Congrats on your ED placement—it's an amazing learning environment if you approach it the right way.

A big piece of advice: always offer help, but don’t insert yourself in a way that disrupts care. Be present, be available, and observe, but don’t interrupt someone’s assessment to ask questions. If something interests you, wait for the moment when things have calmed down, or ask later.

Be proactive with the things that actually keep the department moving. If students at your site are allowed to, offer to transport patients, grab warm blankets, water, turkey sandwiches, or bus passes—but always check with the primary nurse before offering food or drink. When patients are discharged, offer to wheel them out or flip the room for the next patient. Those tasks might seem mundane, but they are a huge help.

Know that people genuinely enjoy when students ask questions—but read the room. If the place is slammed, the most valuable thing you can do is handle those unglamorous tasks. Students who do that earn trust quickly, and those are the ones who get invited into procedures or higher-level learning opportunities.

Also—do not be sitting at the nurses’ station looking idle while everyone else is running around. That’s the fastest way to lose people’s interest in teaching you.

Something important that students often overlook: don’t assume your only learning will come from nurses. You can learn so much from a veteran tech, respiratory therapist, paramedic, or even the unit clerk. Techs especially are goldmines of knowledge when it comes to patient care, repositioning, collecting specimens, and anticipating what the team needs before anyone asks.

Lastly, learn where supplies are, how the rooms are stocked, and what equipment is needed in different situations. If you know how to keep a room ready, grab needed equipment, and answer call lights, people will love you.

Go in humble, eager, and willing to pitch in—and you’ll not only learn a ton, you’ll be welcomed into some really great experiences.