Kathleen Carlson

Reclaiming Emergency Nursing

This year my platform has focused on reclaiming emergency nursing. We must get to the bottom of why emergency nurses are leaving the profession so we can develop some actionable strategies to keep them in our great profession. One of the reasons emergency nurses are leaving our profession is because they feel that they cannot do “nursing.” Nursing requires presence and attention in order to form a relationship with a patient. Nursing presence is part of the art of nursing. It was first defined by Florence Nightingale as our ability to connect. Presence requires active listening and mindfulness – having our attention and awareness centered in the present. This relationship is essential for nurse and patient interactions to be effective and is tied to positive patient outcomes which, in turn, lead to OUR improved mental well-being and professional satisfaction. With presence, we are able to pay attention to detail, to think critically – gathering information, noticing subtle changes, and bringing necessary resources to the bedside. Without presence we are just performing tasks. Unfortunately, human communication is becoming more impersonal and our nursing presence capability seems to be declining. This becomes increasingly apparent with the emergence of new technologies that keep us away from the bedside. More than 30% of nursing time is spent hunting, fetching, and clarifying work – NOT on patient care. And then theres the time spent on the electronic medical record! Kathleen Carlson, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN

ENA Advocacy and Activism.

When ENA first was formed in 1970, the focus was mainly on education and networking. Since then, ENA has evolved into an authority, advocate, activist, and a critical voice for the profession of emergency nursing. Last May, during our annual Day on the Hill, we came together in Washington, D.C., to urge federal lawmakers to support legislation important to emergency nursing. We had two priorities: