Patients are treated in the emergency room (ER) of a hospital for illnesses or injuries that cannot wait for a scheduled appointment with a doctor. Everything from car accident victims to heart attack victims is treated in emergency rooms. Physicians, nurses, technicians, and other emergency room employees are all needed to keep the emergency room running smoothly and safely.
Despite the importance of all emergency room jobs, an ER cannot function without a physician. An emergency room physician is a medical doctor who has completed all of the required training and licensing to practice medicine. In most cases, this entails an undergraduate education, medical school, and a residency during which the doctor learns how to put all of his or her education and training into practice. An emergency room doctor does not specialize in a single field of medicine because an emergency room can see patients with illnesses or injuries from any medical specialty. A physician, of all the emergency room jobs, requires the most education and carries the most responsibility; however, an ER physician will earn the highest salary of all the emergency room jobs.
Nurses are also an important part of an emergency room. Nurses are the most common of all emergency room jobs, as they deal with the majority of patient contact. Nursing education requirements vary by jurisdiction, but in most cases, a nurse must complete at least two to four years of college. Emergency room nurses, like physicians, do not specialize in any particular field of medicine because they must be prepared to care for and treat anyone who walks through the door. Nurses in the emergency room must be able to work in a high-stress environment and be willing to work long, often unpredictable shifts.
ER technicians are another type of emergency room worker. A “technician” is a broad term that can refer to anyone who has been trained to perform specific tasks in an emergency room, such as a radiology technician. It could also refer to someone who has received the same basic education as a nurse but did not attend school for as long. A licensed practical nurse in the United States, for example, may draw blood, take a patient’s blood pressure, and inquire about the patient’s medical history, among other things.
The emergency room staff completes the list of possible emergency room jobs. The staff will include people who will greet patients as they arrive and determine what the patient’s injury or ailment is that needs to be addressed. In addition, the staff will keep track of who is working, which patients are in which rooms, and complete any necessary insurance paperwork for the patients.