Anyone go the EMT route after becoming an LVN?

DrkCocoMurse215 · Sep 17, 2013

Idk about the EMT but I've seen job postings for lpns as ER techs

ChristinaStimson · Sep 22, 2013

im an EMT in NJ and i can tell you that an LVN or LPN as we call them here are above EMT in the medical field so i dunno about your state but i know in most being an EMT is a step down from LPN/LVN

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Sep 23, 2013

If you wanna spend a lot of time in school, take a pay cut & not be able to use a lot of the skills you learned in nursing school. Then yeah. I thought about becoming an EMT because my boyfriend is in school now, but I heard about his scope of practice & I thought what is the point? I can do more now & make more money. I would have to go back to school to become an EMT-I & EMT-P. So in the end I decided against it.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 23, 2013

So I am in the last 3 weeks of wrapping up LVN school it has been fun and I have learned a lot including what areas of nursing are not a good fit for me. I tend to get bored very easily and my time spent in long term care passing meds has been brutal. I just can't take it. I have come to the conclusion that I need something a little more fast paced and think I am more fit for the ER or Trauma units. While I know this is never going to happen as a new grad I am looking for other options while I continue my education. I was thinking of applying as an ER tech (yes less pay I know) but I would be happy. From what I can tell most of these jobs require an EMT cert.
My question is,
1. can an LVN work as an EMT (I know I have to get the cert)
2. can I use this experience to maybe piggy back my way in to an ER as an LVN down the road

To answer your question, no, an LVN can not work as an EMT under the LVN license. The jobs aren't similar. EMT has a very limited scope of practice compared to LVN and treatment is basically limited to Oxygen, bandaging, AED, assisting a patient with their own meds, and gas pedal. Assessment skills are also pretty basic. EMT school takes anywhere from about 3 weeks to about a semester. Paramedic courses can run 1-2 years, depending upon the school. Paramedic has a much wider scope of practice, but their focus is emergency medicine, so your LVN skills (except for perhaps physical exam) won't easily cross over.

As to whether the EMT experience could allow you a piggyback path to an ER LVN job, I don't know. The EMT skillset is very limited. Paramedic would be more ideal, but the schooling for that takes a while and there's still no guarantee of getting that to help you with landing an ER job as an LVN.

In my area, most of the ER Techs are Paramedics. Sometimes they're allowed to use some of their Paramedic skills, sometimes not.

pnkgirl25 · Sep 25, 2013

To answer your question, no, an LVN can not work as an EMT under the LVN license. The jobs aren't similar. EMT has a very limited scope of practice compared to LVN and treatment is basically limited to Oxygen, bandaging, AED, assisting a patient with their own meds, and gas pedal. Assessment skills are also pretty basic. EMT school takes anywhere from about 3 weeks to about a semester. Paramedic courses can run 1-2 years, depending upon the school. Paramedic has a much wider scope of practice, but their focus is emergency medicine, so your LVN skills (except for perhaps physical exam) won't easily cross over.
As to whether the EMT experience could allow you a piggyback path to an ER LVN job, I don't know. The EMT skillset is very limited. Paramedic would be more ideal, but the schooling for that takes a while and there's still no guarantee of getting that to help you with landing an ER job as an LVN.
In my area, most of the ER Techs are Paramedics. Sometimes they're allowed to use some of their Paramedic skills, sometimes not.

See that's the problem I'm facing. I'm discovering emergency medicine is more my thing and the chances of getting that as an lvn in long term care is slim... and getting into an ER is impossible (I'm in CA). I'm trying to get some exposure to emergency medicine before PA school and it's looking like EMT might be my only option. While I understand it's a step down in pay, I was thinking it might be a step up in the type of experience i was looking to gain? I'm willing to take a pay cut for 6 mon to a year to get my feet wet. I'm discovering that my only hope for trauma or emergency care experience will require me to go to RN school and that's just not in my plans I guess my only option is to see if i can line up some shadowing opportunities but with HIPA I'm finding that really hard too.

Any other ideas?

Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B · Sep 25, 2013

I am an LPN and an EMT in Pennsylvania. The thing to realize is that when employed as an EMT you cannot do skills outside the scope of an EMT, however you will be held to the standard of the highest training you have. So what this means is if you can draw blood, start IVs, or administer meds as an LPN when you are functioning as an EMT you may NOT. I cannot even do an accucheck in my state as an EMT. However if I make a mistake in assessment that results in a malpractice suit I would be held to the standard of my LPN even though I was practicing as an EMT.

pnkgirl25 · Sep 25, 2013

I am an LPN and an EMT in Pennsylvania. The thing to realize is that when employed as an EMT you cannot do skills outside the scope of an EMT however you will be held to the standard of the highest training you have. So what this means is if you can draw blood, start IVs, or administer meds as an LPN when you are functioning as an EMT you may NOT. I cannot even do an accucheck in my state as an EMT. However if I make a mistake in assessment that results in a malpractice suit I would be held to the standard of my LPN even though I was practicing as an EMT.[/quote']
Ohhh yeah that's an issue! Thanks for the heads up