EMT - B with nursing school?!

[keegs13]

Hi Y'all!

Since you are all so helpful with all of my other questions, I am asking for opinions here....

What do you think about going to summer classes (community college) to get my EMT - B cert. the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of nursing school (University of Kentucky)?

Why get the cert?

To be able to work on campus as a possible EMT while getting extra medical training. Before anyone says that a nurse's atmosphere and an EMT's are very different, I understand that, and I am going to become an Army nurse (Army ROTC and nursing), talk about a different atmosphere from any other imaginable!

Simply wondering if it would be worth my time, in your opinions! Thanks for the input!

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

You could do nursing school and paramedic school at the same time. Granted, it wasn't nursing school, but I got my first bachelor's degree at the same time I was going through paramedic school. Went to a university during the day for the degree classes, went to a community college at night for the paramedic courses.

Wow! Hats off to you! I'd never be able to do TWO degree programs at once. Kudos!

[CrazyCatLadyRN, BSN, RN]

YESYESYES...do it. I did it between semester 2 and 3 and LOVED it. You learn a lot of things that Nursing school doesn't teach you. I just graduated last month and I believe I will be starting my career in 2 weeks with a much better critical thinking foundation because of it. It was so much fun! You definitely don't get scenarios in Nursing school of patients with 2 amputated limbs because of a train accident :-) My employer really liked that I had my EMT-B too. It shows that you are eager to learn new things and gain new skill sets.

[CrazyCatLadyRN, BSN, RN]

Oh and depending on the state you are in you can challenge the Paramedic exam with your RN license, EMT-B, and ACLS cert....

[One1, BSN, RN]

one1: Did you do summer schooling for EMT -B or at the same time as nursing school?

I did my EMT certification parallel to prerequisites. My program did not have summer break, I was in an accelerated program.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

My advice is simple. Take the EMT course. While it's pretty short and very basic in terms of assessment and treatment skills, it will give you additional training in scene safety and the like that you will NOT get in RN school. The EMT training will help for those times when you don't have staff nearby to collaborate with to get something done. I've seen video after video of Nurses that come face to face with an emergent situation and just don't know what to do because they've never had to rely on themselves for patient care. This is not typical of ED nurses or those that actually go run 911 calls.

Paramedic programs generally do NOT allow someone to take the course without having completed EMT-B first.

If you're considering becoming a Paramedic, consider that the program typically lasts at LEAST a year, and often is 2 years long. This is possibly quite bad for going to RN school at the same time. Start with EMT-B anyway, it'll help you later (especially when discharging patients appropriately). Later, you might be able to challenge the Paramedic License if you have passed EMT-B, ACLS, a Paramedic Refresher course (48 hours) and possibly complete a field internship.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

As a former EMT, I think the EMT work is beneficial to develop critical thinking skills and how to work independently. (Sometimes in the field it is just you and your partner. Generally there is no medical control for EMT-B only for EMT-P (paramedics) and you need to work within your guidelines/scope of practice/state or squad protocols.)

As far as paramedic, many states require ER/critical experience prior to being permitted to challenge the paramedic course. ACLS, PALS, PHTLS (pre-hospital trauma life support) and PPEC (prehospital pediatric emergency care) are often components of paramedic training programs. I know in my state you need to have a minimum of 3 years active work (paid or volunteer) as a certified EMT-B before even being considered for a paramedic course. Other states you can enter paramedic coursework directly. The paramedic course in my state is approximately 2 years of training between didactic, specialty certifications (ACLS, PALS, PHTLS, and PPEC plus ICS (incident command system--trauma triage), HAZMAT and the defensive driving course), clinical ride along with the medic unit, hospital observations (ICU/CCU, OR, etc) and hospital clinical placements (ER, respiratory (intubation), etc.) So here you really wouldn't be able to complete paramedic and a nursing program concurrently.

My sister (an RN for about 15 years now, and an APN) took EMT-B between her sophomore and junior years in a BSN program. That was a deciding factor when she was recruited to move out of state for a job in a pediatric ER/level 1 trauma center. She was actually placed on the pediatric critical care transport team (ground and air) as a new nurse (1 year) because of her EMT-B plus her pediatric experience.

I do think that the scene assessment and rapid patient assessment/triage skills taught can be hugely beneficial to a nurse/nursing student. The only issues I have seen in nursing school with the couple of EMT's in my program is that these individuals fail to grasp the difference in scope of practice between prehospital EMS and clinical nursing. They want to do everything their own way rather than the proper way... since you are a nursing student before EMT, I think you'll have more asset than liability.

Though the most useful skills I learned as a field EMT were 1. scene assessment (noticing the environmental clues (including family, visitors present) and not just focusing tunnel vision on the patient (treat the patient not the numbers), and 2. vital signs assessment--I learned how to find weak pulses & thready BP's while riding in the back of a rig going 55MPH and sirens blasting. It wasn't acceptable to give report saying "well I couldn't hear the BP because the sirens were on" on a patient going into hypovolemic shock.

[nerol]

This is good info, it just so happens I am starting my EMT-B course next week and I am waiting to see if I have been accepted to a nursing program which will start in January. I figured it couldn't hurt plus it only takes 1 quarter to completeJ

[Briana12]

I'm so glad someone else was wondering if they should get their EMT-B certificate and then the BSN. I have been going back and forth on it for a little while! Reading everyone's comments on here sure helped me a lot :)

[MusicEMT]

EMT-B class isnt that hard. Especially if you have completed your nursing pre-reqs, youll have a better grasp on the anatomy and physiology of things. (although EMT-B dosnt focus too much on that) youll deff feel more comfortable dealing with emergencies in general. Plus if you get your EMT-B you can work as a ER Tech. (most places here require EMT-B to work as a ER Tech) Id say go for it! as an EMT who has a year or two of experience I can tell you i feel quite comfortable dealing with different types of patients (ranging from Traumas to Psych) and on top of that as an EMT youll feel quite comfortable taking vitals (once you can take a BP bouncing up and down in the back of a rig, you can do it anywhere) and assessing patients which in my opinion is the bread and butter of patient care. as an EMT try to get a job either Volunteering or working on an Ambulance or an ER/Patient care tech position. Youll learn lots and experience lots. so GO FOR IT!

as for going to your Paramedic, I agree with everyone else here, the programs are at least a year long. Most of them prefer EMT experience before applying..

[rgr22]

If you are not taking summer classes toward your major, why not? It would only make you a more well-rounded student in your nursing program and it is a good skill to have in life. EMT-B can definitely be done in a summer, though paramedic would require full time study of several months.