What kind or type of people are attracted to work in the field of
emergency medicine?  I'm most interested in the answer about what
attracts registered nurses to work in emergency department verses
another fields of nursing.

Hello Kurtmann,

Here are quotations from an emergency medicine nurse in Canda: 

“"I like the teamwork, the race to beat the clock, the adrenaline
highs…”
“The advice that I can offer to young nurses is to obtain several
years of experience in medicine and surgery in order to acquire the
confidence to take on the challenges of emergency care. I'm young
myself and work with other young nurses in an emergency ward, and
sometimes it's only human to feel overwhelmed by what's going on
around us. We often manage to stay calm, thanks to the help of our
older colleagues, but the responsibilities we deal with are enormous.”

and from a doctor in the same hospital: “For me, an emergency doctor
is someone who is involved in the hospital milieu, especially in the
emergency ward, but who also contributes a lot to the community. It's
true that most of our work takes place in the emergency room but it
extends far beyond there. For example, we are responsible for planning
regional emergency services, but few people are aware of this.”  
“Emergency medicine specialists are people who like to give the best
of themselves and who master various techniques. They are able to work
under extreme pressure and feel rewarded by being able to provide
immediate help when it's needed. When I get a patient who is in
cardiac arrest, it's my responsibility to resuscitate him. And when I
feel his heart beating again, I feel like yelling 'Hooray!' It's an
adrenaline rush.”

The article in which these quotations appear also makes the point that
career prospects for nurses in emergency medicine are excellent, and
there is a high demand.
http://healthcare.monster.ca/articles/emergency2/ 

A transcript from a Medical Student Forum on the Society for Academic
Emergency Medicine web site titled “Is Emergency Medicine The Right
Career For You?”  makes the following points, which although aimed at
prospective doctors would also apply to nurses:
“I wanted to help people (trite,but true). I wasn't sure what I wanted
to accomplish, but I knew that I waslooking for a specialty that could
be described as follows:fun, challenging ( both mentally and
physically), gratifying, always evolving, opportunity for growth.
Emergency medicine has more than satisfied these career expectations.”
“If there's a rotation you hated, emergency medicine may not be right
for you since we see a little of everything.”
“You will rely heavily on many persons in the emergency department and
throughout the hospital. You must be able to get along with others
throughout the medical system”
“In  the ED, we live in a fishbowl. Every action is visible to others.
If you are unable to shrug off criticism or learn from it, this may
not be a good career choice for you”
“You must be able toquickly and easily develop rapport with patients
and their families. If shortterm relationships, such as these, leave
you unsatisfied, choose a career with more continuity.”
“In emergency medicine, we switch schedules constantly. You must be
able to adapt to this… Emergency medicine is a 24/7 profession. You
must be willing to do your share of weekends and holidays.”
“Are you an adrenaline freak? I hope so because you'll need lots of it
in this field!”
“If one of your reasons for entering the field of medicine is "to get
rich quick", emergency medicine is probably not a good fit for you.”
http://www.saem.org/download/01cydulka.pdf

Preference for a lack of routine and a love of challenge is given as
another reason: “Nurses choose emergency medicine as their career
primarily because they enjoy the ever-changing, unexpected challenges
that roll through the ED’s doors.” 
http://nsweb.nursingspectrum.com/cfforms/radiorn.cfm

Search strategy on Google: 1. "emergency medicine" nurses career
choice
://www.google.com/search?q=%22emergency+medicine%22+nurses+career+choice&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off
2. nurses choose "emergency medicine"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=nurses+choose+%22emergency+medicine%22+&btnG=Google+Search

Hi kurtmann...

I think the simple answer to your question
since you are distinguishing the emergency
part... is "adrenaline junkies"

Same kind of people that jump off bridges
with bungee cords, and base jump off cliffs.

Their rush is the immediacy to save a life.

I think this is probably the case, based on
friends I've known that were EMTs, and ER
medics. But this is opinion, so it stays down
here in comments. ;-)

-AI

Hello Kurtmann,

I sometimes pick up extra shifts in one of the ERs in my city,
although I am not an RN myself. The RNs I work with would agree with
the quote Tehuti gave you about the "ever-changing" types of patients
they care for. Most of them would rather care for a large number of
patients for a short period of time in the ER than care for a smaller
non-changing patient group for an entire shift on another floor, such
as a med-surg floor. It's the turnover of patients that many of them
prefer.

As for the adrenalin rush, surely there is a rush in saving a life.
But hospital-based RNs face another "rush" which is much less
gratifying. They are often put in the precarious position of working
understaffed shifts due to the chronic nursing shortage faced by many
health care systems. The inability to give a patient your very best
care because you are spread too thin is a frequent problem faced by
hospital-based RNs. This can be especially distressing to ER RNs
because of the critical situations presented by their patients. The ER
RNs I work with would tell you that that being overworked and put in
situations where it may not be safe for the patient (or themselves)
can put a big damper on any short-term rush that comes from saving a
life. Being put in the position of having to care for too many
seriously ill patients at one time can itself lead to an adrenalin
rush ... a very negative and overwhelming experience indeed! I know a
lot of ER RNs who would like a little less adrenalin rush in their
work day :-) Their motivations for working in the ER go beyond the
rush and are much more individualized.

Best wishes,
fsw, who has tremendous respect for ER RNs