Advice for an EMT in Nursing school

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Hi everyone!

Yesterday I received the fruit of two years of difficult prerequisites: my final acceptance into NMSU's School of Nursing.

I have very good grades from my prerequisites and feel great about starting Nursing. I am a licensed EMT-Intermediate and have been working as a teacher's assistant at the community college as well as clinical preceptor for EMT students (in the ER) for about a year.

My desire is to learn a lot in nursing school in preparation to be the best nurse that I can be after I graduate. Is there anything you think would be valuable for me to know to prepare me for nursing school and a job afterwards?

Thanks!

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Specializes in critical care, PCU, PACU, LTC, HHC, AFC.

There is a definitely a difference between the emergency side of healthcare vs. bedside care in the hospital setting. However I think any experience in medical will be a big plus. However I admired the paramedics in my class, and the LPN's too, when we merged together for a our last semester in nursing school.

Nursing school is tough for different reasons, everyone struggles in their own way (god those care plans lol). For some they do great in clinical and others are better in the classroom.

One thing that comes to mind is I recommend you get a NCLEX book. This will help prepare you for the test's you take in nursing school and get your mind thinking in that direction. You can find them relatively cheap online at half.com or even ebay. I strongly recommend you get a book now.

Second find a good study buddy or buddies. Some people study better by themselves others study good in groups, if you like groups this might work. But if you find someone pick someone who is focused and wanting to go all the way through the program. Some of my best study buddies became my biggest support persons.

Good luck in nursing school! Even though it was tough, in a silly way I had alot of fun and made great friends along the way. I look back and appreciate all the hard work :rckn:

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Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

Previous post has very good advice. I would focus on getting a partner, one who you can do projects with. In my program we had to do several projects with a partner so it's good to pick one at the beginning.

My study buddy became my best friend and we also had a few others who we had study sessions with. The program wants you to integrate with your classmates to learn and help each other.

As far as the NCLEX book I think it's a little early to start worrying about the boards. Your professors will let you know when it's time to start the NCLEX freak out. Enjoy the start of school.

Have in possession a computer/laptop, printer, word processing program, internet ... unless you like spending a lot of time in the computer lab. There will be lots and lots of research papers and the like. Also having internet access will enable you to do much of your research at home instead of the library. Remember that English comp ... you will now be able to show off and actually use prepositional phrases (lol ;))

Be careful about what you divulge to the class or anyone else. Some things have a way of turning around; family secrets, seemingly innocent experiences to one may seem like a crime to another.

Good luck to you.

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Specializes in icu/er.

job market is tight out there. good luck.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

All of the above advice is good. When I was in nursing school, I kept my EMS experience sort of quiet since in the past some nurses weren't exactly fond of paramedics. Besides, nursing and EMS are two very different things. Everyone knew I was a paramedic, but I didn't bring it up much. If I had a question based on my EMS experiences I usually asked the teacher after class. The only people I talked to more about my experience were my 3 close nursing school friends.

I found my EMS experience helped a lot in pharmacology and the manual skills med administration and patient assessment. For me the hard part of nursing school was the clinicals, specifically time management and the TLC stuff like getting to know the patient and gaining their trust. Assessment and charting were no big deal.

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Specializes in critical care, PCU, PACU, LTC, HHC, AFC.

The reason I strongly suggest a NCLEX book is to help prepare you for the test you take in nursing school. A good nursing school will give NCLEX type questions on the test. For those of us who are in or have completed a nursing program we know how difficult those test can be, they can make or break you from passing the course. I think getting a NCLEX book now and start preparing for those test would only put you a step further ahead.

Just my :twocents:

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From a current RN student who is also an EMT and has heard a lot about other students like us:

- Don't be that person who has to tell a story about your experience with every question. Nobody will appreciate it.

- Stop thinking like an EMT. This sounds odd, but for testing, some of it is very different. However, safety and ABCs as the priority will always be helpful on the HESI and NCLEX.

- Again with the stories, especially if they're made in a statement about how you know something. You'll sound like a know-it-all and again, your stories will only be interesting to a few people. I recommend using very few and only very relevant ones.

I try VERY hard not to be obnoxious with my stories, and still think I fail at it sometimes. Story-specific questions, as in questions that are very specific and situation-based, should be saved for after class or during breaks to quietly ask the teacher about. They'll mention it if they feel it's important for everyone else, but otherwise it can come off as wasting everyone else's time or bragging, either of which you want.

Good luck!

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I graduated from nursing school in February and I am a former paramedic. What I can tell you is the same for what you have been told about stories. EMS people love our war stories, others, well not so much. It was difficult at times to switch from EMS mode to RN mode, but it can be done. The two disciplines are different.

I would recommend the NCLEX 4000 software. I used that from the beginning and it really helped me, especially with ADPIE.

Kristen

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

http://www.statnursing.org/

I went to a workshop by this group between my 3rd and final semester of nursing school. I wish I had heard of them before going to nursing school.

You won't be able to attend a workshop, but I recommend buying their book and giving it a read. Good stuff. My test scores showed a concrete, viable change after implementing some of their techniques.

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job market is tight out there. good luck.

Ok...he/she asked about nursing school not about the job market. There is no reason to put this negativity on this post. Job market may be tight, but I just graduated in may and have a job already along with three of my friends from school who also have found jobs. Its not tough everywhere.

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I agree with others who have recommended nclex books. Learning the trick of answering the questions is the main part.

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Wow two pages! Thanks to everyone for the advice! I am very thankful for it. I know that my school tries to incorporate NCLEX style questions into the exams but I will look into getting a study guide specifically for that. From what I'm told, this program has like a 94% first time pass rate on the NCLEX.

I was told by a very experienced ER nurse that I would have to start thinking differently during nursing school. He said that I would need to stop being as problem focused and think more about long term, holistic treatment of the patient. Would you agree?

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