New students: A little bit of information

U.S.A. Michigan

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I have found this site to be informative and entertaining. And although I have, for the most part, refrained from posting, after reading some recent posts I just have to say this: School is what you make of it. It can be easy or it can be hard. In the long run, you the student are responsible for how hard school actually is/was. Yes you may have a bad teacher, or you may have to juggle your schedule, or you may have to study alot. But really, if you can't do it while your in school, are you going to be able to do it when you are an RN? The hardest part of school is playing by the " rules", not the material. And when I say rules I mean the rules that are set by the instructors: be on time, nails trimmed, scrubs in a bag, no jeans, no tats, etc,etc and etc. For the most part posts to questions are very helpfull. However, there are enough posts on this site that are just scary to new people, and working while in school is one of those. For the most part, if you don't have to work while in school why work? That's understandable. However most people need too. Yes, the schools don't recomend it, and they throw out figures that represent people working while going to school who fail. But what about the amount of people who fail that do not work? Ask that question. What about the amount of students who drop after the second or third semester? Once again it comes down to this: Desire, Motivation,Scheduling and remembering school is what you make of it. Remember, nursing school can be difficult, no one ever said it was a breeze. But it is not, as a previous poster stated, the hardest program in a two or a four year school. This I know for a fact. So let me offer some words of encouragement to anyone who may feel overwhelmed. Go take a paramedic class. A certificate of achievement is all that is needed to take a license exam. And when it is said and done a paramedic who works outside of hospital has more patient responsibilty (pre-doctor)than a nurse in a hospital. If one thinks nursing school is hard than consider paramedic school. You have to learn ethics and laws, micro, patho, pharm, advanced airways,IV's, a&P and ecg interpertation with drug and electrical treatment. A&P was a two semester college course crammed into three weeks. ACLS completion was mandatory for class completion. These courses run from 10 to eighteen months long on average. As for me.. class met two days a week for 7 hours each day. After the first four weeks clinicals started and they averaged betwen 24 and 32 hours a week. All this was done in ten months. I also worked full time. To obtain a license, a written and a practical test had to be passed. Remember, a paramedic is responsible for intubation, starting IV's, adminstering drugs, running codes and following all protocoles before talking with a doctor on the radio. Am I bragging.....NO, far from it. I want to share my experience with any current or future students who may get frustrated , scared or turned away after reading some posts regarding the "toughness" of school. Once again, it's what you make of it and how bad you want it. To all who may get offended from this post, I'm sorry, but I felt I had to speak. I will go be quiet again for another few months or so...

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I couldn't write anything without thinking you sure need some smilies, so here's some rolling your way :hrnsmlys:.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Just curious OP, are you a nurse...or a paramedic?

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and when it is said and done a paramedic who works outside of hospital has more patient responsibilty (pre-doctor)than a nurse in a hospital.

you had me until this statement. ^

ll

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I currently hold both licenses. I started out in EMS with the goal of nursing. I maintain my paramedic license by taking a small amount of continuing education credits every three years even though I do not work in that capacity any more. Keeping it reminds me where I came from and the difficult road that was traveled to get to graduate school. As for the response from Mysimpleplan, maybe I didn't use the right words when describing a paramedics' function in EMS in an ambulance outside the hospital as opposed to a nurse in the hospital. So here it is again... A nurse in the hospital cannot order and administer meds based on diagnosis of a problem they made themselves without a doctors order. A paramedic can. A nurse cannot make a decleration of death. A paramedic can without consulting with a doctor, although they still have to call med control for TOD, (thats time of death). Nurses don't intubate, doctors do... and for the most part they already have been by the paramedic who brought the patient into the ER, and it was even without consulting with the doctor while they were on scene. As for codes, a doctor runs them in the ER, nurses follow the orders. In the field paramedics give and follow the orders. That's why knowing the difference between Torsades and a second degree type II block is important when deciding which meds to push. Hopefully this explains my statement regarding paramedics having more pt responsibilities Pre-doctors orders than a nurse. However its sad that paramedics get paid on average only $12-15/hr to work for a private ambulance company.

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A cardiac nurse sure would know those differences! In fact, a CCU or ICU nurse would know/do a lot of the things you mentioned, more in the first post, though.

I think it would be really exciting having all the experience you had, concurrently, if possible! I agree with you that paramedics are vastly underpaid. What is the reason for that?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

I agree with most of what you say. I get very aggravated by a lot of the complaining threads on the student nurses forums and then get PMs from the moderators for being too harsh in responding to them. I think that what many students don't understand is that (1) many of them are in college and they need to act like college students, (2) the ones who do understand that they are in college don't realize that in the nursing program they are in on-the-job training to become nurses, and (3) every school experience can be translated to real world experience and that includes how to get along with other people. If people don't have a good working ethic they are not going to be halfway decent nurses. There aren't many nurses that I worked with who didn't have a touch of workaholic in them or a tapeworm. That's just par for the profession.

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I currently hold both licenses. I started out in EMS with the goal of nursing. I maintain my paramedic license by taking a small amount of continuing education credits every three years even though I do not work in that capacity any more. Keeping it reminds me where I came from and the difficult road that was traveled to get to graduate school. As for the response from Mysimpleplan, maybe I didn't use the right words when describing a paramedics' function in EMS in an ambulance outside the hospital as opposed to a nurse in the hospital. So here it is again... A nurse in the hospital cannot order and administer meds based on diagnosis of a problem they made themselves without a doctors order. A paramedic can. A nurse cannot make a decleration of death. A paramedic can without consulting with a doctor, although they still have to call med control for TOD, (thats time of death). Nurses don't intubate, doctors do... and for the most part they already have been by the paramedic who brought the patient into the ER, and it was even without consulting with the doctor while they were on scene. As for codes, a doctor runs them in the ER, nurses follow the orders. In the field paramedics give and follow the orders. That's why knowing the difference between Torsades and a second degree type II block is important when deciding which meds to push. Hopefully this explains my statement regarding paramedics having more pt responsibilities Pre-doctors orders than a nurse. However its sad that paramedics get paid on average only $12-15/hr to work for a private ambulance company.

I AGREE.....I think that Paramedics are WAY under paid. How do they get away with paying them so little ?

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.
I AGREE.....I think that Paramedics are WAY under paid. How do they get away with paying them so little ?

that is what i'm saying! this is why i left the field to work in the hospital as a PCT in the ER.

i love EMS, i love being a paramedic. but it is a very underpaid profession. whoever determines the rate of pay for EMS should be ashamed. when i graduated, i worked in a small city, but with a very high crime rate, and we were required to wear bulletproof vests. some of the things i have seen while working EMS in that city are ones that haunt me forever. my scheduled shifts were never definite.. sometimes i wound end up working 20 hours straight, with no relief and a 10 minute lunch break to swallow some taco bell. if had the flu, too bad. if it was pouring down rain and i got soaking wet, too bad, no time to change clothes. driving in a hurricane? no problem. ive been on the front line of a drug deal gone bad, a gang bang and/or drive by shooting. ive been covered in blood from my head to my toes. ive been exposed to TB, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, MRSA, VRE, ESBL... you name it. all for a whopping $12.75 an hour.

i think this is why alot of paramedics and EMTs are looking for work in the ER setting. it is nice and warm in there, 8 or 12 hour shift, not an incredibly high chance of getting shot or hit by a car while working.... also, better benefits, shift diff. and more money!

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when i graduated, i worked in a small city, but with a very high crime rate, and we were required to wear bulletproof vests. some of the things i have seen while working EMS in that city are ones that haunt me forever. my scheduled shifts were never definite.. sometimes i wound end up working 20 hours straight, with no relief and a 10 minute lunch break to swallow some taco bell. if had the flu, too bad. if it was pouring down rain and i got soaking wet, too bad, no time to change clothes. driving in a hurricane? no problem. ive been on the front line of a drug deal gone bad, a gang bang and/or drive by shooting. ive been covered in blood from my head to my toes. ive been exposed to TB, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, MRSA, VRE, ESBL... you name it. all for a whopping $12.75 an hour.

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I am just curious.,.... did they tell you any of this while you were in school, or did you find out after you graduated?

If they told you this in school, or you were exposed to any of it (through clinical or whatever) what were your reasons for continuing?

I really am curious. It sounds awful!

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

I am just curious.,.... did they tell you any of this while you were in school, or did you find out after you graduated?

If they told you this in school, or you were exposed to any of it (through clinical or whatever) what were your reasons for continuing?

I really am curious. It sounds awful!

the school i went to was not the same city i worked in...about an hour away. i actually chose that city just to get that experience. i didnt go into EMS for money, i did it because i love helping people and wanted to save lives and i am a complete adrenaline junkie. i was exposed to alot of bad stuff, but it was experience i would not trade for the world. it wasnt awful, it was very rewarding, just not in the paycheck portion....and i just couldnt pay my bills anymore without working 70 hours a week.

i just realized after a while that i was making too little money to be doing what i was doing. i probably would have made the same choice had they told me that in school. it made me a better paramedic, and i believe it will make me a better nurse. i think once you can work where i did, you can work anywhere...nothing scares me anymore.

there are some places that pay a little better, but i believe this is the typical pay for many people working in the field.

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I've often wondered how much paramedics make, in relation to the difficult and important job they perform. I am shocked at the low pay.

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