10 ER Nursing Hacks You Need to Know

ER nursing hacks can be just what you need to make your shift go from terrible to not-as-terrible. As nurses, we aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty. We take charge, do what needs to be done, and then find a way to laugh about it in the end.

Working in the Emergency Department can be especially draining – physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, just because nursing is HARD doesn’t mean we can’t utilize tips and tricks to make that 12-hour shift a little bit more bearable. Use these “10 Nursing Hacks Every ER Nurse Should Know” to save time, save your senses, and save your sanity!

Please keep in mind the following hacks are anecdotally based. You must use these within your own judgment and within your facility’s protocols. You can read more about this on my disclaimer page.

1 ER Nursing Hacks: Double-Glovin’ in the Oven

As you know, personal protection equipment including clean gloves and gowns are absolutely necessary in a hospital environment. For some procedures, clean gloves are “good enough”. However, for high-risk infection procedures, sterile gloves are necessary.

Foley catheter insertion is one of those procedures, as catheter-associated infections are very common. While putting in a Foley catheter can become like second-nature rather quickly, there can be some difficulties with the sterile procedure.

For one – those cheap sterile gloves that come with the foley kit are typically a size 5.0. So unless you have baby-hands, I’d recommend grabbing an appropriately sized package of latex-free rubber gloves. You might want to go a half-size above your normal for this method.

After grabbing your foley kit and sterile gloves, position the patient, and then wash your hands (duh). Afterward, put on a pair of clean gloves FIRST, then proceed to open your kit and apply your sterile gloves, and continue the insertion per normal.

Using this nursing hack, once you insert the foley and blow up the balloon, you can take off your previously sterile gloves which are now likely dripping with Betadine and other fluids. Luckily – you still have a pair of gloves underneath to secure the cath-secure, position the foley bag, and clean up your pile of trash! Once that’s done, slip off the gloves, wash your hands, and you’re done! Easy-peasy-Kegel-Squeezy.

2 Burp that Bolus

This concept is a little more confusing, but it can save time! In the ER, we hang A LOT of boluses and every ER nurse knows that pumps are harder to find than a rectal thermometer. So naturally, ER nurses are resourceful and use gravity. Patients often require multiple boluses, and Lord knows you are almost always sometimes just too busy to switch out bags before the bag runs out and half of the tubing is now air.

In this predicament, you could flush out the rest of the line in a trash can, then unspike and re-spike your new bag, and THEN re-prime the line. Or you could get a whole new tubing set and just throw out the old bag/tubing. As you can see – this wastes either valuable time or equipment/money!

But what if I told you there was an ER nursing hack to solve this? When you go to prime the original bolus, clamp your tubing and spike your bag. Do NOT squeeze fluid into the drip chamber yet. Now, turn the bag upside down. Unclamp the tubing, and “burp” out the excess air at the top of the upside-down bag.

Once the air is gone and some fluid is forced into the drip chamber, turn the bag right-side-up. Now prime the tubing as normal and hook the patient up. You’ve essentially created a vacuum so that the fluid will stop flowing before it empties the drip chamber – ready for your second bolus when you are. 

3 Juice cup? Change it up!

Unless you work at an adult-only ER, you are likely seeing patients that span the clinical spectrum – this includes pediatric patients. One thing about pediatric patients is that they HATE taking their medications.

One particularly difficult medication to give a child PO is Dexamethasone oral solution. Unfortunately, it’s usually made with a good portion of alcohol content, and it smells and tastes like…vodka?

After forcing it down, kids often vomit it up – all your hard work for nothing. One ER nursing hack to avoid having to give an IM shot is swapping oral Dexamethasone for the IV solution.

IV medications cannot always be used orally, but sometimes they can! IV Dexamethasone has successfully been administered mixed with cherry-syrup, juice, or followed by a popsicle – and children take the medicine MUCH easier! Don’t forget though, you must run this by the provider before trying it, as studies are somewhat mixed on the efficacy (pharmacokinetic info here).

4 Septic Sock

Now I KNOW you have smelt some SMELLS in the ER (or anywhere in the hospital for that matter). There is nothing stronger than a nurse’s nose. C-diff, fungi, and bodily secretions aside – sometimes the worst smell comes from down under (the feet – ya nasty).

Unfortunately, working 12-hour shifts where you are constantly on your feet and running around, you might find yourself with some STANKY feet. The good news is, even if you don’t have stinky feet, this ER nursing hack can help you deal with a patient’s particularly putrid piggy-toes. But first, a quick science lesson.

While sweat is the main cause of foot odor, sweat doesn’t actually smell. Instead, it creates a perfect medium for bacteria. These bacteria include Brevibacteria and S. epidermidis (known for their cheese-like smell), as well as propionibacteria (known for its vinegar-like smell).

Regardless of which bacteria are causing the odor, they are all highly acidic. So here’s the hack: If you or one of your patients has particularly powerful foot odor – use an antacid! Lather Maalox or Mylanta on the feet, put surgical booties over top, and you won’t believe how fast it can help! Another option is to scrub the feet with Hibiclens or betadine for antibacterial action. Better yet – do both!

Fair warning though, if there is any fungi growing – these methods might not work as well. To prevent foot odor, it’s recommended to wear breathable shoes, breathable socks (cotton or wool), and wash and exfoliate your feet frequently. A little dab of foot-powder in your shoes every few days never hurt anyone either (Gold Bond anyone? #NotSponsored)

Related Article: Six Steps for Sepsis Management

5 Thinking Outside the Vial

Every nurse knows that lidocaine is extremely helpful as a topical anesthetic for suturing , regional blocks, and even intra-articular injections to numb pain. However, lidocaine is not limited to only these uses. While not quite a “nursing hack”, these alternative uses of lidocaine are important to know so you can offer suggestions to the attending when indicated.

Gastritis

OK, you probably knew this one – viscous lidocaine is often mixed with an antacid and sometimes an antispasmodic to create a “GI cocktail” to help with the pain of gastric or esophageal etiology. This is always a good suggestion for those young chest pain when GI etiology is suspected.

NG Tube Insertion

They have done research to see if lidocaine gel, nebulized lidocaine, and anesthetic spray have been useful for NG tube insertion. Not too surprisingly, patients who get lidocaine gel or spray administered intranasally/orally had significantly less pain with insertion – but can have a more difficult NG experience. Additionally, nebulized lidocaine has proven to decrease pain and increase comfort during NG tube insertions, but can increase the chances of nosebleeds.

Cough

Sometimes with persistent laryngospasm, nebulized lidocaine can be used effectively to help with a cough. However, there isn’t a significant amount of research on this, so you likely won’t see it ordered often and will depend on the Provider.

Oral Pain

Those experiencing pain in their mouth from a painful lesion such as an aphthous or herpetic ulcers can benefit from viscous lidocaine “swished” and either swallowed or spit afterward.

Foley Insertion (males)

This is also more common, but the provider may order 5-10ml viscous lidocaine to inject into the urethra before a difficult-anticipated foley insertion in males. Luckily, this usually comes pre-packaged in a syringe called a Uro-Jet. This should be injected directly into the urethra a few minutes before attempting the foley insertion. This can help reduce pain and be especially helpful in patients with a small meatus, anatomical abnormalities, or prostate enlargement.

Renal Colic ER

While meds like morphine and Dilaudid are used frequently in the ER and hospital, sometimes there are effective alternatives to opioids that actually work really well. Slow infusion of low-dose IV lidocaine can be used effectively for kidney pain. It’s recommended for use if NSAIDs and Opioids are contraindicated or risky. One study even indicates that IV lidocaine at appropriate doses safely lowered the patient’s pain more than morphine.

Related Article: Opioid Alternative Analgesics in the ER

6 Alcohol Swab Nursing Hacks

There are a few things we nurses usually load up our pockets with. Usually, these consist of tape, band-aids, paper, pens, and alcohol pads. But did you know how versatile alcohol pads can truly be?

Blood Cleanup

This is more of a no-brainer, but when you accidentally make a mess with blood while putting in an IV, patients appreciate it if you help clean up your mess. Busting out an alcohol swab can easily clean up dried blood on their skin. If alcohol doesn’t do the trick, sometimes using KY jelly lube works even better. Alternatively, you could use hydrogen peroxide.

Nausea Nursing Hack

Did you know that a few whiffs of alcohol pad can relieve nausea almost immediately? Sure – Zofran is still our bread and butter, but this nursing hack works pretty quickly!

When your patient is nauseous, break open an alcohol swab and place it right under their nose. Tell them to take 3-4 deep slow breaths. Before you know it – they should start feeling somewhat better. In fact, clinical research suggests that alcohol may even be more effective than oral zofran, or at least a useful adjuct.

Scientists don’t exactly know why this works. Some think it’s purely due to “olfactory distraction” – distraction while following the instructions, taking deep breaths, and relaxing the body.

Pseudoseizure Nursing Hack

In the ER, the nurses frequently experience patients who have not-so-believable “seizures”. These “fake” seizures are termed pseudoseizures, and the patient might not even know that they are “faking”. Typically when this happens, we bust out an ammonia salt and place it underneath the patient’s nose. This tends to stop their “seizures” pretty much immediately. But what do you do if you don’t have an ammonia inhalant on hand?

Not every ER utilizes ammonia salts, and sometimes they can be hard to find. If you experience a patient with what you believe to be a pseudoseizure, try opening an alcohol pad and placing it directly beneath their nose. This may distract them and bring them out of their “seizure”. Please note this is anecdotal and is not in the literature. 

Save your Senses (ER Nursing Hack)

Clostridium Difficile (C-Diff) is a common diarrheal infection which can make people pretty sick. We often see these patients in the ER and hospitals. Unfortunately, C-diff is very contagious and tends to run rampant in nursing homes and hospitals. As we all know, C-Diff has a pretty distinct and powerful smell which can be hard to erase from our noses!

Before going into a C-diff patient’s room, add a mask to your PPE. Break open an alcohol swab and place it inside the mask. This way, the isopropyl alcohol overpowers the C-diff smell and you save your senses – or at least make it more tolerable.

If alcohol swabs are too strong for you, you can try rubbing toothpaste or Vix rub inside a double-layered mask. This nursing hack works well for C-diff, but also for other smelly situations including I&Ds, rotting flesh, nasty wounds, and fungal infections.

7 IV Stick Trick

Putting in IVs is super common in hospitals, especially within the emergency department. If one thing is sure – patients hate getting stuck! Some tense up, others look away, and then there’s those who shake, cry, and even syncopize. Ironically, the latter is usually buffed up guys with tattoos all over their bodies! People don’t like needle sticks because the needles hurt. But what if I were to tell you that there’s a way you can decrease pain, without any medication or extra equipment?

This ER nursing hack will help your IV insertions go more smoothly! After you clean the IV site, place the needle flush with the skin right where you are going to poke. Press the needle into the cleansed skin with the bevel up for 3-5 seconds before you puncture the skin. The longer you wait – the more desensitized their pain receptors will become – this should decrease the pain felt.

With less perceived pain, the patient may tell you “is that it?!” or “I could barely feel it!”. It also takes away the “shock” factor, making the patient less likely to jump! For most patients, this technique will be effective, however, some patients still will have a high amount of perceived pain, especially if you dig.

Related Article:

• “10 IV Insertion Tips for Nurses”
• “How to Start an IV”

8 BP not Enough? Use the Bedside Cuff

Vital signs are an important aspect of nursing care and patient monitoring. Blood pressures have a tendency in the ER to be very high or very low. When very low, we give large amounts of fluids as fast as we can. While pressure-bags are a great option and ensure fast infusion, they are not always available.

Many ER rooms have bedside manual blood pressure sphygmomanometers. In place of a pressure-bag, use the blood pressure cuff around the middle to top of the bolus and pump it up until it flows nicely. Like the pressure bag – you will have to occasionally pump in more air as the bag empties.

Related Articles: “5 Vital Sign Errors to Avoid”

9 Neb-wick Air Freshener

After a particularly smelly patient leaves, sometimes the aroma sticks around in the air. Unfortunately, Lysol sprays don’t always cut it. Now I personally am not a huge believer in the essential oil craze, but this nursing hack requires someone on staff to have essential oils or strong smelling lotion.

Take a used nebulizer adapter and squirt some water or saline in the medication chamber. Next, add a few drops of an essential oil of your choice. Turn the oxygen on high and viola. This nursing hack will have the room smelling Glade-scented fresh in no time. Talk about Oxy-Clean!

10 The Dependable Bedpan Nursing Hack

Many patients cannot or should not ambulate while they are in the ED. This is fine until they have to use the bathroom. Bedpans can be successfully used for both #1 and #2, but unfortunately, they have a tendency to cause messes. Whether you are using a fracture pan or a regular bedpan, line the pan with an adult diaper or absorbable pad. Secure it with tape or rubber bands. You can also use a large pull-up inverted inside-out and secure it over the bedpan. Place the bedpan underneath the patient as normal.

This way, any urine or liquid stools are absorbed in the material and do not splash, spill, or cause messes. It also allows for easy cleanup! If you need to collect a urine or liquid stool sample – this method should not be used.

Related Articles: “Comprehensive Urinalysis Interpretation”

Hopefully, you found these 10 ER nursing hacks to be useful. Implementing them in our everyday shifts should help save our senses and our sanity, not to mention our time! As a nurse, we are pulled in so many different directions at once and expected to always be on top of our patient care. Utilizing these hacks will hopefully help.

What are your personal nursing hacks which help save you time and make you a more efficient nurse? Let me know in the comments below, and share this article with your nursing friends!

Check out more general nursing hacks over at FRESHRN here!