EMT courses on top of LPN???

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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Specializes in Community Health.

I am currently an LPN student taking classes during the day...I am lucky enough to have a supportive family who is letting me stay with them so I don't have to work right now, but I really want to get some working experience under my belt before I graduate. The logical thing seems to be, get my CNA and work in LTC, since I automatically qualify to sit for the test after a certain amount of time in my program anyways and all of my clinicals have been basically glorified CNA work. But the thing is, I ultimately want to be an ER nurse. Yes, I realize LPN's are not ER nurses, I'm talking about way down the road.

I'm considering taking courses this summer to get my EMT-cert and then trying to find a job as an ER tech (which actually requires that unique combination of EMT and CNA cert-I had no idea they existed untill recently but apparently there is a demand for them!)

What I'm wondering is...well, a few things....

First, from anyone who has taken EMT courses, is it unrealistic to think I could balance a very heavy LPN courseload with an EMT program? What kind of time commitment is it? The program I am looking at is 2 nights a week, from 6-10PM and a couple Saturday classes a month...my LPN program is M-F, 8am-2pm.

Also, I know that most hospitals do not hire LPN's off the street, but is it completely unfathomable that they would hire me as an LPN if I really proved myself as an ER tech for a year? Obviously not in the ER, but maybe in a less "high-stakes" unit? Or is that restriction based on the scope of practice in my state and not the hospitals preference?

Dropping my LPN program and just going for my RN is NOT an option...this has been suggested to me by several people and I understand the logic, and in retrospect given that I want to be in the ER I might have done it differently, but I've put way too much hard work into this to just walk away from my school now...Plus, I am very much looking forward to being an honest to Goodness NURSE this time next year, no matter what setting I am in.

Any advice is appreciated! :spin:

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