ArkansasFan

Ok, that cuts the cheese. Nursing is officially off my list. To the medical profession I go! Thanks, Steffers.

Being a paramedic is like cramming the entire ER code team into one person. The medic assesses (and that's pretty important because no one can check you), makes a field diagnosis, treats, intubates, interprets EKGs, defibrilates, cardioverts, TCPs, does IVs, boluses, infusions, injections, IOs, surgical airways, chest decompressions, does all the paper work, etc, plus like I said you'd just get used to working as an individual and trusting yourself. Yeah, there's an EMT-B with you usually, but when you're in back and the basic is up front driving and unavailable to help it's all on you. I'm not sure you could pick up that ability as a nurse unless you'd done it for a long time, but I'm still skeptical. I haven't met any that could. I don't work as a medic anymore so I'm not as closely related to the field now. I'm not a nurse either nor a nursing student, but I've worked around a lot of them from several different programs. I'm only on the boards here trying to decide if I want to get a second degree in nursing since I've got all the prereqs and then some. Medical school, which I really want to do, is my alternative. I just need physics and organic chemistry. I got my B.S. in general science basically six years ago. In paramedic school you also practice your skills on each other. Fun stuff. You'll do IVs on classmates, give them shots, run EKGs on them, etc. Yeah, there are sim dummies too, but it's part of being a medic. I think one night we got in back of a pickup truck and drove around the parking lot that night during class practicing IVs on each other. It's different doing in a dark environment while moving. I think the mentality is also different than nursing school. In EMS, your first priority is YOU and not the patient. You'll definitely need ACLS if you're going to work in the anything you've mentioned be it the ER, ICU, or CCU. You might also pick up PALS and TNCC or BTLS or PHTLS while you're at it. I liked Dale Dubin's Rapid Interpreation of EKGs. It was an easy to read and learn from book.

Get certified as a paramedic. It's very common to find a RN/EMT-P running the back of a chopper. Paramedic training will give you a lot of things nursing won't such as scene management, ACLS mastery, airway control, thinking and working independently, etc. The ones I know and have worked around tell me their collective experiences as a paramedic with the pharmacology knowledge of nursing is what helps them out. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the job pick because I'm sure as heck not gonna work in back of that d*** bird, lol.

...as opposed to another clinical field?

Well, through EMS and law enforcement, I've worn a gold and silver Citizen. Gold face and bezel as well as gold trim on a silver band and body. It looks nice, and I've worn it for over four years now with no damage. There's a second hand, and the hands even glow in the dark. Saving lives while looking good.

Yeah, it's that part right there where I get hung up. To me it's akin to being a hotel desk clerk and working in hospitatlity. Sure, I care, but I don't want to care away their a person's disease. I want to understand it thoroughly, treat it, and be done with it.

Get a lawyer. Subpoena previous records made my students, particularly males, the areas she evaluates. Sue her and the program. You'll win if you push it.

How about stating that assessment skills are key in all medical professions? It's true.

I think I saw a thread entitled something like "Getting Patients to do What You Want." This is the solution for the OP. Punch the patients.

I wouldn't worry so much about that. It's a highly competitive program. A lot of kids going into nursing have read about it but never even seen a CRNA. It's akin to so many premeds wanting to become surgeons. Why? Salary. Prestige. The "ultimate-ness" of it. I suspect that's a lot of the appeal behind CRNA. It fits the bill kind of like the whole surgeon thing. I'd like to be one because I've worked with them, and experienced it enough to understand their job responsibilities. It later became apparent to me that I was actually quite good, although I'm not sure why, at performing endotracheal intubations not that that one skill means a whole lot in the grand scheme of "who gets CRNA and who doesn't." I also enjoy learning about phyiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. Anyone working in anesthesia is going to be on the upper cusp of that realm of knowledge because they have to be. I just think it'd be a good job. If AA positions were more common then I wouldn't mind applying specifically to that school. I only wish PAs could do more in anesthesia. Right now PA is another new career option for me.

Just have HR type that into the "benefits" part of the job package. I'm just kidding. Of course nurses shouldn't have to do that, but we all know the patient, friendly visitors that come to the ER to see their tax dollars at work. (lots of sarcasm there if it wasn't picked up on lol)

Right. That's why I qualified my statement with "from the looks of this thread" since posters were bringing up such classes as basic dysrhythmias, etc. Agreed. Medics do not have as much exposure to chronic medical issues. That's why I, for example, am interested in nurse school (post B.S. and another career outside of the medical realm) - to learn more about that type of thing. Fortunately, no, EMS is not nursing experience. I think people who think they know everything is just a personality trait.

Apply to another program? Take EMT and maybe paramedic if feasible? Finish a bachelor's in something else and then do an accelerated BSN? Get a job and wait?

Well, duh! That's a given. Anybody going into it has the intentions of getting paid the big bucks. Don't let them lie if they say otherwise, lol.

Sounds like a cop / paramedic would be right at home as an ER nurse.