does being a paramedic complement an EDRN?

Specialties Emergency

Published

Does being a paramedic galvanize your skills as an ER/critical care RN? Can it be detrimental?

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Flight.

it helps out a lot!!.. i was a paramedic for years before becoming an RN.. and it helped me out a ton!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.
Are you kidding me? Paramedics have amazing skills. You guys are killer at putting in IV's. I would think it would put you at a great advantage.

Wow. It's so nice to hear somebody say something nice about paramedics. Thank you.

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.

Being a paramedic made the transition to ED nurse (out of the Excelsior College program) fairly easy.

I was degreed and 60 days later I had passed NCLEX and functioning independently (off orientation) as an ED RN. No problems at all. I can admit that I did push myself to learn EVERYTHING I could - but that was no different than it had been in paramedic practice. I am still learning - that process should never end - regardless of your background.

I had to work at my time management skills. I was used to uncontrolled scenes, lots of folks (many were spinning) and I'd get the situation controlled and then I'd have to focus on the medical care of 1 - 2 patients. As an ER nurse I'd sometimes have 6 - 8 patients depending on acuity. I am thankful that my critical thinking skills were well developed - so I really had to work on the time management (but I knew how to prioritize ;) )

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* Good assessment skills

* Technically brilliant :)

* Very well developed (and I earned this the hard way) "6th sense"

* Very broad knowledge base

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* Occasionally overwhelmed due to limited ability to SAY NO

* The time management thing

* Staying inside the lines. Different scopes of practices

* "Learning to play nice." As a medic I'd been used to giving the orders/providing direction - as a nurse I'd have to wait it out sometimes. Sometimes other nurses were a bit less than supportive. :(

* Had to take a lot more verbal disrespect and SMILE

Hardest things have been communication related - having a patient/family for HOURS vs. MINUTES as a paramedic. Differing expectations of other members of the "team" - took a lot of work on my part.

Been well worth it.

Can't imagine having done it any other way.

Will admit that most of my co-workers always think of me as a medic first and when the going gets tough - thats when I'm at my best. NEED you LIFE SAVED, I'm the gal. Other tasks take more effort. :)

But I work on it EVERYDAY!

Overall being a medic has been an ADVANTAGE.

GOOD LUCK!

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Specializes in cardiology, psychiatry, corrections.
Wow. It's so nice to hear somebody say something nice about paramedics. Thank you.

I second that!

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Specializes in cardiology, psychiatry, corrections.

Most paramedics have little to no problem with nursing school. I was in a traditional ADN program but enrolled in Excelsior college for several reasons I won't get into right now. For me, the most difficult part was the first semester, and even that wasn't that hard. That is where you learn the things that paramedics typically don't do, such as sterile dressing changes, wound care, foley insertions, diagnosing and careplans. (Those are a pain in the @$$.) After the first semester, everything else is mostly pathophysiology and their treatments. And the exams can be tricky, the rightest of the right. They really test your critical thinking skills. Let me give you one piece of advice: DO NOT tell your instructors (especially your clinical instructor) that you're a paramedic because 9 times out of 10, s/he will hold you to a higher standard.

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Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.

Just the type of thread I needed to read....thanks all...now back to studying.

vamedic4

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Specializes in ER.

BEing a medic (14 yrs) RN for 3. The medic skills taught me a great deal about handling stress, unfortuante situations, the worse sides of people not to mention the emergent skills. Becoming an RN opened my eyes to a lot of new skills, reasoning, teamwork, and thought processes. I enjoy both and I think they enhance each other a great deal. I understand why nurses/doc ask what they do from medics and I have been able to help others understand why medics do what they do or dont do.

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Specializes in Emergency/Critical Care Transport.

As you can tell from the screen name I also hold dual licenses, as a paramedic and prehospital nurse. My medic skills and experiences were great for the ED. Where I sometimes felt out of place on a Med Surg floor I felt like the ER was a second home, quite comfortable. And my fellow RN's often complimented me on my calm and clear thinking. I'm at a small ED and the state law allows me to practice my "medic" skills as well as my RN ones so the single Doc on duty is always glad that there's someone else who can intubate, etc around.

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