worth it? i know i want to do medic or rn but idk. i love being in the feild and the rush but i feel like being an er rn would bring an equal rush with more money. but medic school is 10K where rn is 83+k. if i get hired where i want to then i hopefully will get sent to medic school but if not i dont have 2k let alone 10k.... so is medic school a better choice money and effort wise or should i just try for my rn? i know i know you cant make my choice for me but id love to hear HONESTLY what people think....:blush:
Medic school exsensive and....
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They're such different careers. I know many compare them, but you need to find out what you'd be happier doing. Obviously pros and cons to both, but I don't think many of the best and happiest medics would ever be content as an RN, and the same goes towards RNs. Different environments, different roles, different expectations, and obviously different pay.
Do I get a prize for most gratuitous uses of the word "different" in one post? Different.
Do I get a prize for most gratuitous uses of the word "different" in one post? Different.
What's wrong with a community college RN program?
From my understanding, you'd be pretty damned lucky to get an ER position within your first few years, though.
I have no idea where you got your costs. My current medic program is $3,300 tuition and I've spent about $800 on uniforms/ books. 83k seems the same way. At U of A (university of Arizona. Pretty esteemed med programs) from what I looked up getting in their accelerated RN program ends up being 50k. 2 years at a CC that takes it down quite a lot.
From my understanding, you'd be pretty damned lucky to get an ER position within your first few years, though.
I have no idea where you got your costs. My current medic program is $3,300 tuition and I've spent about $800 on uniforms/ books. 83k seems the same way. At U of A (university of Arizona. Pretty esteemed med programs) from what I looked up getting in their accelerated RN program ends up being 50k. 2 years at a CC that takes it down quite a lot.
i agree with you that they are different careers but the back round is some what the same... i fell like i am better suited for RN because i get hurt way to easy but i love being in the ambulance and being with a company. idk and to 9d4 for sure i know its 10k at the school i would be going to. but it includes books per semester,uniforms,and class. as for RN if would do CC i would pay 5,000 in pre reqs plus then id go to UMSL (university missouri saint louis) because they have a great RN plus everything transfers id be a Jr. and i know the director of the nursing school but it be about 75k not counting books and what not. also in missouri at least STL you do med surg for like 2 years your in the ER by year 3..
I'm just saying, 90% of your post was based around costs, but you seem to be going for the priciest schools. Like I said, my total costs barely break 4k. I can't imagine in any way that there's not one that's less than 150% more expensive. Same for nursing.
Crowder college is an accredited program that you get an associates from and it costs 4k for tuition and includes 2 uniforms... I'm going to guess your in the St. Louis area and looking at the IHM Academy of EMS, though?
Doing a quick search and that's the only 10k-ish program I saw. Have you looked at South Howell County?
http://www.shc-ems.com/Home.aspx
It's hard to justify "worth" when you're overpaying. Just my 2 cents.
Crowder college is an accredited program that you get an associates from and it costs 4k for tuition and includes 2 uniforms... I'm going to guess your in the St. Louis area and looking at the IHM Academy of EMS, though?
Doing a quick search and that's the only 10k-ish program I saw. Have you looked at South Howell County?
http://www.shc-ems.com/Home.aspx
It's hard to justify "worth" when you're overpaying. Just my 2 cents.
rmabrey
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IHM is not 10k-ish. Im a month out from finishing and it cost me $4,300.
VFlutter
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I originally picked RN because of the better education, more opportunities, and options for NP/PA. If the educational standards were the same it would have been a much harder decision. While I think I would be happy in either career I am very happy with the nursing profession.
Nursing school is expensive. My BSN cost around $65K in tuition not including books and general expensiveness so your estimates are probably not too far off. I was able to get some tuition assistance, loans, and scholarships and end up with ~$20K in debt. However even with my student loan payments I am still clearing enough to live comfortably. Well worth it.
St. Louis CC, IHM Academy, and St. Charles Ambulance District are local paramedic programs. I do not know the exact costs but I am pretty sure IHM and SCAD are cheaper then $10K
Some general advice...
Find a tech job at a hospital with tuition assistance programs. That helped offset the cost dramatically as well as helps with networking and job placement in the future.
Go for your BSN. Most Saint Louis hospitals are on hiring freezes. There are tons of new grads looking for jobs and any advantage helps.
ER/ICUs usually do not hire new grads but some do. Teaching hospitals (Barnes/SLU) are more likely to pick up new grads and have well developed residency programs. After one year of experience you should be able to transfer anywhere you want. Try to get on a telemetry, cardiac, step-down type floor as a first job.
And if you really end up missing EMS jump over the river to Illinois and become a Prehospital RN (PHRN).
PM me if you have specific questions.
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9d4 the reason id go to IHM is because i went there for EMT and i already tested into the Medic program so it would be a lot less stress to test somewhere els if ive already got into a program. but i appreciate that you were investigating my claims! haha rmabrey i asked Dan and he said it was 10k. maybe you got assistance because i have a pretty good standing relationship with him so idk why he would lie. chase that was very helpful. i didnt know they were on a freeze most of my hospital experiance is at marys and because its a trauma 2 they it seems like they take new nurses pretty frequntly but then again i prob only saw like .5% of the actual hiring pool. how hard is it to get into nursing school? ive always felt its super competative!
dont think about cost think about what you want to do in the future. yes the cost of schooling is different, but so is the yearly salary.. even if you are paying $83k for nursing school, that is still cheaper than a 4 year degree at colleges. you can always get student loans to help cover costs. in the end though, it should not be about the price of medic school vs the price of RN school. pick the one you want to do for the rest of your life..
rmabrey
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I got zero assistance and Dan is involved in my program as well. However I am in an off site program at my AMR shop. Maybe thats the difference.
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Do you want to be a nurse or a paramedic?
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I spent about:
All 3 degrees for not much more than a third of the cost of the BSN program that the OP is considering. I would never even consider a BSN program that cost $80k+
I liked being a paramedic but I was very young and quickly realized that I would eventually want more career options than EMS would provide. I went from working as a flight paramedic to working as a flight nurse, doing the same job for $10/more and with many more career options to choose from.
- $4k for my paramedic certification and AAS in EMS
- $7k for my ASN
- $20k for my BSN
All 3 degrees for not much more than a third of the cost of the BSN program that the OP is considering. I would never even consider a BSN program that cost $80k+
I liked being a paramedic but I was very young and quickly realized that I would eventually want more career options than EMS would provide. I went from working as a flight paramedic to working as a flight nurse, doing the same job for $10/more and with many more career options to choose from.
see i was actually thinking about that today.. would you say thats a possibility?
brian: unfortunatly money is a huge reason for my choice but if i could id be a RN. (also goes to you robb)
You could take out student loans? Also, if money is a huge factor, you probably qualify for some amount of financial aid?
Seems crazy to spend the time and money on paramedic school if you really want to be a nurse. Then again, I know a person who is getting her medic cert and then going into a 2-year bridge program from medic -> BSN. She gets a bachelor degree as opposed to just RN, it's only taking her the standard 4 years, and she'll end up with lots of experience in both hospital- and pre-hospital-based medicine. Seems like a pretty cool path to take.