Any other EMS professionals turned nurses having issues!

[AnnieOaklyRN]

Hi all,

I am an RN also a paramedic, I was a paramedic first. I always dreamed of being a paramedic, since kindergarten to be exact... I will be honest, I went to nursing school really so I could make a better living, and not really because I had a desire to be a nurse. I know I am going to take a beating on here for that statement!!

Just wondering if any other EMS professionals are having problems making a tansition from emt/paramedic to RN... and if so how much time did you give it? (been a nurse for three years now, tried a new area, still love my office on wheels much better).

Any oppinions would be appreciated!

Happy

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

LOL@ nsg doesn't think as much. Our ED docs are very disparaging of EMS (behind their backs). IME, EMS knows what to do, but they haven't a clue why they are doing it. Sorry, nursing is much more intellectually demanding than EMS work.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

LOL@ nsg doesn't think as much. Our ED docs are very disparaging of EMS (behind their backs). IME, EMS knows what to do, but they haven't a clue why they are doing it. Sorry, nursing is much more intellectually demanding than EMS work.

Have you worked in EMS? Until you have done both you have no clue how intellectually demanding EMS is! Nursing is not intellectually demanding, you assess a patient knowing that your not the one that decides on how and when to treat a patient, unless it involves basic things like lying the patient flat and putting an IV in, and then a doctor assesses the patient and tells you what to do! There is no doctor in EMS assessing our patients for us, yes we have protocols approved by a group of physicians, but we still have to do the thinking and assessing and make the judgement call on our own. Having been in both fields I have the right to this oppinion.

If you think its easy going to someones house and fully assessing and figuring out what might be wrong and treating them (if appropriate) in 10 minutes is not intellectually demanding, think again! Figuring out whats going on is not always easy, as its not always cut and dry ACS. By the time we get to the ER though, we have shoveled through most of the ----!

So in my oppinion, unless your a flight or transport RN, the real thinking is done by a physician!

Happy

[GreyGull]

I have been thinking for a long time about flight,

Nursing is not intellectually demanding, you assess a patient knowing that your not the one that decides on how and when to treat a patient, unless it involves basic things like lying the patient flat and putting an IV in, and then a doctor assesses the patient and tells you what to do!

I probably would not consider being a flight nurse until you have worked or put enough effort in nursing to where you do some "thinking". You may need to get into a more progressive hospital ED and also work in a couple of different ICUs for a few more years. A year of med-surg nursing might also be a good experience for you. The bare minimum may only be expected of you now or you are getting away with doing just the bare minimum so you might need to make a move to prepare yourself for a position as a Flight RN. You still have a lot to learn. Getting a BSN wouldn't be a bad idea either. I would not want a Flight RN partner who has never done any thinking as a nurse.

However, that is not to say you couldn't go back to working as a Paramedic on a flight team but it sounds like you would not have much respect for the RN who might be your partner...since you know he/she never had to think before they got that job.

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

Have you worked in EMS? Until you have done both you have no clue how intellectually demanding EMS is! Nursing is not intellectually demanding, you assess a patient knowing that your not the one that decides on how and when to treat a patient, unless it involves basic things like lying the patient flat and putting an IV in, and then a doctor assesses the patient and tells you what to do! There is no doctor in EMS assessing our patients for us, yes we have protocols approved by a group of physicians, but we still have to do the thinking and assessing and make the judgement call on our own. Having been in both fields I have the right to this oppinion.

If you think its easy going to someones house and fully assessing and figuring out what might be wrong and treating them (if appropriate) in 10 minutes is not intellectually demanding, think again! Figuring out whats going on is not always easy, as its not always cut and dry ACS. By the time we get to the ER though, we have shoveled through most of the ----!

So in my oppinion, unless your a flight or transport RN, the real thinking is done by a physician!

Happy

I was a mobile ICU nurse and a flight nurse for almost 8 years, and stay on the ground now in the CCU. Flight nursing and EMS is run by algorithms and protocol IME, and, no, I don't consider either of them to be too demanding frankly. I think your post shows a deep lack of understanding of the role of the nurse.