EMT to Nursing

[heathchic1]

Right now i am an EMT B and have been for the last year. I love the job but wish i could get less BS calls. I am getting pre reqs right now for either nursing or medic and i cant decide which route i want to go. I think i would hate being a nurse (i dont want to deal with most of our patients long term) but the money is in nursing and i can be a traveling nurse. Medic i think would be more fun but so many medics get burnt out and if you get injured you are out of luck.

I was wondering if there were any nurses out there who were EMTs and if you could give me you story!

Thanks

 

[Aprz]

I'm not an RN and don't know too much details on this, but I work with some RNs that work on a CCT rig. They don't have to deal with patients for very long, get paid bank, and they can even go in a helicopter depending. They get paid well, but can't throw numbers at you unfortunately. Looking up their position on the Internet in my area, they require at least 3 years in a ICU and a BSN though. So in a sense you could work in an ambulance still, get paid more than a medic, and do the 911 of IFT. As an EMT, I always like working with these nurses too cause it's the only time we go lights and sirens, get to learn about cool nurses (I learned about an oscillator yesterday), different drugs that aren't in EMS, etc.

 

[Akulahawk]

Another thing to consider with Nursing is that usually you can challenge the NREMT-P and become a Paramedic after becoming a Nurse. As a Nurse, you have a wide range of care fields you can get into,and many of them do NOT result in having to provide care for patients for more than a few hours at a time.

My advice is to work on the prereq's for Nursing as those usually mirror or are more rigorous than those required for Paramedic.

And as far as I've seen, scheduling is about the only thing that can really prevent someone from working both as a Paramedic and a Nurse.

 

[usafmedic45]

If you think going into nursing is going to cut down on the amount of bull:censored::censored::censored::censored: you deal with, you're pretty much deluding yourself.

they can even go in a helicopter depending

Nothing says "cool job" like risking your neck at a job that makes Deadliest Catch look like being a daycare teacher all for minimal to no benefit to the patient.

I'm not an RN and don't know too much details on this

That right there should have been a perfectly good reason to not post anything on this thread APRZ. That old adage about remaining silent, you know....

 

[Aprz]

I'm simply providing observations and relaying things I've asked the transport nurses too, which I felt was a perfectly good reason to post despite not being an RN.

Do you still work as a flight RT, or are you doing the aviation mortality statistics thingy (I recall talking about this in chat)? In your signature, I see something about EMS instructor. Were you an EMT/Paramedic? Since you are posting on this and it's a good reason not to post cause of not being an RN, should I assume you are/were a RN? Tell the OP your story.

 

[Tigger]

That right there should have been a perfectly good reason to not post anything on this thread APRZ. That old adage about remaining silent, you know....

God forbid anyone talks about a profession that they are not presently a member of.

Oh wait.

Flight Respiratory Therapist and Former EMS Instructor/Supervisor

I appreciate most of your posts, but seriously can we not make observations on out own coworkers just because we have different job titles?

 

[Handsome Robb]

That right there should have been a perfectly good reason to not post anything on this thread APRZ. That old adage about remaining silent, you know....

Don't be a **** dude. You're smart and contribute great knowledge around here but that doesn't give you the right to talk down to people.

If helicopters are so dangerous why are they continually used every day, worldwide for a variety of missions? Riddle me that.

If I remember correctly you're not a nurse OR a paramedic, you're a RRT so by your argument you shouldn't be posting in here either.

 

[usafmedic45]

If helicopters are so dangerous why are they continually used every day, worldwide for a variety of missions? Riddle me that.

Money and lobbying. Pure and simple. The problem is mostly in HEMS and almost specific to the US because of the way we use them not because of some inherent danger in helicopters themselves.

 

[usafmedic45]

Do you still work as a flight RT, or are you doing the aviation mortality statistics thingy (I recall talking about this in chat)?

I do both.

In your signature, I see something about EMS instructor. Were you an EMT/Paramedic?

Really? How many of your EMS instructors weren't EMS providers?

Since you are posting on this and it's a good reason not to post cause of not being an RN, should I assume you are/were a RN?

Well, here's the thing APRZ, you are a BLS provider on a CCT truck (which most places I have seen generally means you're up front driving most of the time; correct me if I am wrong). I'm an active ALS provider on an CCT aircraft and can do pretty much everything the nurses and paramedics I fly with can do. I've worked in hospitals and my primary point was that if the OP is looking for something with less BS, then working in hospital as an RN (which is what the vast, vast majority of them do) is not her thing. Guess what....CCT and even aeromedical transport has more than its fair share of BS too. Scene flights of trauma patients result in over half of them being discharged from the ER. How's that for BS?

You know as well as I do that if helicopter EMS is fraught with danger and has little benefit to patients in most situations. You've seen the threads and have been there for the discussions in chat. Recommending a risky, dangerous and extremely competitive field that most eminently qualified providers will never get into simply because of the limited number of spots is tantamount to encouraging someone to pursue being a mechanic because they might wind up as a NASCAR or Formula One pit crew member.

Sorry for being a ****, but you know I don't tolerate rose-colored assessments of things especially from people with no direct practical experience themselves. Sorry if you took offense, but at least you know where I stand. The same can't be said for a lot of the other people on this forum.