Medic to RN bridge

[motomedic]

So the question is has anyone thought of taking the MEDIC to RN bridge class??? being a EMTLIFE forum this could i expect some negative responses but thought I would throw it out there. Paramedic jobs are scarce (spelling) out in CA, the money for a RN kills a private medic salary. the fact that I would like to get on a helo is also playing a part of thinking about it. just not sure I want to change beds for a little extra pay. but being a flight nurse would be legit.
Well I have found a few schools that do the one year bridge but more info would be awsome
Cheers!!

 

[medic417]

Search feature on right hand side near top will help you find multiple discussions of the pros and cons and cons and cons and cons and cons and cons.......................................

 

[Sasha]

So the question is has anyone thought of taking the MEDIC to RN bridge class??? being a EMTLIFE forum this could i expect some negative responses but thought I would throw it out there. Paramedic jobs are scarce (spelling) out in CA, the money for a RN kills a private medic salary. the fact that I would like to get on a helo is also playing a part of thinking about it. just not sure I want to change beds for a little extra pay. but being a flight nurse would be legit.
Well I have found a few schools that do the one year bridge but more info would be awsome
Cheers!!

I considered it, but personally I don't feel prepared enough to attempt it. Also, I've talked to nurses who have done it and they regret it. They feel like they are playing catch up. So I'm going to skip it and do it from the start. Short cuts shouldn't be your focus when it comes to striving for a position in patient care.

 

[motomedic]

Yea after posting this I have linked and found a lot of other threads just like it. my bad; and most of them are saying the exact same thing. I tend to agree that shortcuts are not the way to go. medic school was hard enough for me. I'm just frustrated with the work situation out here!!

 

[8jimi8]

you can always do the Associate degree RN. From my school's explanation what you miss out on is alot of community health education and management classes. Looking at the school where I got my bachelor's, for me to bridge from RN to BSN will take 2 semesters and include 1 "community health" clinical rotation.

If you go to the right school, you will be more marketable than some 4 year degrees.

My school in particular has almost as many clinical hours as a 4 year degree, so when we hit the work force, we are more prepared in the "hands on" aspect, than the local 4 year Uni. This is a comment made by nurses i've come into contact with at the hospitals.

i was chatting with an alternative entry to Nurse Practictioner student on facebook today and he told me that he hasn't performed ANY procedures since february (in his clinical time). He's at the state U and will be graduating with a much higher degree than what I have, but he's scared to go out and work... kinda weird.

Some people may argue, but I really feel that with nursing, school is your foundation of "how not to kill people." And actually working in the hospital day in and day out is where you learn "how to heal people."

If you are decided not to bridge from medic, I'd suggest an associates.

However, I will disagree with those who say that a 1 year bridge is not enough to teach you.

From speaking with instructors who teach the Medic - RN classes, they LOVE teaching Medics and feel that they are the ones who catch on the fastest (over the LVN students who are bridged in the same program).

I will disagree with Sasha in saying ... maybe some of the RN/EMT-P people who felt like they were playing catch up don't realize that EVERY new nurse is playing catch up.

The reason is this: You can take any new Medical/Surgical text book and read it cover to cover. (basically what you do in nursing school) That isn't going to prepare you to care for people on a med/surg floor and feel competent and up to speed. The reason is that you are learning to manage time between 8 semi-sick patients AND trying to know everything about 8 different diseases all at once.

You ONLY get that experience by taking care of the same diseases over and over again for a few years. Only then are you "up to speed/ caught up," and possibly not even then. Many experienced nurses say it takes from 5-10 years to have "seen everything." And we are just talking 1 specialty here.


Now then the piece of information that you are missing my friend (to the op)

there are NO JOBS FOR GRADUATE NURSES right now.

The nursing shortage is for EXPERIENCED NURSES. It takes on average $60,000 to train a graduate nurse over the course of a year or two. Hospitals just aren't shelling out the bucks to "give you a chance to prove yourself."

Now then, you may have an edge somewhere by saying i've been a paramedic for xx amount of years and now i'm a GN. Or you could get lucky and just be in the right area that actually is[i/] hiring GNs, but those places are few and far between.

Just take a look on allnurses.com and do a search for "graduate nurse," and "job." You will find thousands of GNs who are FREAKING OUT and their unified cry is, " I was told that when I got out of school, that I would have NO PROBLEM finding a job."

Heck I even see experienced nurses out there who can't find work either because their experience costs too much.

as always, good luck on your endeavors.

 

[EMTinNEPA]

If you want to be a nurse, do it the right way. Educational shortcuts are called such because, guess what, you cut your education short.

 

[Lunah]

I don't think there really are any shortcuts, even with the bridge courses. They're not the "easy way" to anything, generally speaking. I did a P-to-RN, and have no regrets -- except for those really draining shifts in the ED during which I wonder why I ever quit my "easy" corporate graphic design job and switched careers. Heh. Overall, I'm happy where I am, and how I got there.

But 8jimi8 is right -- jobs for new grads are scarce in many parts of the country right now. Many new grads are having to pick up and move to where the jobs are. I'm so very grateful I finished when I did (last June), and I had a job waiting for me in the ED where I'd worked as a tech since 2005. I started as an RN in July 2008, and I just went from RN 1 to RN 2 last month. Yay.

However, the job situation, at least where nursing is concerned, seems to be cyclical; hopefully things will improve for the new grads in the next few years.

 

[Hockey]

I don't think its a bad idea

 

[jedirye]

Go for it. You get what you put into it. People will say it is a shortcut, I disagree though that is only me. I am currently attending one and am finishing up the first short summer semester.

-rye