EMT a plus

You don't need to be an EMT to get a job as an RN in the ICU. Generally speaking, most ICU's will hire new grad RN's. You will go through an extensive orientation with a preceptor, until you are able to work on your own. I went straight into the ICU as a new grad RN. I would suggest getting in touch with the hospital's HR dept. your considering, and ask them if they offer an orientation in the ICU to new grads and take it from there.

If, however, you still want to get to get certified as an EMT, and do that type of work while your attending nursing school that, of course, is always an option. It never hurts to be getting experience in the medical field while attending nursing school.

The other thing that EMS experience may do for you is help you determine whether you like working around critically ill patients. It would probably help more in that aspect than it would help on your resume.

I think any type of certification/education you can obtain will help you somewhere along the way. However, I would not put that before or let it get in the way of obtaing your RN license.

You also have to remember that your approach to patient care as an EMT is completely different than your aproach will be as an RN. In my RN program, we had many people drop out or fail out that weren't able to differentiate between the two. I had a paramedic do my Healthcare Provider CPR certification. His quote when you were approaching a pt in that situation was "Remember, these people are already dead. Your goal is to keep get them where they're going, alive. Other people can fix the rest." On most nursing floors/units, your approach includes a lot of prevention and more holistic care. Just some observations I've had over the last few years.