Looking for EMT's who are now in nursing school

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I'm a MSN student preparing to study the nursing school experience of students who have a background as emergency medical technicians. Are there many of you out there, and is the experience worth studying? I'd love some feedback to help me formulate questions for the interview process.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.

I'm now a practicing nurse, but I was an EMT before nursing school. I suppose examination of that could bear out something interesting for you. What kind of feedback are you looking for exactly?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Flight.

EMT here.. :)... and nursing student *yay*

what would u like to know?

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Hello there!! I am a EMT/Paramedic/Firefighter and I'm currently a student at excelsior college's nursing program. If there is anything I can help you with, let me know.

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I'd like to know:

How is nursing the same or different from your expectations?

How is nursing educators different from EMT or paramedic training? ( Not length of training and requirements but more about attitudes, methods, expectations)

Is your experience useful? Does it give your advantages or do you have to "unlearn"? Describe a situation where your prior experience helped you.

Do the teachers value your experience? How can nursing educators help you?

Thanks for your interest!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Flight.
i'd like to know:

how is nursing the same or different from your expectations? its up to my expectations..i knew that it would be more in depth than what one would do in ems, i can tell you i have a hard time with my reporting just a bit because nursing reports are a bit more expanded than ems soap reports.. so i have to remember to write everything down hehe :)

how is nursing educators different from emt or paramedic training? ( not length of training and requirements but more about attitudes, methods, expectations) i would say my instuctors in ems were def. more laid back, and down to earth. they would teach us what we need to know and what we would be using in the field.

is your experience useful? does it give your advantages or do you have to "unlearn"? describe a situation where your prior experience helped you. it has def. helped me, i had a huge fear of hurting pts , dealing with the public calculating meds , writing reports, etc etc.. and it has helped me over come those fears and develop as a competent provider :)

do the teachers value your experience? how can nursing educators help you?some do , some dont care.

thanks for your interest!

yay :)

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Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.

sjparks, i'm a licensed paramedic in the state of texas and have been a medic for 16 years. i am currently an excelsior nursing student and was a nursing student at a 3 year diploma program in the late '80s.

i'd like to know:

how is nursing the same or different from your expectations? [color=yellowgreen] nursing meets my expectations, i've worked in the field as an ems provider and now in the hospital so i'm well accustomed to hospital life and work. firefitr is correct also, the charting that nurses use is more in depth than ours is for the most part. and even with computerized charting it's time consuming.

how is nursing educators different from emt or paramedic training? ( not length of training and requirements but more about attitudes, methods, expectations) [color=yellowgreen]paramedic training focuses on what you need to know and truly doesn't bore you to death with things you'll never, ever use. medic instructors (some of whom are nurses) are there to help you with procedures, explain the who, what, where, when, and why, and don't mind if you ask questions. they understand that the reason for clinicals is to learn. some nursing instructors i've experienced seem to have the opinion that you should know everything already. coming to clinicals prepared is one thing, but you can't be expected to know everything before you get there. the point of clinicals is to learn and get comfortable caring for the sick, but some clinical instructors are just downright nasty, and there's zero justification for that.

is your experience useful? does it give your advantages or do you have to "unlearn"? describe a situation where your prior experience helped you. [color=yellowgreen]experience is invaluable. it helps you communicate with others professionally and eases your transition from street medicine to hospital care. my experience in ems also helps me at my facility because they are well aware i know exactly what i'm doing if they need some skill i can provide.

do the teachers value your experience? how can nursing educators help you? [color=yellowgreen]some teacher do, but i've seen some nursing instructors who just treat everyone like dirt, no matter their experience level. ems instructors want you to succeed, they want to see you out there on an ambulance helping to save lives. nursing instructors, ime, are a different breed. half of them seem to spend their entire time attempting to help you fail, making certain that far too many are "weeded out" or cut, effectively turning them off to nursing altogether. the good ones test your knowledge of all things nursing and are able to effectively put across lessons that aren't conducive to a long nap. that's not to say that all nursing instructors don't care, but you can definitely tell the difference between the kind who want you to succeed and the ones who don't.

thanks for your interest!

hope that helps. it's not a rant, just an observation of 20 plus years in and around the nursing field. if you have any more questions, feel free to pm me.

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I am an EMT and a nursing student.

I think that nursing is very popular for EMTs looking to further their career.

I know a few other EMTs who are nursing students as well

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I have been an EMT for 11 1/2 years in Ohio. Let me know if I can be of any help...

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Thanks for responding! Continued comments are welcome!

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I have been through EMT-B, EMT-I, and EMT-P school, ACLS and PALS, all about 20 years ago, now in ADN program.

How is nursing the same or different from your expectations?

About what I expected. Test questions in nursing require deeper thought.

How is nursing educators different from EMT or paramedic training? ( Not length of training and requirements but more about attitudes, methods, expectations)

Nursing is far more theory, paramedic training is theory with a greater focus towards hands on skills. Some nursing instructors have a bit of a snobby attitude which is almost never present in EMT instructors.

Is your experience useful? Does it give your advantages or do you have to "unlearn"? Describe a situation where your prior experience helped you.

Paramedic experience is VERY useful, I can still "see" patients (in my mind) that had problems I am now studying, ie diabetics where I pushed D-50. Sometimes I have to unlearn to push drugs on my own, and to intubate, defib and other things that I want to do, but I can't now. One time in CNA clinicals I ended up intubating a patient when the MD couldn't find the vocal chords, I wouldn't consider pulling that stunt while in nursing school. Sometimes I have to play dumb around certian clinical instructors.

Do the teachers value your experience? How can nursing educators help you?

Some do, I try not to advertise previous experience too much.

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Hello. I was an EMT and then a paramedic and now I am a nursing sudent. For the difference was that as a medic, it was more focused on what you will see in the field. And there was not as much of "In the real world we do this but on paper you need to know it this way." And our drug class was way more in depth and required so much more info. The other thing is the attitude. The RN instructors walk around like they are gods but when you sit there, the Paramedics in my class(there are three of us) look at each other and say to ourselves(of couse) I dont need a doctor to be there to tell me what to do. And I make life saving decisions by myself on the rig and so there is an attitude for some of us. I know it is bad but it is the way it is around here. In our town it is Paramedics vs the RNs. ( I dont chose sides because I want to be a field RN and need both licences to do that(here)) but there are feuds between us. And it is awkard learning the skills again. Some of our stuff is more practical than what our books say.(ex: starting an IV) We had to do 600 sticks to get our paramedics licence but for the RN we dont have to have any. They practice on a dummy arm and may graduate never having stuck a real person. And I dont think our RN program prepares us enough for emergencies. Some of the people in our class would just die if they saw what we see or went up against the things we have done. It is just my opinion and most of this is just about how it is where we are from. I by no means meant to offend anyone so please dont be angry. But overall, I dont think my experience has helped me in the theory portion of class as much as it has in the skills portion.

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