Looking for honest advice Paramedic to CRNA

Itzallgood · Jul 14, 2009

I thought there was only 5 CRNA schools in Texas - 2 in Ft. Worth and 3 in Houston.

Cost around $50 to $60k

paccookie · Jul 14, 2009

Hi Steve,

First of all, why do you want to become a paramedic? Are you planning to work as a medic or use it as a stepping stone to CRNA? If you're not planning to work as a medic, I would highly recommend skipping the whole EMT and medic route and go straight to nursing school. You already have a BS, so you may be able to enter an accelerated BSN program for people who already have a bachelors degree. It would save you quite a bit of time and money. From there you can work in an ICU and get the required experience for anesthesia school.

However, if you truly want to work EMS, go for it. I'm a paramedic and I plan to go the anesthesia route eventually. But I have other things I want to do first. I want to work as a medic for a couple of years while going to nursing school (will be ready for a bridge program next summer/fall). I also plan to work as a flight medic or nurse for a few years. Anesthesia school will be there when I'm ready. And I'll have gained some valuable experience along the way. If that's the sort of road you had in mind, go for it. But if you're looking at EMS as nothing more than a stepping stone from one thing to the next, I'd recommend skipping it. Don't work for the paramedic degree or cert if you're not going to use it.

Good luck!

Christina

griffly · Jul 14, 2009

Can I ask why you wan't to do the medic to nurse to crna, why not nurse to crna

NurseKitten, MSN, RN · Jul 14, 2009

Time spent as an ICU nurse will be much more valuable than time spent as a paramedic, for CRNA purposes.

Take all the chemistry you can get your hands on. Advanced pathophysiology and graduate pharmacology as a part of your BSN (a lot of programs will let you take graduate level classes if you ask as part of the undergrad) if you possibly can.

Once you get out and get a job in the ICU, start studying for your CCRN, and take it.

Texas Wesleyan (Ft. Worth) requires at least 12 month's ICU experience. I don't know what Texas Christian requires.

Good luck - feel free to message me any time you have questions. :)

Neveranurseagain, RN · Jul 14, 2009

I'm kinda surprised you can go directly from a new EMT to paramedic school. A lot of programs require at least a years experience as an EMT first.

Why not just go directly to a accelerated BSN school since you already have your BS? The way you have it mapped out follows the path of a wandering cow. As if I have room to talk... I have been a CNA, LVN, EMT, I-EMT, Paramedic, apprenticed midwife, animal health technician and an RN! Just go directly into a accelerated BSN program.

Aggiesrna2018 · Jul 14, 2009

Thank you all for your advice. I have looked into accelerated programs but as far as I can tell a 2.90 is not good enough to get into an accelerated program. I do find working as an emt and paramedic very interesting, but it is a means to an end. If I understand this correctly a paramedic can qualify for an accelerated program. Because of my low gpa, this is my roundabout way of entering nursing school. I am currently in College Station TX and I have looked into programs in Houston and Austin.

paccookie · Jul 17, 2009

2.90 may not be "good enough" for the accelerated program, but you can work on the additional core classes you need to bring up your GPA. Most nursing programs have about 30 hours of core classes even for an ADN. If your GPA comes up, you may qualify for the program or at least for a regular BSN program. A traditional BSN program would likely only cost you two year, rather than a year for EMT school, at least a year for paramedic school (assuming you go straight from EMT school to paramedic school and don't work between the two or need to take time for additional core classes for paramedic school), another year for core classes towards a nursing bridge program while you gain the required minimum one year of experience as a medic, one year for a paramedic to RN bridge, 1-2 years for an RN-BSN program, 1-2 years working in an ICU to gain experience for a CRNA program (could do this while doing the RN-BSN), 2-3 years for CRNA. That's 2-3 years vs 5-8 years. Think about it and weigh your options. Consider the cost of all that education and the cost to your family. Believe me, it's not easy being away from your family constantly. I've been in school almost non-stop for the past four years. Paramedic school was by far the most difficult year we've experienced. My kids are already dreading school starting in the fall and I'm only doing online classes! LOL Anyway, good luck to you! Send me and IM if you need any help with EMT or paramedic or just to talk.

Aggiesrna2018 · Jul 17, 2009

Thanks for the advice. I am entering an EMT program through TEEX here in College Station. The EMT class is 3 months and the paramedic is 5 months. I will have both completed within the next year. I have looked into ACC, Austin Community College and they have a 9 month program designed for students who are LVNs or paramedics.

paccookie · Jul 18, 2009

Thanks for the advice. I am entering an EMT program through TEEX here in College Station. The EMT class is 3 months and the paramedic is 5 months. I will have both completed within the next year. I have looked into ACC, Austin Community College and they have a 9 month program designed for students who are LVNs or paramedics.

So in 8 months you can go from being Joe Blow off the street to being a paramedic??? Wow. That's amazing. And not a good idea. I'm not a big advocate of taking short cuts like this. Paramedic school is tough, even if you have a science background to hang it on. If you've never taken care of patients before, it's really tough to learn how to talk to patients and how to assess patients. We had four "fast trackers" in my class who went from street to medic in a year. Two didn't make it past the midpoint. The other two struggled through. They had difficulty talking to patients, performing assessments and basic skills like IVs and medications. It's not something I would recommend.

While taking one short cut is bad enough, you're talking about taking two short cuts. If you're going to take a short cut, please do yourself a favor and take one full length program. I would recommend the full length one to be whatever you're doing first. Medicine is not an easy field to jump right into. You're not going to learn everything over night...or in 8 months. I do wish you the best, but wow, you're talking about a heck of a short cut there.

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

It's better this way.

RN --ICU (3 to 5 years minimum--the ones with less don't do as well in practice--the new CRNAs are very, very nervous)...then apply to CRNA with BSN, GRE, etc.,

That makes the best CRNA.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jul 18, 2009

Hello all,
I will try to make this short and to the point. I am a graduate from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Biology in 2003. I am currently working as a med tech and injectionist. This is my plan
1) I begin an EMT basic night course in September which ends in December
2) As soon as I receive my EMT certification I enter a paramedic night course
3) I receive my paramedic certification and apply to nursing school
4) Hopefully enter an accelerated nursing program (possibly Austin Community College in Austin)
5) Take the NCLEX and begin working as an R.N.
6) Enter an R.N. to B.S.N. bridge program (Texas Tech has a program for graduates from Austin Community College)
7) Continue working as an R.N. and transition to the I.C.U.
8) Enter a C.R.N.A. program
Here are a few questions that hopefully someone out there can answer for me
Is this the best route to take? My GPA was a 2.90 which is not very competitive.
How long must I work as an R.N. before entering a C.R.N.A. program?
Is this a logical plan?
Any advice based on the timeline I presented?

Steve -

First off, best of luck to you. It sounds like you've got your future planned out to the Nth degree. Unfortunately, reality tends to intrude on our best laid plans. Apologies in advance if my post comes across as somewhat abrasive, but it's based on my experience as a 2 year EMT + 17 year paramedic + accel BSN grad + newbie RN (then there were those 20+ years as an engineer, but who's counting?). Then again, it might just be due to my shy, quiet personality.

My biggest concern with your plan is the pace at which you plan to progress. If, in fact, the paramedic program is only 5 months long, that is VERY VERY aggressive. Three months for EMT is good, but 5 months for medics is very challenging. I did my medics program waaaaaaay back in 1990-1991, when it was 1 year at the local community college (4 quarters, at 2 nights a week, plus occasional weekend stuff). I think their program has subsequently been increased from 4 quarters to 5 quarters long.

After finishing your EMT program, THEN work (or volunteer on a local fire dept) 1 year as an EMT before taking your paramedic program.

After graduating from your medics program, work (or volunteer) 1-2 years as a paramedic before doing nursing school. I do not know if your medic program will work as a prerequisite for an accelerated nursing program, even if it's an Associates degree. Most programs I've seen require a Bachelors degree or higher.

Yes, you could do it all back-to-back, but you'd end up as what I call a "shake-n-bake" nurse or paramedic.

I've worked with folks who have gone straight from EMT school to medic school to working out on the street as a paramedic in charge of a scene (often including experienced EMTs). It is not pretty. It is scary to see. As an EMT, it will take you some time to internalize all the "stuff" you're taught in school about scene size-up & patient assessment. If you skip this time period & jump right into medic school, you'll graduate with little to NO real world patient skills. Each & every step of your job will require a lot of thinking & concentration, often leading to indecisiveness when your patient requires DECISIVE action, backed up with real world experience. Everything will be difficult - you'll have trouble seeing the "big picture" on a scene or with a patient, since you're having to focus on each & every task you're trying to perform.

As a paramedic, you are EXPECTED to have basic patient assessment skills down pat, before you start worrying about ACLS/drugs/shocks/advanced airway stuff. You should be able to do a lot of the stuff on "autopilot", allowing your well developed "gut feel" to direct you as to what's really going on with your patient. This allows you to focus on what's really going on, versus what APPEARS to be going on with your patient. If you're struggling with step #1 (patient assessment/scene size-up), how do you expect to be able to excel at step #17?

I'd ask you to consider what's best for your patient, not what's best for your planned career.

As others have recommended, skip the EMT/paramedic "thing", unless you're drawn to street medicine. To do otherwise is a disservice to your patients. EMS patients need dedicated EMS professionals, not folks who are just using their EMS experience as a stepping stone to "greater things."

On the street, it is just YOU & your crew members on the medic. You can't just call for help, and expect people to drop from the ceiling in 1-2 minutes. In a hospital setting, there are generally people available to give you a hand when needed, within a couple minutes. On the streets, this is not the case. It may be just YOU, laying on your back, in a muddy ditch with crappy lighting conditions, trying to intubate a drunk who rolled their car at 2AM and now has a TARFU'd (changed from f-u-b-a-r'd to be "PC" - gee thanks allnurses hall monitors!) airway.

From this perspective, field EMS is more challenging (in my not-so-humble opinion) than the standard hospital-based RN job performance.

Given your GPA of 2.90 (my undergrad GPA was a crappy 2.59), you might check with your accelerated program of choice to see what you can do to PROVE that you are capable of handling accelerated nursing work, other than a paramedic certificate. This might require (as in my case) additional recommendations from your prerequisite course profs.

Unless you're really drawn to field EMS, I'd urge you to drop that step in your plans & go right to the "nursing thing." Get your BSN, work for 2-3 years in a good ICU, then go for CRNA. Field EMS may offer you experience in patient assessment/treatment, but ONLY if you're really dedicated to that role, not merely "passing through."

Please think again of what's best for your patients.