Has anyone in here been an ER scribe?

[NoctuRNal_UnicoRN, ASN, BSN]

I have a friend debating the RN vs PA route. You need so many clinical hours of experience before applying to a lot of PA type programs. He thinks being a scribe is the best way to get experience. I did some digging, and most scribes don't seem to have much or any patient contact. I don't think that'd count towards the hours needed. Also, they seem to be severely underpaid in comparison to almost anything else you could do. We're talking minimum wage to maybe a max of $12.00/hr (at least in my neck of the woods) depending which scribe company you go through and whatnot. The CNAs here for example start around $13.75 with no experience abd they have full patient contact. The scribe would probably get more EHR/medical terminology/physician assistant/labs type of training. Can anyone vouch for any of this, have experience, or know someone who is a scribe? Just wanting to know if I should be encouraging or discouraging taking on a position like that.

[shrimp]

If your friend is set on being a PA, then I think you should be encouraging. I was a scribe for a while when I was still pursuing premed. I was making $10/hr in Northern California in 2012. It wasn't horrible, at least compared to my retail job, but I definitely couldn't live on my own. It's not a career choice though.

As a scribe, I spent my time following physicians, writing patient histories, noting physical exam findings, tracking labs... there's so much to it. I was forced to learn a lot of things medicine considering that I was constantly interacting with physicians. It does give one a chance to be nosy and ask questions about certain things, why the physician(s) made the decision(s) they made, and best of all, it'd be a great way to get letters of recommendation. It does depend on the doctor though. Some just use you as an admin assistant and nothing more, while some will quiz you, explain diagnoses and why certain labs or meds are ordered, and give you more responsibilities and access, which was great.

[NoctuRNal_UnicoRN, ASN, BSN]

I'm definitely supportive about the PA route, if that's his ultimate choice. A scribe definitely has their fair share of experience. I just can't believe how little they make. It'd be a rewarding experience, but if you have children and live on your own, you can't contribute much to the family.

[TxxRN]

When I was an ER scribe I never considered it a money maker but rather an opportunity to enhance my overall resume when it came time to apply to schools. With that said, schools generally do not consider a scribe job a type of clinical experience. It would go into the "Other" experience category on PA applications. This makes sense as scribes are not in the position to have direct patient care of any kind. The positive about being a scribe is that you have the opportunity to gain tremendous practice in documentation, learning head to toe assessments, multi-tasking, follow-ups necessary for charting, etc. Although valuable, it is not patient care.

ETA: Scribes also don't get trained in labs or physician assistant duties. You get classroom training in medical terminology, EHR and departmental policies. In reference to labs, a scribe might need to follow-up on a particular lab value that's missing or call the lab techs to check on when a test result will be delivered, but you wouldn't be trained on how to interpret labs or anything out of the scope of literally scribing/data entry. Gaining more insight into particular medical cases or other information really depends on the personality of the physicians you're assigned to each shift and if you can build rapport with them without being annoying during their busy workday.

[Scrubs_n_sirens, MSN, RN]

Our ER scribes follow the physicians everywhere! Our physicians take the time to discuss the patient cases, exam findings, labs, and orders with our scribes. The scribes have a 12 hour long session of picking physicians' brains.

It's an awesome opportunity for experience and exposure to terminology and actual people.

If they want to be a nurse or a pa, you really can't go wrong either way. But for someone who wants to actually be a provider-- scribe is probably better.

[NoctuRNal_UnicoRN, ASN, BSN]

Lots of good info in here, thanks for that! You guys are making me want to pick up a side job as a scribe! So, I guess I can just tell him what I already have been. It's good for experience, but not lucrative enough to be your only job if you intend to support your family while doing it. I'd probably keep a decent paying gig a few days during the week and scribe a couple days on weekends.