RN to Paramedic Bridge Course

And you wonder why EMS crews are so well received when they come to the hospitals where all the robotic nurses with artificial intelligence just hang out waiting for the PARAGOD to enlighten and lead from the darkness!

We are supposed to be integral and overlapping components of the health care continuum. Otherwise why would you have to hand over care to the same or higher level when dropping patients in the hands of such things as nurses?

Educate yourself before you try to educate the rest of us, if that was your true intent.

I agree that some people cannot find individual thought, but I don not support the argument that it is specific to a particular part of the EMS family/system.

I challenge you to figure out which is nurse or paramedic when my helicopter lands to help you.

Word up to everything CraigB-RN just said. I think the analogy of RNs switching specialties is an excellent one.

Hey, just wondering, but FlyingSquirrel where did you learn to manage a-lines, swans and vents? I'll bet it was from an RN. I was never saying that after my bridge course I'll just jump out on the street and start savin' lives...or hanging around the station with my sweet gold patch trying to pick up EMS chicks. No, I'm just licenced to perform EMT-P skills in a pre-hospital setting. Just like the new grad RN that is legally qualified to perform tasks which the state board of nursing puts in that nice list that they come up with. Of course, if the new grad RN misrepersents their skills, and gets someone desperate to hire them, they open themselves, and their license to liability.

Don't worry, I won't go out and do anything stupid with my EMT-P, but when I get CCRN, watch out...

And what does CCRN have to do with the price of rich in China? You are no better than any other critical care RN - just have taken a test that says you know the material and can pass it.

I will even go so far as saying that if you compare 2 new grad RNs and 1 had EMT-B and 1 had no other experience then the RN with the EMT will be better off and more knowledgable. There is just something about being in the back of a box on your own taking care of someone that really makes people confident in their skills. Even when it is just as an EMT. You must trust your judgement and your assessment skills, and have the ability to act under pressure and stress, sometimes when it is extreme.

It's funny, I was just wondering if this type of bridge existed because I had to stop and help some guy who was assulted in the middle of the road last week on my way home from work. Of course, I couldn't really do much, but just being on scene made me nostaligic. I sure miss the field.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was pointing out. EMT-P is a license and legally allows you to perform tasks. CCRN just means you can take a test (a pretty hard one, though).

This has been an interesting discussion. I just completed my PALS, I have ACLS, BCLS, currently work in ICCU and got the PALS because I will be starting in the ER soon. I am RN BSN.

I am interested in a bridge program.RN to paramedic. Unfortunately due to the passing of my Dad and my brother this year I could not go to nebraska for the course this year to attempt the program.

When I mentioned to my Paramedic instructor from my PALS COURSE that I was interested in Paramedic program he thought I was crazy. Felt that I was imposing on my self a form of self abuse. That with my RN degree I should just think about working and earning the higher pay that I get. Well I am not so convinced that my pay is getting my needs met yet cause my straight salary does not meet my needs for sure since rents and cost of living in NY is high. I would have to work per diem work to really meet my needs.

Yet getting back to the paramedic program the point of my instructor was that he felt that paramedics would just be back breaking work, that it would be painful work because of stuff that you see in pre-hospital work. plus he felt the liabilities of the responsibilities of the paramedic to high.

He was very discouraging. I was considering it because I felt I wanted to experience prehospital work because I felt that prehospital work gives you increased confidence because what you do is stabilizing someone before they come to the hospital. The EMT and paramedic get to perform I imagine more codes than you would get on a unit. Either way I thought prehospital experience would enhance my skills as a nurse and make me more confident and more well rounded.

Iam I too naive. Iam I right or is the paramedic instructor correct and this is a form of self abuse and I should stop and stick to just nursing.

I know the bottom line is my own thoughts in the end. I feel I will consider this some more this year and see what I decide next year.

When I finished school last year and went to work in Valhalla I saw the flight nurses and said wow I wish I could do that. Hence I went to work right out of school to the ICCU and will begin in the ER by the end of this year.

Just curious about what you guys thought about what the paramedic said.

Thanks see ya

Angela

Hehe, yep I've been told that by many people...nurses and medics alike. I'm a new grad RN that was actually planning to go to paramedic school a few years ago, and at the last minute I decided overall nursing would give me more options in emergency medicine so I did that first.

Anyway, I am still active in the field as an EMT because I love it so much and will be starting the paramedic program in January. I also work as an RN in an ICU. Why am I going back to school? Because I want to be able to function as a paramedic on the ambulance, not just an EMT. Some states have prehospital-RN designations...my state doesn't. Could I just learn the extra skills (intubation, chest decompression, crichs, etc), memorize the protocols, and rely on my nursing knowledge to treat my patients on the ambulance? Possibily, but in a lot of ways a paramedic is trained to think differently than a nurse. Medics function on protocols and standing orders that cover just about every situation (not just a select few) with lots of autonomy. True, a critical care nurse does often follow standing orders, but not to the extent a medic does.

That's the other reason I want to get my EMT-P. Except for the codes...reason being probability...there's a higher concentration of very sick people in the ICU that are prone to coding, verses the general public where most calls usually turn out to be non-emergent with a few codes every once in a while.

People ask me if I regret my descision to become a nurse when they hear i'm going to medic school and still volunteer on the ambulance. My answer is an emphatic NO. I love being a nurse in the ICU and my nursing background (small as it may be so far) has made me a better EMT on scene calls (especially puzzling medical calls).

I say if you think you'd like the field, go for it! Yeah, it can be rough, backbreaking and heartbreaking sometimes, but I love it. No call is ever the same, you never know what you'll arrive to find when you get dispatched, and just sometimes (not often) you actually get the chance to save a life or make a difference.

Good luck with everything.
Jessica, RN, EMT-I

I was wondering- wouldn't you be paid more and be able the do the things you want if you did a MICN instead? Also, I recently talked to the cert specialist for the National Registry, and she told me that an RN can challenge the NR paramedic test. I believe there is no schooling, but maybe a paramedic refresher course? Probably the already mentioned certs, i.e. acls, etc., and a skills test. If the state you want to work in uses national registry instead of their own state licensing agency, I would call NR. Each state is different- Calif is switching to the national registry model as of the end of the year, so no more local creds.

Obviously you haven't any idea what a paramedic does or how well he is trained. You need paramedic education because nursing and prehospital emergency care are two entirely different functions. A paramedic is the eyes, ears, and hands of the physician outside of the hospital. He has to be acutely aware of his patient's condition, how to treat what he finds, and how to effectively communicate his findings to the physician. He functions independently to an extent, given a set of protocols, but can always consult the physician if the need arises (and he's not too busy stablizing the patient).

By the way...nurses who are also paramedics make more money.

vamedic4
Licensed Paramedic
Dallas Texas

Can anyone ask a question on this board without everyone being either passive-aggressive or outright aggressive? I am a new grad nurse, and I was interested in continuing my EMT education, and trying to sift through all the ego and ******* remarks is very frustrating.