Nursing Stress Vs EMS Stress

[MusicMedic]

so im bored at work right now.. its slow.. as i am reading the Nursing Forums at a different website. i keep on seeing the same recurring theme that New Grad Nurses are very very stressed and overworked and and are having a hard time handling the stress. Ive noticed the general mood is one of disgust for their work enviorment.. but ive noticed that those who have prior EMS experience have far less of a harder time adjusting to the stress.

i know that generally comparing Nursing and EMS is apples and orange but i wanna get a different perspective.. as i am hoping to get into nursing eventually...

my question is this: for those of you who became nurses from an EMT/Medic.. Does Nursing Stress you out? How did you handle the transition? do you think your prior EMS experiences helped you out?

im hoping Medicrob can pitch into this as well


for those of you who arnt in nursing.. has your EMS experiences help you handle day to day stress better? has it helped your general stress management or made it worse?

 

[CAOX3]

I think stress is a general term and isn't dependent on occupation alone. There are many factors that can contribute, personal problems, financial problems, marital problems as they overflow from the personal to professional arena and vice versa, stress is based on life as a whole not just one aspect.

Of course situations are going to arise that increase the stress level in every profession.

I think once you have a handle on said profession, it becomes less stressful and more routine.

 

[HotelCo]

im hoping Medicrob can pitch into this as well

I wouldn't count on it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[abckidsmom]

The prime stressor I felt when I was working as a nurse was boredom. I had a hard time staying on task for 12 hours, continually documenting every single little thing. As a new grad, I very rarely got a high acuity patient, and the vent weaning wore me out.

When I passed my 1 year mark and looked around, I saw that there were 2 or 3 years worth of new grads in front of me before I became a "seasoned" nurse. The idea of waiting that long to be "in" was just not for me.

I left nursing, went back to EMS and have never regretted it.

I was 20 years old when I made that decision. I think if I was more mature, I may have stuck it out, and sometimes the reasons for ditching nursing embarass me a little. It just seems so selfish, but I was not happy, and never really wanted to go to work. I have never had that trouble in EMS, even when the job itself was miserable because of low staffing, bad weather, or whatever.

Looking back, I learned a lot during that year, and it made me a much better medic. I would like to get some current nursing experience, but again, I don't think I'm a person who's wired to be on task in the same unit with the same patients for 12 hours every day. I like the "earn money sleeping" part of EMS.

That's my personal experience.

As to whether EMS providers make the transition easier? I think that when you have already experienced meeting pressing needs for patients, you have developed those skills to the point where it's not a big deal to do it as a nurse. Way more than half my nursing class had never even been in a hospital before...the learning curve for them in clinicals was very steep, whereas we who'd been in EMS were just expanding already developed skills.

 

[mgr22]

I think people in all occupations feel stress. I certainly did when I was working as an engineer, and later as a consultant. I also feel stress as a writer trying to meet a deadline.

I suppose the stress I feel as a medic is more focused when I'm responding to some calls or treating some patients. In the business world, stress seemed less acute and more chronic. In some ways I'm less stressed by knowing that I'm doing something useful, even when it's hard.

 

[usalsfyre]

I've noticed the same thing reading nursing forums, but to be fair, how many newbie post on here are unhappy with IFTs, or the pay, ect.

abckidsmom, you kind of alluded to it, but how much of the "new grad" dissatisfaction in nursing do you think is due to a massively unrealistic view of what the healthcare field is and isn't prior to and during initial education? I think we've beat that horse in the EMS world to death, but the problem remains.

 

[usafmedic45]

I've noticed the same thing reading nursing forums, but to be fair, how many newbie post on here are unhappy with IFTs, or the pay, ect.

abckidsmom, you kind of alluded to it, but how much of the "new grad" dissatisfaction in nursing do you think is due to a massively unrealistic view of what the healthcare field is and isn't prior to and during initial education? I think we've beat that horse in the EMS world to death, but the problem remains.

I knew it felt crowded in my head today....get the heck out of there. LOL

 

[bigbaldguy]

Ive recently had both my Mother and my Father in ICU. The nurses in these facilities were mostly former paramedics. I noticed a huge difference between the former medic ICU nurses and the couple of nurses who were not former paramedics. It had nothing to do with the level of skill but more to do with how they handled the job and how they spoke with and interacted with the patients. The former paramedics seemed to take things as they came much more calmly where as the non medics seemed to always be a little flustered by what was going on. This is of course a very small sample.

 

[8jimi8]

it isn't the nursing that stresses me out - unless you want to talk about med/surg nursing. Taking care of all of the needs of 6 or more patients for 12 hours- and documenting all of it is incredibly demanding.


Now that I've been back on the unit, the stress comes from the politics, the backbiting and fighting for experiences as ABC mentioned. If you know me on facebook, you'll see my position states "at the bottom of the totem pole fighting for experience."

I think the real stress for new grads is finding a job. It doesn't matter where you are in healthcare it is going to be stressful.

Taking your cue from new grads, you have to realize that some of them may not have ever worked someone's life in their hands, and that is a whole new stress altogether.


Prior EMS experience will help you, but you aren't ever going to be sitting there thinking oh this is easy, just because you were an emt before. Might as well get that out of your head


BTW medicRob was neither a paramedic, nor a nurse, since you missed out on all of that last month.

 

[Melclin]

In my obviously limited experience/observation,

-experienced/successful nurses seem to require, but not enjoy, the martyrdom of stress. That is, they constantly complain (generally in a sarcastic and humorous way) but clearly need/like/are compelled by being constantly stressed. It doesn't seem taboo to appear stressed in nursing, in fact it seems almost like a badge of pride. "I'm too important to be calm".

-experienced/successful paramedics often seem to be pathologically calm/vaguely eccentric in one way or another. Appearing stressed as a paramedic is very taboo. Stress is for students and paras who are out of their depth. Calm and humorously laconic seems generally to be the ideal state of being. "I'm too important to be stressed".

Its quite uncommon for paramedics to become nurses here, but very common for nurses to do the extension course and become paramedics. In my (again, limited) experience, nurses who have become paramedics are more well rounded clinically, but are often over confident and, oddly enough, seem to have less patience with pts.

When I passed my 1 year mark and looked around, I saw that there were 2 or 3 years worth of new grads in front of me before I became a "seasoned" nurse. The idea of waiting that long to be "in" was just not for me.

It doesn't take 2-3 years to get "in" in EMS?

They say 4-5 years here, 5-7 before doing intensive care medic.

 

[46Young]

I'm not a nurse, but I interact with nurses on a regular basis. At Fairfax Hospital, the ER nurses have been complaining about inadequate staffing, high pt loads, mandatory rotating days and nights, and being recalled from vacation or their day off to come back in to work. I've seen one nurse triaging a pt for another who's busy, and getting a call on the phone to handle another one right now when they've just started on the one I've brought in. They've told me about missed breaks and meals, micromanaging from admin, and being stretched too thin.

At another hospital an hour and a half west of there, it's the same story. Inadequate staffing, ball breaking, etc. In both places, the new nurses do their year or two, then move somewhere that pays better.

With nursing, it seems that every second of every minute you're occupied, even when you need to eat or use the facilities. You're handling multiple patients at once, and your supervision is always in close proximity. EMS seems like a better deal if that's the type of work environment you have to deal with. The work issues such as rotating day/night shifts, inadequate staffing, holdover OT and recall, etc, are similar. But at least in EMS you only have to deal with one pt at a time. You can also make your own breaks to an extent, like stopping at a 7-11, or hitting the hosp. cafeteria after the drop off.

 

[Melclin]

The work issues such as rotating day/night shifts, inadequate staffing, holdover OT and recall, etc, are similar. But at least in EMS you only have to deal with one pt at a time. You can also make your own breaks to an extent, like stopping at a 7-11, or hitting the hosp. cafeteria after the drop off.

Not to mention getting paid for spoiled/late meal breaks and every second of OT you ever work. You couldn't get me to be a nurse for all the ham and cheese crumpets going around.

 

[usafmedic45]

BTW medicRob was neither a paramedic, nor a nurse, since you missed out on all of that last month.

Did I miss something?

 

[TransportJockey]

Did I miss something?

Apparently...

 

[Shishkabob]

Different kinds of stress.

 

[abckidsmom]

In my obviously limited experience/observation,

-experienced/successful nurses seem to require, but not enjoy, the martyrdom of stress. That is, they constantly complain (generally in a sarcastic and humorous way) but clearly need/like/are compelled by being constantly stressed. It doesn't seem taboo to appear stressed in nursing, in fact it seems almost like a badge of pride. "I'm too important to be calm".

Definitely. It's part of the female psychology that goes with every job in a primarily female work environment. Does your mom want for you to remember her sitting on her butt, quietly managing the affairs of the house, or rushing around, drowning in details and frazzled? Women who stay calm in the face of busy, stressful days are either idolized or ostracized in this culture.

-experienced/successful paramedics often seem to be pathologically calm/vaguely eccentric in one way or another. Appearing stressed as a paramedic is very taboo. Stress is for students and paras who are out of their depth. Calm and humorously laconic seems generally to be the ideal state of being. "I'm too important to be stressed".

I like how you identified it as pathologically calm...this can really bite their patients in the butt when the patient fail to provide enough excitement. They don't get the attention required for their condition and often don't even get a ride to the hospital.

It doesn't take 2-3 years to get "in" in EMS?

They say 4-5 years here, 5-7 before doing intensive care medic.

I was already "in" in EMS when I went to nursing school. I grew up in EMS, and started as an official junior member when I was 13. I rode my first calls, riding along with my parents when I was 9 or 10.

 

[firecoins]

Obviously EMTs and parmedics becoming nurses have amuch better idea of what they are getting into when they become RNs than people with no previous backround. I see the stress they are under and have chosen to not enter that profession. Not for me.

 

[the_negro_puppy]

How hard can it be? working in a temp, light and moisture controlled environment, with a big blue button that says "emergency" available to get doctors to come run if there is an emergency. ^_^

 

[firecoins]

How hard can it be? working in a temp, light and moisture controlled environment, with a big blue button that says "emergency" available to get doctors to come run if there is an emergency. ^_^

I hope your joking?

 

[firetender]

Stress FACTORS are different

In Nursing you are predominantly (unless ER or other Intensive, short-term care functions) dealing with maintaining the continuity of care. There it's most often about juggling many patients at once, but at each juncture, you have a more or less clear past to refer to, a direction you're headed and lots of available resources to fill in the blanks.

In EMS you're starting from scratch on most every call and the predominant flow is entering the unknown, trying to make sense out of it, determining immediate intervention needed, administering it usually under very much less than controlled circumstances, transporting. And then, after releasing the patient you're right back to where you started, the unknown. In that sense, the circle is not completed with closure.

Your working life is determined by approximate 30 minute bursts of intensity, always defined by uncertainty. Since every scene is different, and does not unfold within a secure or predictable environment, and the clock starts ticking once you arrive, probably the distribution of adrenaline surges would be measureably different.

You can't really underestimate the differences in stress produced by the instability of the working environment. Nursing is an established profession with many "ways out" for RNs to move within the system until they find an area that suits their individual personalities better. The key is that each of us responds to different aspects of stress in different ways. EMS is a dead-end in comparison.

RN's can fall back on adequate pay, regular hours, retirement even! which you must admit takes a bit of the edge off. And, like a movie director, in EMS you're only as good as your last call. The degree of scrutiny you're under is quite a bit more intense because a higher proportion of your calls are intimately linked with high-stakes outcomes.

By the time the patient gets to the hospital, for example, he or she has been taken OUT of their home environment which is what we have to deal with. There, we in the field have to deal with a tremendous variety of assaults on our sensibilities, and let's face it, the people occupying those environments (forget about the physical challenges!) really do erode our impressions of humanity.

I was in Nursing School for a year and based on that I'd conclude that environmental factors are the greatest pressure differences. Personally, I preferred the stress of a chaotic environment to those of long-term care. What I hated most was witnessing slow, relentless deterioration.