s their home away from home, and like any good homeowner, they’re concerned with making sure that everything is kept running smoothly and in tip-top shape. They know and care if an exit light is out, if there’s a door that doesn’t latch properly, or if the floor covering represents a tripping hazard.

They care about the care environment—as well as the patients in it.