Accepted to RN bridge!

FiremanMike said:
I'll let you know after I lose this weight and get back in shape after nursing school.

I'm going to invent a new diagnosis - Nursing School induced Metabolic Syndrome..

The nursing diagnoses would be "Imbalanced nutrition, Impaired Social Isolation, Imbalanced alcohol consumption, and Anxiety aeb a complete inability to communicate with other people in the week leading up to exams"
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I think someone beat you to it a few decades ago...called that 'dorm butt'....
 
E tank said:
I think someone beat you to it a few decades ago...called that 'dorm butt'....
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I believe that's called the freshman 15...
 
paramedic5555 said:
FiremanMike I'm kinda late to the post but wanted to say congratulations, this is awesome! My name is Reggie and I also went thru a Paramedic to RN Bridge program and graduated in May 2021. Best of luck to you man and please reach out if I can help or answer any questions for you. I blogged my way thru Nursing school at Paramedic 2 RN Journey and also recently started a Youtube channel, The Paramedic 2 RN Guy as a way to give back by sharing my journey. I hope everything has gone well for you!
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Quizlet.com is a great resource. Just saying.
 
Well I am in the final stretch, about 6 weeks to go and I’ve scored high enough on exams 1 and 2 that I can miss nearly half the questions on the final exam and still pass.

Two weeks ago I applied for a part time ER nurse position, a tricky predicament as getting a new grad position in the ER isn’t super common but getting a new grad position with the ability to only work part time hours is even more uncommon. Within 6 days of my application I had a phone interview, an in person interview, and a job offer (pending licensure, obviously). As much as I’d love to leave the FD now to dive head in to my next career, the difference in pension from today and just a short 3.5 years from now is about $40k per year for the rest of my life (or my wife’s life, whoever dies last)

I will reserve my closing thoughts on this overall journey until after my pinning ceremony. While it’s highly unlikely I’ll fail my final, which is over EKGs, mass casualty/triage, ACLS, and acid base balance, it is possible and I don’t want to jinx it.
 
FiremanMike said:
Well I am in the final stretch, about 6 weeks to go and I’ve scored high enough on exams 1 and 2 that I can miss nearly half the questions on the final exam and still pass.

Two weeks ago I applied for a part time ER nurse position, a tricky predicament as getting a new grad position in the ER isn’t super common but getting a new grad position with the ability to only work part time hours is even more uncommon. Within 6 days of my application I had a phone interview, an in person interview, and a job offer (pending licensure, obviously). As much as I’d love to leave the FD now to dive head in to my next career, the difference in pension from today and just a short 3.5 years from now is about $40k per year for the rest of my life (or my wife’s life, whoever dies last)

I will reserve my closing thoughts on this overall journey until after my pinning ceremony. While it’s highly unlikely I’ll fail my final, which is over EKGs, mass casualty/triage, ACLS, and acid base balance, it is possible and I don’t want to jinx it.
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You applied but aren't sure after interviews and a job offer? Why don't you finish school, pass NCLEX, and then apply in 3.5 years???
 
MackTheKnife said:
You applied but aren't sure after interviews and a job offer? Why don't you finish school, pass NCLEX, and then apply in 3.5 years???
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I’m going back to 24/48 at work and going to work part time as an ER nurse until it’s time to retire from FD
 
FiremanMike said:
Well I am in the final stretch, about 6 weeks to go and I’ve scored high enough on exams 1 and 2 that I can miss nearly half the questions on the final exam and still pass.

Two weeks ago I applied for a part time ER nurse position, a tricky predicament as getting a new grad position in the ER isn’t super common but getting a new grad position with the ability to only work part time hours is even more uncommon. Within 6 days of my application I had a phone interview, an in person interview, and a job offer (pending licensure, obviously). As much as I’d love to leave the FD now to dive head in to my next career, the difference in pension from today and just a short 3.5 years from now is about $40k per year for the rest of my life (or my wife’s life, whoever dies last)

I will reserve my closing thoughts on this overall journey until after my pinning ceremony. While it’s highly unlikely I’ll fail my final, which is over EKGs, mass casualty/triage, ACLS, and acid base balance, it is possible and I don’t want to jinx it.
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Almost like deja vu reading this, lol.

My first nursing job was a PT position in a level 1 trauma center ED, which I did while still working FT as a flight paramedic. They were super reluctant to hire a new grad nurse into the ED - especially part time - but made exception due to my extensive EMS experience. I remember thinking "not sure why there are making a big deal out of this; I've been doing this crap for years, in even harder environments". Turns out, my ignorance could not have been more profound and I struggled in that role for quite a while. I eventually did OK but then moved on to the SICU where I also struggled a fair amount, but made my way and learned a ton about taking care of really (REALLY) sick patients.

I am sure you will do fine - but the challenge is not over. And ultimately you will be super glad that you did this. Good luck on your last few weeks!
 
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Carlos Danger said:
My first nursing job was a PT position in a level 1 trauma center ED, which I did while still working FT as a flight paramedic.

They were super reluctant to hire a new grad nurse into the ED - especially part time - but made exception due to my extensive EMS experience. I remember thinking "not sure why there are making a big deal out of this; I've been doing this crap for years, in even harder environments".

Turns out, my ignorance could not have been more profound and I struggled in that role for quite a while.

I am sure you will do fine, and ultimately you will be super glad that you did this. Good luck on your last few weeks!
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We had those same discussions in my interview and I have the same fear of overconfidence.

I am eager to start practicing and learning all the ER has to teach me but very nervous about how much I still don’t know.

Thanks for the encouragement!
 
FiremanMike said:
We had those same discussions in my interview and I have the same fear of overconfidence.

I am eager to start practicing and learning all the ER has to teach me but very nervous about how much I still don’t know.

Thanks for the encouragement!
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You'll do fine, man. Seriously. Nervous is good, and you will have some crappy days here and there, but there's nothing to dread.

Like I said, you will ultimately be really glad that you did this.
 
FiremanMike said:
I’m going back to 24/48 at work and going to work part time as an ER nurse until it’s time to retire from FD
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Thanx. Your post wasn't clear. This clears it up. Good luck to you. The organized, frenetic pass in the ED will suit you well. Most floor nurses can't handle it.
 
MackTheKnife said:
The organized, frenetic pass in the ED will suit you well. Most floor nurses can't handle it.
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I tend to agree! I'm a firm believer in the idea that ED nurses are the Squirrels of the Nursing world. People that have worked in EMS probably are much more accustomed to rolling with whatever comes along than floor (or ICU) nurses do... In my ED, we occasionally have Tele nurses come down to provide care for our Tele patients that have to hold in the ED. Most of them just can't handle having a new patient drop into one of their assigned rooms... There are a few that love working with us and jump in to help whenever there's a need!
 
Akulahawk said:
I tend to agree! I'm a firm believer in the idea that ED nurses are the Squirrels of the Nursing world. People that have worked in EMS probably are much more accustomed to rolling with whatever comes along than floor (or ICU) nurses do... In my ED, we occasionally have Tele nurses come down to provide care for our Tele patients that have to hold in the ED. Most of them just can't handle having a new patient drop into one of their assigned rooms... There are a few that love working with us and jump in to help whenever there's a need!
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It's funny to see the tele nurses lose their minds when they see what we have to do. Like getting two or three rescue patients at once and having to get them triaged, hooked up to the monitor, get lines started, call a Code Stroke and/or a Code STEMI. Or just two or three lazy people who called rescue cause they thought they'd get seen quicker.
 
MackTheKnife said:
It's funny to see the tele nurses lose their minds when they see what we have to do. Like getting two or three rescue patients at once and having to get them triaged, hooked up to the monitor, get lines started, call a Code Stroke and/or a Code STEMI. Or just two or three lazy people who called rescue cause they thought they'd get seen quicker.
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The one good thing about having Tele nurses sent to help out with the ED Tele hold patients (they're admitted, awaiting in-patient room availability) is that those nurses get a good look at what ED nurses do and why the reports we give are not like what they are used to when getting/giving report. They also begin to understand why when we say that we were busy, we were really busy dealing with something because when we're not busy, we're still quite busy doing stuff. I will say that I'm often quite in awe of their ability to do time management as that's much of their day, but in the ED, we do priority management instead...

As to the lazy people that call the Rescue, well, they do get seen quicker by triage and a Provider, but quite often they get bounced out to lobby/chairs so they get taken care of in accordance with the severity of their problem. Some patients come in, get seen, get frustrated, leave, call 911, get transported to the other side of the ED, only to end up back where they started...
 
Akulahawk said:
The one good thing about having Tele nurses sent to help out with the ED Tele hold patients (they're admitted, awaiting in-patient room availability) is that those nurses get a good look at what ED nurses do and why the reports we give are not like what they are used to when getting/giving report. They also begin to understand why when we say that we were busy, we were really busy dealing with something because when we're not busy, we're still quite busy doing stuff. I will say that I'm often quite in awe of their ability to do time management as that's much of their day, but in the ED, we do priority management instead...

As to the lazy people that call the Rescue, well, they do get seen quicker by triage and a Provider, but quite often they get bounced out to lobby/chairs so they get taken care of in accordance with the severity of their problem. Some patients come in, get seen, get frustrated, leave, call 911, get transported to the other side of the ED, only to end up back where they started...
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ED RN: "I'm calling report on John Doe"
Floor RN's first question: "How's their skin?"
 
MackTheKnife said:
ED RN: "I'm calling report on John Doe"
Floor RN's first question: "How's their skin?"
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During my med-surg clinical, my hand-off reports are what gets criticized the most by my instructors because it's not a proper SBAR.. In my head I'm thinking "I've been giving hand-off reports for 20 years now, I know how to communicate" but I just gotta play the game lol
 
FiremanMike said:
During my med-surg clinical, my hand-off reports are what gets criticized the most by my instructors because it's not a proper SBAR.. In my head I'm thinking "I've been giving hand-off reports for 20 years now, I know how to communicate" but I just gotta play the game lol
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I hear you! I got the same sh*t along with, "remember you're a nursing student, you can't do medic stuff" ad nauseam! I finally told my instructor to STFU in polite terms.
 
MackTheKnife said:
ED RN: "I'm calling report on John Doe"
Floor RN's first question: "How's their skin?"
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The ones that get sent to work with us... yeah, they learn we don't bother with that unless it's immediately pertinent. IOW: Skin? Check... they've got theirs...
FiremanMike said:
During my med-surg clinical, my hand-off reports are what gets criticized the most by my instructors because it's not a proper SBAR.. In my head I'm thinking "I've been giving hand-off reports for 20 years now, I know how to communicate" but I just gotta play the game lol
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Same. Had to learn to play the game. Including: Can't do medic stuff...
 
With the EMR nowadays, handoff reports should pretty much consist of "got any questions?"
 
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