College Student Looking for Career Advice...(RN vs EMT-P)

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2010

For a career, I encourage you to pursue a bachelor's in nursing with RN. Do the EMT-P as a side thing if you're going to do it at all.

I say that having been a paramedic and being a current BSN/RN student.

HiHoCherry-O · Nov 16, 2010

Having been a FF/Paramedic and now an RN I say it depends on what REALLY interests you most. I loved the FD and being a medic. I LOVED the people I worked with. Some of the cons are limited upward mobility in that field as well as mobility nationwide. The pay is so-so depending on where you work.

As for nursing, especially with your acquired background in management, your climb up the ladder is brighter. As an RN it is a lot easier to move to another state and find a job as an RN. Not so easy as a FF/medic. Also, as an RN if you get bored/burnt (and you will), it is a lot easier to change positions/hours/location.

RachH · Nov 16, 2010

When I was thinking about RN vs. paramedic a few years ago, I talked with a really good friend who has been a paramedic for over thirty years and his daughter is a RN. He said something like this, "If you like a lot of autonomy, need a job NOW, and would like to get a promotion every semester or two of school, go the paramedic route. But if you want better pay in the long run, more career flexibility, the ability to move up in your career, and you don't mind someone breathing over your shoulder, go for RN."

I'm in my twenties and don't have any kids, so I'm in school for my BSN now and I hope to go for my master's degree in a few years. I know my paramedic friend went back to school in his mid-thirties, and he needed to be able to support his three children ASAP. He got a job as an EMT-Basic after one semester of school, then a promotion when he finished EMT-Intermediate, and has since lived happily ever after as an EMT-Paramedic.

AND as for a niche market, he made his RN daughter get her EMT-Basic, and she spent some time working as a emergency flight nurse.

I guess it just depends on your situation. Good luck finding the right route for you! :)

edogs334 · Nov 16, 2010

I'd say you can do both- ie- you can go to paramedic school followed by nursing school, or vice versa. If your college or university has a BSN program, consider switching majors instead of finishing your business degree (you're a sophomore, so it may still be possible to graduate within 5 years with a BSN if you start the pre-reqs and/or application process now). If you're going to finish your business degree, consider going to paramedic school after college first, followed by nursing school. This way, you'll get medic school out of the way and will be able to work part-time or per-diem as a medic during nursing school (unless you enroll in an accelerated BSN program- you really can't work at all outside of those programs). Going to paramedic school first was what I WISH I had done after graduating with my first degree. Yes, nurses in some states can "challenge" the EMT-P exam, but this is a lot easier said than done; this option is more realistically suitable for ICU, ER and flight nurses with many years of experience. Plus, when you're a new graduate nurse in an ER or ICU, you (most likely) won't be able to have a schedule that is regular enough to attend paramedic school. Being a new graduate nurse in an ER or ICU is exhausting. In addition to working clinical shifts, you'll be expected to attend mandatory classes, meetings and will be expected to do some studying on your own. Throwing paramedic school on top of all that learning/experience in your first year may be too much.

Also, are most of the 911 EMS services in your area full-time paid fire departments? If so, then you may just want to go to nursing school, as most paid fire departments only hire full-time personnel who are more career oriented rather than doing EMS part-time and/or using it as a stepping stone (which, in a way, is good). Although, a/e/b the people on this board and my personal experience, there are people who were firefighter/paramedics and THEN went to nursing school. I personally worked with someone who was a full-time firefighter/EMT and part-time nurse (and there was another person on their dept who did the same thing at a different hospital). Hence, doing both at the same time can be done- you just have do it in a way that works for you.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 16, 2010

Like the above posters have said it all depends on you.

I would get some EMS experience as a basic EMT while your taking classes in a college or university, that way you will find out if you really like EMS. You should not become a paramedic without street experiences, at least 2 years, if not more as and EMT basic before you even think about paramedic school!

I am aslo both an RN and a medic, I was a medic first, then decided to try out nursing. I did it for three years and realized that maybe its just not for me, I did work in an ER for a majority of it. So after spending lots of money on a nursing degree, I am back to doing what I love, working on the ambulance! I may return to nursing on a per-diem basis after a break from it, but maybe not...

So, as you can see, it all depends on you and your personality. If you cannot decide do both like I did.

Happy

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2010

Well Purdue, The nursing degree BSN from Purdue (great school) and EMT-P is a great way to go towards flight nursing and trauma nursing. The university of Chicago and Loyola have great flight as well as one in Indy. Then you have flight transport. After graduating you then specialize in the ED. Have you considered a Doctor of Osteopathy school like at Olympia Fields in ILL? Good luck

chorkle · Nov 16, 2010

As for a 'niche' combining both, many flight services operate with a paramedic and a flight nurse, and the nurse is required to be a paramedic also.

From where you are now, that's very likely a few years on down the road.

Otoh, as someone said, PT (PRN) work as a paramedic while attending nursing school has been very helpful for some folks.

Several mentioned the relative ease of working in another state as an RN, as opposed to the relative difficulty of moving hither and thither as a paramedic. You can get recognized as an RN at the state level. As a paramedic, not only are you subject to licensure (or certificate) in any given state; but EMS services have each their own medical director, and their own protocols. So, quite often, you would most likely not be allowed to function as a paramedic until you have met the local requirements of the medical director, and passed a local protocols test. It can be done, but it does not seem to have the flexibility afforded by state-level licensure only.

And, it should be said, nursing and paramedicine are rather different--or more different than that, even--and while each may complement the other, to some degree, there doesn't seem to be much direct interchangeability.

Hope this may be of some help in your deliberations.

edogs334 · Nov 17, 2010

One more piece of advice- go with what will make you happy in the long run, not with what other people (parents, professors, society, friends, etc) think is acceptable for you to do. You have to take money and career flexibility into account, as well as what your personal (in relation to your professional) goals are. However, you also have to take into account which environment you'd rather work in as well- as the prehospital and hospital setting are two different environments. Especially if you work in a unit other than the ER as a new grad.

Oh- and on an unrelated note- make every effort to graduate with as little debt as possible; you'll have that much more financial freedom after you graduate . That's something I wish I had understood more completely going into nursing school.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Nov 17, 2010

With 7 years in EMS, I figured I'd get my BSN and then work critical care for 2 years and do a quick RN->BSN.

OOPS

There are are more jobs for medics than for NG RNs. I should have gotten my medic and then worked a year or two, then gotten my BSN because the job market of 2015 is much more likely to be kind to RNs than the job market of 2012.

Also, once you have a BSN, FAFSA will not give you squat for a ASN-Paramedicine

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Nov 17, 2010

DH is a paramedic and I'm an RN. In my first position, wherever that ends up, as a new grad I'll be making several dollars more an hour than he does as an experienced paramedic. We're also living in a state where paramedics are pretty well paid. We've talked a lot during my schooling about what I'm learning compared to what he learned, and our assessment and scope in an emergent situation is comparable- there are things paramedics can do that nurses can't and vice versa.

He's planning to get a degree in another field though- unless he wants to go in to emergency management, there's not really a lot of career mobility for a paramedic. It's also a much more narrow field.

I recommend finding an ED tech job with your EMT-B, go to school for nursing, and then with your EMT-B experience and RN degree, you'll be more attractive for the RN ED jobs. You can also look in to being a PHRN, doing critical care transport, etc, doing a lot of the same things a paramedic would do but getting paid at the RN level.

MrWarmHearted · Nov 17, 2010

You may want to do some real research before you jump into school and check out the job market in your area. Lots of nursing school are marketing themselves but it doesn't necessarily translate to jobs afterwards - especially in this economy (depending on where you live). there are quite of number that spend the time/money for nursing school, pass the nclex and are still looking for hospitals that are hiring