Question?? Paramedic To Rn???

Nurses General Nursing

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I am new to the site...I am a paramedic in Illinois. I am looking to go to nursing school, however I am really interested in the online studies. I was wondering if anyone could recommend one. Or has anyone heard of a Paramedic to RN bridge program? I have been searching all morning online, and right now, i am just really confused about what route to take exactly. Could someone please help me out here?? :) I work full time in a ER now as a medic in southern Illinois and I really want to do the RN thing.As a medic, I am finding it hard to find steady employment or a decent company to work for. thank you in advance for ANY info or advice you can swing my way :)

~~Matty

does anyone know if Excelsior is accepted in florida,I am firefighter/paramedic for 6years am looking to get RN---thanks

Florida requires that you become an LPN first so, EC probably wouldn't work for you in Florida.

:coollook:

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If they would pay medics what they deserve, many would stay.....Its all cool to be a medic when your younger, but when you start a family and so forth and a RN makes twice what your making and more, well you do the math........

Amen Brother

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does anyone know if Excelsior is accepted in florida,I am firefighter/paramedic for 6years am looking to get RN---thanks

Do EC then do a BSN program online and you won't have to worry about EC anymore

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Do EC then do a BSN program online and you won't have to worry about EC anymore

Better check with the Florida BON first before you make that assumption. If they don't accept EC unless you're an LPN there's a good chance they won't license you with the BSN either if you still don't meet the preliminary requirements.

:rolleyes:

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I believe that what holds EMS back the most is that Medicare only pays a pittance for our services, and medicaid and the insurance companies follow medicare. The private EMS company owners make money hand over fist, but pay as little as they can get away with. They have associations which would step in to help if the employees ever rose up to demand better working conditions. There's not enough unity among the medics to get anything meaningful done. There's a big contoversy going on about a National Scope of Practice for EMS. It would take the pressure off the big-city fire department systems to improve their standard of care. Most of the guys on those units dream of a time when they have enough seniority to bid onto a pumper. I have long suspected that EMS would reach a point where a political decission would have to be made to either increase its scope (through increased education standards), or dial it back. As we have increased our capabilities and the quality of care that we deliver in the field, we have developed EMS into something of great value to us, but this value is not shared by others. That puts us in a unhappy situation. I am 40, have been in EMS 21 years (17 of those continuously at the paramedic level), and I love my job. However, I have 3 kids who will all be of college age within 5 years, and I have reluctantly come to believe that my financial needs will never be met by EMS. I don't have delusions that I will become rich by becoming a nurse, but I know that I could easily make 55k+/year with very little extra overtime. That's more than I've ever made in my life. I'm about topped out at 45k (not bad IMHO). I know many medics who have become rn's, they all miss the street, but can't walk away from the rn pay. I'm going to do both(only 9 years to EMS retirement) for a while. In the next couple of years, I see a mass exodus from EMS to nursing. I really hope we have trained the young ones well for the burden that will be on their shoulders.

when i first started nursing in er 18 years ago, the paramedics were brilliant. they always had an iv line iestablished, they could tube better than any of the doctors, and they were very knowlegable in general.

i hate to say it, but all that has changed. none of them now seem to be able to get ivs anymore, and they rarely tube anyone. now, of course i know how hard it is to do these things driving 60mph in the back of a rig, etc, but the 'old timers' did it, and did it quite well!

i don't mean to criticize the newer medics, i am just calling it as i see it.

perhaps the only thing different is that nowdays there's more an emphasis on getting the pt to the er stat and not taking up time doing procedures in the field. which if is the case, then really the years of education and money spent in medic school could be challenged as unnecessary.

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Better check with the Florida BON first before you make that assumption. If they don't accept EC unless you're an LPN there's a good chance they won't license you with the BSN either if you still don't meet the preliminary requirements.

:rolleyes:

If you have a BSN from an accredited university they will take it

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