A registered nurse may specialize in many different areas with the emergency room being just one. An Emergency Room Nurse is a part of a team that works together providing individual care and accurate and fast stabilizing care in crisis situations. Patients coming into an emergency room have many different health care needs that need to be addressed quickly. With every patient, an Emergency Room nurse is responsible for triage: taking each situation and prioritizing it by importance or extreme with psycho social and physical elements considered.

With patients arriving at various times and sometimes simultaneously, an Emergency Room Nurse uses their expertise to decide which situation needs a quicker response. This nurse must have the ability to make decisions fast and accurately, have experience in conflict resolution, emergency care and at the same time be able to show confident leadership skills. An Emergency Room Nurse has to be familiar with the procedures, policies and protocols of the facility he or she is working in. Communication with other medical professionals, patients and families must be open and made in a timely matter in order to give proper and most accurate medical intervention.

To become an Emergency Room Nurse, an associate's degree program, bachelor's degree program or other approved program must be completed. A Bachelor's in nursing is often a requirement in many career options. Nursing programs include courses in chemistry, physiology, nutrition, psychology and behavioral science. Other courses may include pathophysiology, health care issues and research methods. Participation in clinical work and classroom lectures will also be expected. An Associate's program can be completed in approximately two years, while a bachelor's program can be finished in four years.

After completing a nursing program, the National Council Licensure Exam will need to be completed for Registered Nurses. Current certification may also be needed in various areas; cardiac life support, trauma and pediatric support are just a few of many that may be needed. An Emergency Room Nurse can find work in poison control centers, hospitals, hospital transport companies as well as cruise ships. An Emergency Room Nurse's career can be advanced through continuing education programs with many schools offering nursing education programs.

The largest healthcare workers group is that of registered nurses and nearly 56% of nurses work within a hospital setting, such as an ER. It is projected that the field of nursing will see over 580,000 job openings before the year 2016; the largest growth rate of all occupations. An Emergency Room Nurse salary depends on the place of employment, region and experience. The national medium is around $60,000 but increases every year.