EMT-B and nursing school???

assidere · Aug 31, 2011

...I really want to work as an EMT...

Then be an EMT, not a nurse, lol...

I actaully precepted a guy last sprign who was an EMT and was in nursign school. He hd it easy because he knew so much already. From that perspective, its good, but you also have to be able to seperate the different skill sets and remember what you can and can't do in the hospital vs. in the field...

Time wise- I was able to carry a part-time job on campus throughout school with no problem. Of course, I had good study habits and probably didn't spend nearly as much time studyign as some of my calssmates did...

Britt2007 · Aug 31, 2011

hello buttons!

I recently took an EMT-B course before I started nursing school and fell in love with it! It’s so exciting I would highly recommend taking it, you seem very interested. As far as working I was never able to work as an emt because of my school schedule because emts in my area pull 24hr shifts most of the time which would be to much for me right now, but it may be different in your area I would check it out if I were you. Even though Im not able to use my license right now I dont ever regret taking the course, it taught me so much I dont think i'll learn in nursing school, it teaches you almost a completely different approach to things. After being introduced to this field I definitely want to try and use it with my RN (a flight nurse, er/trauma)

Good Luck!!

buttons93 · Aug 31, 2011

Then be an EMT, not a nurse, lol...

You know, I wanted to be an EMT far before I decided I want to be a flight nurse. Both are really appealing to me but as of right now, I can't choose which I want to be! But I do think EMT would be a fun job and the pre-hospital scene is a lot more appealing to me. But like I said, I don't know! So we'll see how it goes.

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2011

hello! i am currently taking my prerequisites for the rn program at my school and hope to be in the program spring 2012. i want to be an er nurse(level one trauma center) and i probably eventually want to be a flight nurse. next semester, i am thinking about taking an emt course. i've looked around on this site and it sounds like being an emt will really benefit me in my future career as a flight nurse. but here's my dilema: can i work as an emt and go to nursing school at the same time? i hear so much about clinical hours and study time (the program requires 2 12 hour shifts a week), and i don't know how flexible working hours are for an emt and such. will getting my emt cert. even be worth it if i can't work?
just to add, i don't want to be an emt just to kind of add to my resume, i would love to work and i think it would be so fun! i really want to work as an emt, i just don't know if i would have time in nursing school. plus, it would give me something to fall back on.
thanks for any help!

you can work as an emt and go to school, you can get a job as a tech in the ed or you can work 8's or12's on the days you dont have class. it will be demanding and require very good time management on your end. the good thing about being an emt if you are with an agency there is the possiblility of downtime and you can get a lot of studying done. i

ems is a great way to get a lot of patient contact,critical care experience , and the ability to critically think and autonomy, because as you know we are able to administer meds blah blah blah. it will also help you in viewing a patient holistically and seeing how the arrive to hospital or how they live that will make way more sense, than just seeing a needy a-hole patient in a hospital bed always pushing the call light...

i say go for it you'll love it. and as far as flight..ill see you in the aiiir! :) same thing i want to do

then be an emt, not a nurse, lol...
i actaully precepted a guy last sprign who was an emt and was in nursign school. he hd it easy because he knew so much already. from that perspective, its good, but you also have to be able to seperate the different skill sets and remember what you can and can't do in the hospital vs. in the field...
time wise- i was able to carry a part-time job on campus throughout school with no problem. of course, i had good study habits and probably didn't spend nearly as much time studyign as some of my calssmates did...

totally agree, and this is fairly easy to do...and you'll find this out very quickly when your changing bed linens and bathing a patient and spending 8hrs with a patient vs spending a max of 45min to 2hours with one, gathering pertinent info and stablizing them if necessary.

buttons93 · Sep 1, 2011

it will be demanding and require very good time management on your end. the good thing about being an emt if you are with an agency there is the possiblility of downtime and you can get a lot of studying done. ems is a great way to get a lot of patient contact,critical care experience , and the ability to critically think and autonomy,

this helped so much! thanks! i have always been a very busy person and an overachiever and, frankly, i am bored with school right now because i have so much free time so i think i will like it hah.

i'm lookin at two different programs right now and the one that is at my main school says this: "limitation on enrollment: valid aha health care provider card required." i know what the card is, i just don't understand if that means i should have the card going into the program??? doesn't make sense to me. the other program at my-i guess-substitute cc doesn't have any requirements like that. any help????