New EMT - Looking for others' thoughts and experiences - being honest.

[SCMed]

Hey everyone. First post. I am a brand new EMT who just started working. I just landed a spot for a BLS and CCT company. Only a few shifts in and I was coming here in hopes of getting some insight from people experienced in the field - everyone was new at some point.

I'll just lay it out there straight : I'm a little on the scared side. The training shifts have been a tidal wave of information and I feel pretty overwhelmed. This information isn't EMT stuff per se - it's the little things like paperwork, the minutia of running calls, how to use their systems, and really just getting my feet wet for the first time - and wanting more than anything to do a great job and run smooth calls.

Don't get me wrong - I did very well in school, and am having no real hardship communicating and interacting with my patients or performing skills. I just clock in everyday with anxiety to not f- something up.

Ever felt like that? Think it's just the brand new career hitting me like a ton of bricks? When you started did you have a slight sense of awkwardness working out the kinks on giving report, calling in report, etc?

On all things being the rookie, dealing with growing pains as an EMT, and the fear of not living up to your own/what you think others expectations are?

Thank goodness for anonymity h34r: And cheers for any word of advice. Have a great week.

 

[bigbaldguy]

Everything you're describing is normal. Everybody was scared when they started a new job, especially if it was their first real job ever. You'll be fine, just slow down, make sure you cover everything and most importantly don't try and act like you're not new. Don't be afraid to write stuff down or take notes and if you need to refer to the notes as you're doing things go for it.

 

[firetender]

Typically you go through a few stages in gaining competence.

Here's a decent reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

The second stage, which is where you're at is called "Conscious Incompetence".! You are so aware of how little you know it's enough to drive you nuts.

You're well within normal limits and you'll oan and groan for a while until the next stage kicks in.

 

[Akulahawk]

I tend to fluctuate between one of 3 stages: conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. This depends entirely upon the task at hand that I am called to do. When it comes to field care, BLS and most ALS stuff, being that I am several years rusty at it, I am somewhere between a conscious competence and conscious competence. Most of it is going to be at the unconscious competence level, primarily because I do most things without thinking about them. Keep in mind that I have done transport for a number of years, and am still good with a lot of things. When it comes to my school stuff, I tend to be at either conscious incompetence or conscious competence level simply because I am learning new stuff. I know where I'm at, I know where I need to be, but it's going to take time before I feel like I'm at the top of my game and where I'm not going to exceed my allowed scope, which I could easily do if I were not careful in the present learning environment... precisely because I have a LOT of prior learning.

To the OP: I understand EXACTLY where you are. I've been there several times in other careers over the years. What you're feeling is completely normal. It's going to take time to settle in to the minutae and routine of things. It took a couple months to really feel like I knew what I was doing. It took another year or two to become very unconsiously competent in what I was doing though. That just takes practice and time.

Concentrate on doing your assessments, go from head to toe, SAMPLE/OPQRST as needed, and work on documenting what you find on a note pad or some other way to easily track what you found and when. Later you can transcribe that into a formal run-sheet or other official documentation and don't be afraid to ask your FTO or senior partner what might be a better way to state something... not because it changes the substance of what needs to be said, but rather may keep something from being kicked back for re-billing simply because of terminology reasons. It happens. (I'm NOT saying you should commit fraud... just be aware that billers look for certain terms for things.)