Nurses Helping Nurses
allnurses Network: Central | Jobs | Books | Newsletter
allnurses: A Nursing Community for Nurses
Home General News Blogs Articles Students Region Specialty Degrees F.A.Q.
Flight Nursing and Surface Transport Nursing /

which experience is best?



Did You Know?
allnurses is the largest community for nurses on the web. We now have over 388,043 members! Join today to network with other nurses, laugh, share, and much more.

Feb 22, 2008 08:52 AM

which experience is best?


Hi!
i'm new to this board. So forgive me if these specific questions have been asked. I tried to find the info i was looking for by searching the different threads but couldn't find all the answers to my questions...

I am a nurse in Baltimore, Maryland. I have ED, OB/GYN, and Med/surg - homehealth experience. I also currently work prn as a Forensic Nurse Examiner. I have been interested in flight nursing since my ED days and want to know which experience i should seek now. My ED experience was quite "task oriented" i thought with not much acuity. But i feel from reading the other posts that some ICU exp would be best at this point to hone some critical care skills and then maybe move into a high acuity ED.

i have specific questions on this matter. Im unsure which kind of hospital to choose (lg teaching hosp or community hosp) and which unit would give me the best and overall broadest experience?
As i mentioned, i live in Baltimore. so i have Hopkins and UMMC Shock Trauma available to me as well as other tertiary/community hospitals. I am interested in peds and adults, so, SICU, CSICU, PICU and NICU, and shock trauma (yes, a broad spectrum). which do you think i should seek first - what's the best natural progression i guess is what i'm trying to ask?
do you think ICU exp would be better to seek before shock trauma/high acuity ED and if so, which ICU exp. Since i mentioned im interested in both adults and peds, which do you think is a better progression and which would give me the most well-rounded exp: start with peds and move to adults or vice versa. and finally, if i had to choose betw PICU + NICU, which exp do feel would give me the most well-rounded exp for flight nursing?
Thank you so much for your time. this site is great!!


Share

Search Tags
None
Top

 
Advertisement
Sponsored Links
 
Reply
4 Comments
No. 1
from NREMT-P/RN
Old Feb 22, 2008, 04:25 PM

Default Re: which experience is best?
Welcome!

And lucky you being in Baltimore!

To answer your question - I think ER would be your best choice to start. Then you can get some ICU experience (trauma ICU then CVICU would be ideal!). Some may disagree (and that is okay, too!) but IMHO I think it easier to transition to the ICU from the ED. ICU nurses have a tougher time going to the ED than vice versa! (The devil is in the details!)

There are advantages/disadvantages to any location - I would think that if you can make it in the Adult ED at Hopkins or UMBC RCA you will be fine anywhere. I would not get pedes speciality unless you plan on speciality practice.

An ideal flight nurse - 3 years general ED (Level 1 a plus).
A year+ each of Trauma ICU, CV ICU, High Risk OB, Peds, Education.

As for your flight goal - check with the education folks at Maryland Express Care and see if they can give you some details on their program & staff requirements. In order to eat an elephant, you have to take one bite at a time!

Good Luck.

Practice SAFE!
Top

1 Reader Gave Kudos
 
No. 2
from CraigB-RN
Old Feb 25, 2008, 11:11 PM

Default Re: which experience is best?
Originally Posted by MD4n6nurse View Post
Hi!
i'm new to this board. So forgive me if these specific questions have been asked. I tried to find the info i was looking for by searching the different threads but couldn't find all the answers to my questions...

I am a nurse in Baltimore, Maryland. I have ED, OB/GYN, and Med/surg - homehealth experience. I also currently work prn as a Forensic Nurse Examiner. I have been interested in flight nursing since my ED days and want to know which experience i should seek now. My ED experience was quite "task oriented" i thought with not much acuity. But i feel from reading the other posts that some ICU exp would be best at this point to hone some critical care skills and then maybe move into a high acuity ED.

i have specific questions on this matter. Im unsure which kind of hospital to choose (lg teaching hosp or community hosp) and which unit would give me the best and overall broadest experience?
As i mentioned, i live in Baltimore. so i have Hopkins and UMMC Shock Trauma available to me as well as other tertiary/community hospitals. I am interested in peds and adults, so, SICU, CSICU, PICU and NICU, and shock trauma (yes, a broad spectrum). which do you think i should seek first - what's the best natural progression i guess is what i'm trying to ask?
do you think ICU exp would be better to seek before shock trauma/high acuity ED and if so, which ICU exp. Since i mentioned im interested in both adults and peds, which do you think is a better progression and which would give me the most well-rounded exp: start with peds and move to adults or vice versa. and finally, if i had to choose betw PICU + NICU, which exp do feel would give me the most well-rounded exp for flight nursing?
Thank you so much for your time. this site is great!!
check out flightweb.com, both for the forums and for the job postings.
Top

1 Reader Gave Kudos
 
No. 3
from TraumaRN2
Old Mar 04, 2008, 08:07 AM

Default Re: which experience is best?
Originally Posted by CraigB-RN View Post
check out flightweb.com, both for the forums and for the job postings.
You have to have critical care experience, at least one year. And ER experience is considered critical care experience.
Top
 
No. 4
from GilaRN
Old Mar 04, 2008, 02:10 PM

Default Re: which experience is best?
The reqirements vary from service to service. It is safe to say that many places look for at last 3 years of experience. The specifics will really depend on the specific mission profile of the service you are looking at for employment. For example, if the service specializes in facility transports where patients are pulled out of an ICU with multiple lines, hemodynamic monitoring, pacemakers, VAD's and IABP's, I would say solid CCU/ICU experience would be your best bet.

Having an ER background, I can say that I wish I would have obtained ICU experienc prior to flying. Many of the ER's I have worked in simply do stop gap measures, throw on the autovent 2000 (or call RT), and get the patient to ICU ASAP. Many of the critical care modalities are not used as often in the ER.

I see it like this. I will only fly with a paramedic partner. What does my medic want me to bring to the table as his/her partner. They have the scene response and emergency medical knowledge down cold. That is the bread and butter of their edication. I find many medics want me to bring solid knowledge of critical care to the team. This can be hit or miss with ER experience. We all know that greater than 50% of your general ER cases are non emergent in nature.
Top

1 Reader Gave Kudos
 
Reply




Thread Tools


Who's Online
297 members
2,528 guests
2,825

5

California Imposes Stricter Rules Regarding Drug Abuse In...

9

Are older nurses being forced out of the profession?

0

An outlook in California?

8

Australian surgeons successfully separate conjoined twins

40

Disruptive behavior by doctors, nurses persists a year...

31

Woman sues after police tackle her in ER during premature...

5

Beyond The Last Lecture -For Randy & Jai Pausch nurses...

17

WHO: Give at-risk groups anti-flu drugs early

21

Nursing, medical schools should work together, experts say

6

Army nurse honored after 100th birthday



1

Society Needs Care Too

11

Why am I doing this, anyway?

2

Nurse Heal Thyself

9

My Papa, why I am the nurse I am today.

17

I made it through

11

An angel's gaze

14

A Sister Never Forgets

16

Ruby's Marbles

37

What Do Operating Room Nurses Do?

14

My Little Old Jedi

20

I love this job......

23

"I hear voices"

19

Preventing FRUTI (Foley Related Urinary Tract Infection) in...

24

Error and Attitude

10

It's Just a Shower





Currently Reading This Page: 1 (0 members & 1 guests)

Interested in the hottest topics of the week? Subscribe to the Nurse-zine Newsletter.
Enter email address: