The Tapestry of Emergency Nursing

It was my turn to pick the Journal's cover this month. My choice may seem a little unusual, but there is a reason. The scarves pictured on the cover were woven by one of my co-workers. She was actually my mentor when I joined the emergency department staff 2 years ago. That was when I learned that weaving was one of her passions. Also, that is why I asked her for some pictures of her work. Weaving is a good metaphor for emergency nursing.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes a tapestry as a hand woven reversible textile. Tapestries are characterized by intricate pictorial designs.1 The tapestry of emergency nursing is woven of multiple complex and complicated threads.

The threads of the emergency nursing tapestry include the patient, the community, and emergency medical services. These are woven with illnesses, injuries, social problems, and violence. Brighter colors bring healthy births, injury prevention, education, and patient safety. What's more, safety includes alcohol prevention, child passenger safety, and healthy aging.2

An important and strong thread is research—research that discovers the evidence of our practice. It is research that describes who we are and what we do. It should be a thread that continuously moves back and forth within the tapestry.

Finally, the thread that symbolizes education, which requires constant learning, is still attached to the shuttle. It is the symbol of a continuous work in progress.

Colorful tapestries were created to bring warmth and life to the bare stone walls of Europe's medieval and Renaissance palaces. They picture what life is and provide a record of what happened. Tapestries may be the best available record of a culture.3

The cover this month offers an illustration of the tapestry of emergency nursing. Emergency nurses are like tapestries. They come in all colors, ages and educational backgrounds.

We must be the hand that holds the thread and guides the direction of emergency nursing into the future. We must use the threads of our profession-patient care, education, experience and of our professional association to weave a better environment for ourselves and the patients we care for.

I hope you enjoy the color and originality of emergency nursing.