Thoughts on being a Medic/RN

[FiremanMike]

100% Echo the above. RN school is hard, and I'm finding it that much harder because I'm working full time while trying to get through it.

 

[CateM]

Eh that routes not totally for me. I can’t see myself in admin or management. I prefer hands on patient care. I’d go insane sitting at a desk lol, but that could just be young me

As someone who's 49 it's not just your age. Some of us were just not wired to sit at a desk or on a computer.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I appreciate this post a lot! That’s kinda what I had in mind as well. I would love to be full time at an FD as a medic and also do PT as a flight nurse. I tend to value experience over pay and time anyway. I know I could go straight to a BSN program, but I feel like working as a medic before is such a valuable experience I would love to have that would overall make me a better healthcare provider. I mean school is always there and I could do it at anytime in my life.

My suggestion would be to go to paramedic school and as soon as you finish and (or even towards the end of your paramedic program), start looking into and applying to BSN programs. That process will take a few months. Or, start the gen-ed courses that the BSN degree requires at a local community college shortly after finishing your paramedic training, and then transfer into a BSN program in a year or so. Depending on the BSN program and the course availability of community colleges near you, that second option may save you some money and provide more flexibility for the first year or two.

What you don't want to do is let your motivation and momentum lapse to the point that years pass between finishing paramedic school and when you start to seriously think again about going back for your BSN or whatever else it is that you decide to do. Lots of people do that but by then they have a family and debts and other commitments and it is much harder to go back to school.

 

[GMCmedic]

I appreciate this post a lot! That’s kinda what I had in mind as well. I would love to be full time at an FD as a medic and also do PT as a flight nurse. I tend to value experience over pay and time anyway. I know I could go straight to a BSN program, but I feel like working as a medic before is such a valuable experience I would love to have that would overall make me a better healthcare provider. I mean school is always there and I could do it at anytime in my life.

Just remember that most flight companies will still require that ER or ICU experience as an RN. Your medic experience will be irrelevant (in most cases).

 

[wcspa]

I would echo the above comment(s) that it doesn't have to be either-or. The experience you will get managing scene-calls as a paramedic will benefit your career regardless which route you ultimately take. Since you are young and in a relatively stable financial situation, you can afford to take a more circuitous route, i.e. paramedic school then RN. The didactic knowledge will also give you an edge in nursing school (although, you'll have to be flexible and adapt to the nursing model of education, nursing diagnoses, etc.). Being a paramedic will be your functional prerequisite to work for a fire-based EMS system in California (if you wanted that route) and will only be a benefit, experientially, for bedside nursing and/or flight nursing.

I think @Carlos Danger 's suggestion of being mindful about not letting your momentum dissipate is important, though. You can work as a paramedic and finish up whatever prerequisites and then apply to nursing programs. The last two years of my paramedic career I worked nights and wrapped up my PA science prerequisites before applying to PA programs.