Help! EMT, Medical Assistant, or CNA?

[dominicanraze123]

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are having a wonderful time this weekend! This is my first post so I'm excited to hear what you all have to say. I will be finishing up my last two pre-requisite classes this year at my college and I have already attained the required TEAS scores for the Nursing School I will be applying to. I will be taking this year to get all my ducks in a row before going in next Fall semester.

I wanted to get some experience in regards to working in the medical field and to have something to put in my resume for job hunting when I graduate. I know many nursing students become CNA and Medical Assistants, but many people have told me that becoming an EMT is the best route. Many of the best nurses have been EMTs is what I hear. What would be the best route for me to go about?

If you have any other suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Many Blessings

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

The only one that may help you get a job post nursing school is if you work as a CNA in a hospital, establish a good work reputation and apply for an RN position as an internal candidate.

EMT is medical model working of protocols in the field with minimal overlap to nursing with the exception of initial assessment skulls. It works under the medical model. Medical assistants are trained for front (receptionist, secretarial) and back (assisting physician, rooming patients, some procedure assist) back office under the direction of a physician. It won't help much when trying to gain an edge seeking a first nursing position especially since many outpatient jobs are intended for experienced nurses.

I would suggest hospital CNA or even hospital unit clerk if your desire is to work in acute care post graduation

[busybeeSN]

I work as a CNA and have made good working relationships with the company I work for. I have already spoken with them about working for them as an RN when I graduate. For me, this path has worked well and I feel I have learned a lot.

[dominicanraze123]

Thank you so much for taking time to write all that and pass on your wisdom. I truly am grateful. Is there anything else you suggest that I should do to get prepared for post graduate job hunting? I want to try and present myself as the best candidate for positions post graduation.

I already have started looking into programs for the CNA certification. Thank you so much.

[dominicanraze123]

Will do so immediately! Already looking into the CNA programs available around me. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. Is there anything else you suggest that I should do to get prepared for post graduate job hunting? I want to try and present myself as the best candidate for positions post graduation.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Many states you can challenge the CNA test with a letter from

Your school of nursing that you passed nursing fundamentals

[California92]

If you are curious about becoming a CNA...I would recommend volunteering at a hospital or a retirement home. I received my first hands on experience at a hospital and a half the people I signed up with stayed and the other half ended up leaving. So take your time because its not an easy job.

[DaniB77, LPN, EMT-B]

I've been an EMT for just over 4 years and have to take CNA training before I can start my nursing clinicals per my schools requirements even though my EMT training hours were about 2x as much as the CNA training is. See what the program you are looking into requires.

Good luck!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I'm both an RN and a Paramedic. While EMT training does help you with certain things, it won't directly help you with nursing. Since you're looking to become a nurse, I would suggest you do CNA training and get some experience working directly with patients. It's entirely possible that you may hate this kind of work where you originally thought you'd like it. It happens.

EMT training may help you later on if you decide to get into transport nursing or you end up working in a field where transport of patients is fairly common. That being said, if you get a job as a CNA in an acute care hospital, you usually get a couple week head-start in applying for jobs because often they're posted internally first vs someone that doesn't work there. A couple of my classmates got their RN jobs directly because they were employees of the hospital.

As others have said, EMS works under a medical model and answers primarily to their physician Medical Director. Their focus, training, and scope of practice is different so it's not really at all fair to compare EMS and Nursing care and about the only thing that's really common to either is patient assessment. Because of this, unless you have a very strong, burning desire or reason to do EMT training before getting into nursing school, choose the program that will more closely align with the career you'll have.