Re: What states have a prehospital RN scope of practice??
Agreed. While RN's are working in the pre-hospital environment, much is a matter of pure economics.
-Paramedics are paid less in most cases.
-People line up to volly in some places, thus services are free or less than a paid service.
-Initial nursing education is not designed to prepare the RN for an EMS role, thus more money and resources are needed to provide additional instruction.
Even as a flight nurse, my initial orientation was several weeks long (~135 hours) with EMS clinical rotations, followed by 240 hours of preceptor shift time before I was considered a "competent" pre-hospital provider. Still, I default to my paramedic partner on some cases such as a big MCI or a difficult airway.
The typical crew configuration in the USA consists of a paramedic and EMT partner. Therefore, a pre-hospital RN would have to take on all the duties of a paramedic without backup from a paramedic partner, as their EMT partner would be driving.
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