Need advice on the career road ahead

zmansc, ASN, RN · Apr 15, 2014

First congrats on your EMT-B, and welcome to the healthcare industry. Many of us have come to this industry as a second career, it is truly an exciting industry to be in, irregardless of your role.

Your query has many dimensions to it, so let me see if I can cover a few of them. One of the first things I noticed in your question is that you have identified several roles that are of interest to you. Although they have many things in common, I would strongly suggest you gain more experience and knowledge about the various roles prior to picking a path. As someone who is new to healthcare, you will be up against a big learning curve in any of these careers, so it would be best for you if you picked one and focused on that until you had completed the schooling and have a couple years of experience under your belt.

I'm not suggesting that it is impossible or even bad to switch from paramedic to RN or vice versa, but I am suggesting that trying to become a good rn and a good paramedic at the same time would be far more challenging than doing one of them, and then if you choose to do the second, doing it after you have established yourself in the first career.

Since you are at an RN site, I will suggest one of the advantages to being an RN is that you can do so much with it. You can work in a wide variety of positions, some are bedside and some are not. You can assist in the OR, or work in a large trauma center in the ER. If you really want the lights and sirens, you can work as a flight nurse. So, depending on the level of excitement you want, you can do a wide variety of jobs. Paramedics can fly too, and at my hospital they can tech in the ER as well. But they don't get to do alot in the hospital, nor do I see a lot of older paramedics, they seem to have to go to something else if they still want to work at an older age.

Another direction you alluded to is med school, and as an RN if you wanted to be a provider you could continue your education and become a nurse practitioner. This would allow you to do many things that a MD/DO does in primary care or even emergency medicine if you choose that direction. Don't get me wrong, there are many roles that MD/DO perform that NPs do not, and as I suggest above gaining more experience and knowledge about the variety of roles in healthcare will help you to understand the differences in these two different types of providers and the roles they can do.

There are other roles you didn't mention, like PA (Physician's Assistants) that you should also be familiar with and might consider. Each role has it's own education needs and provides an important position in the healthcare team. Again, your at a nursing website, so you will get people like me who have a nursing bias answering your questions here. I would suggest you research as many of the different healthcare roles and while doing so, you can identify what will make you most happy when you have to get up early and leave your family to go to work in the morning.

Good luck!

BradS · Apr 15, 2014

Thanks for taking the time to answer my plethora of questions :)

I realize the road ahead is going to be difficult and I'm not expecting to be both a great nurse and paramedic simultaneously. I guess I'm in a phase where I love the rush of an emergency call, but at the same time, I know the future is not so bright there. ER nursing seems like it would be the next logical step up and of course I would devote all my energy there until I get grounded.

Medic school would not be a great option if it turns out I'll be able to get into the nursing program right away, but I'm gonna be stranded in EMT no mans land and regret not going medic right away if it doesn't work out. Ugh, I guess the first thing I need to do is contact the school and see if there's any wait time for the ABSN.

Definitely considering NP. I like the fact that NP's are continuing to gain independence and there's a great nursing school close by. The more I read about PA's, the less I'm considering it. Their role is completely dependent on the physician and I don't want to put myself in that position after 3 or so more years of schooling.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Apr 20, 2014

I was a paramedic first, then went on to nursing. The focus is different for each, so you're wise to examine your long-term goals as you're doing. Ask yourself if you want to practice medicine, or nursing. PAs can practice very independently in some scenarios, and there are places where NPs are doc-dependent too. It's a wide and varied world out there. As zmansc said, you can do much more with a BSN than with your NREMT-P, though paramedics also have some variety (flight, critical care ground transport, working in EDs in some places with a scope more than a typical ED tech, etc.).

Enjoy your journey. :)

cheri1859 · Apr 26, 2014

The great thing about nursing is the flexibility and diversity it offers. I started out in nursing school, but was distracted from finishing, at first, in order to become a paramedic. I worked as a paramedic in both rural and urban settings and loved it for 8 years. I knew I wanted to go onto become an RN and many years later (almost 14 years after my last shift as a medic) I've landed my first job in the ED as a full time RN (I start on May 12th). When I went back to nursing school I really thought that I'd want to work in a department other than the ED. Turns out I am hard wired to think as an ED nurse. I guess it's my comfort zone. That's my story (for what it's worth).

The reason for my post is more about my husband's career path as I think it will be more of interest to you (zmansc). He started out as a paramedic with a dream of becoming a firefighter with FDNY. He has been with FDNY for 14 years and is still a medic. He is also a flight medic and going to nursing school with the hopes of becoming a flight nurse. I don't see him ever working in the hospital environment, but ya never know. He has mentioned that he really enjoyed his clinical rotations in both the neuro ICU and the CCU. He has never been cured of the "lights and sirens syndrome" (probably why his hearing is less than stellar…or could just be a co-morbidity of 17 years of being married to me:yes:).

Working as an EMT while going to nursing school is an option. I don't think a patient care technician/nursing assistant in a hospital setting earns much more than an EMT (which is how many of my fellow nursing students earned $ during school….) As an EMT you'll be able to hoan your assessment skills during your working hours. Same is true if you decide on the medic route.

Whatever you decide…enjoy the ride and get the most out of each experience along the way.

cheri1859 · Apr 26, 2014

meant to type (BradS) and typed (zmansc)…by mistake (thinking zmansc was the OP). Sorry

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Apr 27, 2014

If you think you might want to go to med school, what about working as a Paramedic while doing your pre-med?