On the fence

[h3summers]

I am currently a NREMT Paramedic. For as long as I could remember I wanted to be a nurse. I worked as a CNA for a couple of years. Had the opportunity to go to EMT Basic school for free so I took it! Loved it so much I went onto paramedic school. Spent close to two years on the street. Soon after I joined the Air Force as a medic. I thought I would be happy in the ER as a tech but I'm not. Now I'm really rethinking nursing. However, I can't tell if it's just a typical burn out cycle that everyone experiences at one point or another and I just have to push through or if I'm truely not meant to be a nurse but go back to the street once my contract is done (and ask the commander for permission to moonlight in the meantime). I really miss the street and the close knit community first responders. Can I find that in nursing? Did I just get stationed at a bad (for me) ER? Can I get out the hospital as a nurse? Besides, flight nurse cause those slots are few and competitive to get. Any advise from people who have been there? Thanks!!

[Cat365]

If you want to be out on an ambulance nursing isn't where you want to be.

If you want to be out in the community why are you in an ER working as a tech rather that on an ambulance as a paramedic? It sounds like you are already qualified for the job you want.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

As someone who has done both I will say to you this.

Go to nursing school anyway because either way once your body has had enough of EMS and the lifting etc you will have a back up plan. If you truly do not think nursing is for you pick another career, but always have a back up. Trust me, I am working with a bunch of medics who are now over 50 and who are scrambling to do nursing school, or some other career because they realize that they are getting older and less tolerant of the long shifts and physical labor. Even if you do nursing school you should be able to get away with only working full time as a new grad for a year or two before you can drop down to per-diem as a nurse and go back to the ambulance full time. That is what I did, I realized I wasn't quite ready to leave the truck yet. I wouldn't judge nursing based on working as an ER tech, unfortunately you guys tend to get a lot of the grunt work which may make it not so enjoyable. I will also say that working the ER was not for me, even though I was a medic. The patents can be less than pleasant when they are waiting for hours on end, and then the psych patients tend to get on every last nerve of my being, especially when they start feeding off of each other. Anyway, that is the good part about nursing is you can pick different areas to work in.

Fast forward to ten years later (now), I have been a medic for 14 years and worked as a basic for 6 years, when my back is really sore, my shoulder hurts... you get it. Now I am thankful I have a back up career that can get me off the ambulance. I will always do it part time or per-diem, but it's nice to have an alternative that is easier on the joints and body. I can also literally make more working as a nurse 32 hours a week than I can working 48 hours a week on the ambulance.

Good luck.

Annie

[Fingers are crossed]

You could become a CCT nurse and still work on a rig.