Nursing degree then moving to EMT?

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Hello All!

I have recently started nursing school and completed my first semester! I am very confused about many things! First of all I have been offered a job on a rodeo rescue team when I finish school and earn my degree or completed EMT courses. I have been looking at taking EMT course, but I dont know if it is a good idea to take them while I am in the nursing program. Also I have though about taking the EMT courses after I graduate, but to me I feel like I am back tracking that way! I also have dreams of becoming a flight nurse. I know that I need experience in ICU or ER, but besides that I don't know if there is anything that I can do to make my chances greater. Like is there a specialty in emericeny response for nursing or is there classes I can take after I recive my degree? I am very lost and would greatly appreciate the guidence!

Thanks for reading!

A lost nursing student:cry:

Brittany

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If you take an EMT course, do it for other reasons than pay. Whenever I have seen pay rates, it has amazed me that EMT personnel make comparable to or less than LPNs. I would think that the pay would be better, but at least in my area it is typically less if there is available work at all. I would not advise you to try to take the course while you are in nursing school. Nursing school is enough to have on one's plate.

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Specializes in ICU.

I would focus on your nursing courses, they will be more important in the long run. Unless for some reason this particular rodeo job is really important to you, I just can't see trying to complete EMT and nursing courses at the same time without putting a lot of unnecessary stress on yourself.

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It depends on exactly what you mean by EMT. In my state there are EMT-Bs and EMT-Ps. B is a basic level and would be step back from nursing in terms of what you're allowed to do. P is paramedic, is a much more intense training program (DH was in a full-time, 13 month program that included just about everything we're covering in nursing school, just from a medical perspective rather than a nursing perspective), and while the pay for a straight paramedic is less than it is for a registered nurse (not sure about the comparison to LPN), paramedics can do some things that RNs can't and RNs can do some things paramedics can't so I'd consider it more lateral in that sense.

HOWEVER, as a nurse, you can challenge the paramedic exam (which is intense, includes a practical portion, and sounds a heckuvalot harder than the NCLEX honestly) and become certified as a PHRN (Pre-Hospital RN). There are courses you can take to help you with the exam, but at least in my state, all that's required to challenge the exam is an RN license. The PHRNs DH works with make more money than the transport nurses.

If you want to be a flight nurse, being a PHRN certainly wouldn't hurt. PHRNs are emergency specialists and are used in critical transport and EDs. It is not something you should try to do while in nursing school (although from what I hear, paramedics who go on to nursing school have a much easier time of it than nurses who try to challenge the exam- it is seriously HARD) and not something you could do quickly, but it might be worth looking in to for after you graduate.

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

Hiddencat: all states have EMT Basics, Intermediates, and Paramedics (though you may not see Intermediates very often, depending on where you are). Also, challenging the paramedic exam may or may not be something that is available a given state. E.g. in Illinois, each EMS district sets its own rules on how one gains and maintains PHRN status.

To OP: I completed an EMT-Basic course over the summer. I already had a non-nursing bachelors, two quarters of nursing school under my belt, and three years of being a licensed First Responder active with a volunteer EMS agency, so I had no problems with the amount of work for the class. If you want more training on how to deal with emergent situations (something at which nursing school is woefully inadequate for, though the community expects us to know it anyway) I highly suggest taking an EMT-Basic course while in school. If you can challenge the medic exam in your state, it's likely you'll need to be an EMT-B first to do it, so getting this under your belt won't hurt.

If your state does not allow you to challenge the Medic exam as an RN with an EMT-B license, you may want to check out Creighton University's Paramedic Certification for Healthcare Providers class (http://www.creighton.edu/ems/). While it requires two years of critical care experience, you should be able to get that quickly after you graduate (or even sooner, if you are able to work as an ED Tech while in nursing school after you get your EMT-B license).

I'd also suggest checking out the Flight Nursing and Surface Transport Nursing forum, which is listed under Nursing Specialities. You might find some more answers there than in the general nursing student forum.

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Hiddencat: all states have EMT Basics, Intermediates, and Paramedics (though you may not see Intermediates very often, depending on where you are). Also, challenging the paramedic exam may or may not be something that is available a given state. E.g. in Illinois, each EMS district sets its own rules on how one gains and maintains PHRN status.

No, Pennsylvania does not have EMT-Is, just EMT-Bs and EMT-Ps. http://www.pa-ems.org/levels_of_certification.html

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.
No, Pennsylvania does not have EMT-Is, just EMT-Bs and EMT-Ps. http://www.pa-ems.org/levels_of_certification.html

They're in PA's most recent EMS Act, though they're referenced under the new name of Advanced EMT. See PA Act No. 37 of 2009. The PA Dept. of Health may not have rules for them at the moment, though.

To everyone else: sorry about the tangent.

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