Paramedic discrimination?

Nurses Men

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I've been a part-time Certified NYS Paramedic for 25 years. I'm retired from the military (22 years) I graduate in 4 weeks and interviewed at the local medical center. there are 25 GN positions and I didn't get one. (no problem...so I thought) Called an ER doc friend and she asked an upper tier RN her opinion..it wasn't in my favor. Many nurse managers I learned wont hire a RN with EMS experience calling it 'dangerous' because we may preform outside our scope. I'm older and a male which may not help either. With 98 RN positions open in the hospital you would think I'd get in. Any thoughts?

Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
On ‎4‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 8:56 PM, Alex Egan said:

Frankly "that guy" has ruined it for you. You know "that Guy" the one who speaks poorly of nurses, thinks CNAs are to stupid to breathe, has a bad back, bad knees, bad disposition. Goes to nursing school, leave feeling like he knew everything going in. That's the guy who in orientation as a new nurse elbows in on a code that's not his, hip checks an RT to intubate, and doesn't understand why he's in trouble.

I had a nursing school classmate who was an EMT before he enrolled. He made the statement that if something happened to him, he had rather have an EMT than an RN, because EMTs know more and are better qualified to handle emergencies. Everybody in the class wanted to punch him in the face. It left me to wonder why he entered nursing school, if he already had superior knowledge.

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Some hospitals (floor managers) don't hire the best and most experienced grad nurses. Sometimes they go out of their way to avoid them. I have confidence in my skills but not overconfident and proved it time and time again in clinicals. Awarded for my clinical skills and yet couldn't secure a job on the floor I worked at for more than 4 years without even the hint of a bad review.

However, my hospital was bought by a mega corp, brought in a new manager and now all my time put into that hospital gets thrown in the trash and sad thing is new manager won't ever write me recommendation.

That's fine by me, I'll flourish somewhere else and the wrinkle face who refused to hire me will be looking for another job in a year or two. Just the way it goes. Some people are intimidated by confident people. Can't help it as I was in the military and taught to believe in my team and myself. Sad when people lack that important attribute and actually run away from it. Have witnessed time and time again on my floor. Hire someone with no confidence so they can push them around. Funny thing is they send these scared nurses into rooms and they run out crying because they can't handle it. Don't hire someone that can do the job, hire someone you think will be your clone and your buddy.

Sorry for the rant but I left working as a s/w engineer to go into nursing. I left there because I was under the impression that hospitals want the best and brightest. That's just simply not true.

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If I'm a former paramedic I would be a much better nurse today especially dealing with emergencies. Whoever that judges you for being a paramedic is an idiot.

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After being a med-serg RN for over a year now, I find my assessment skills come in handy for identifying sepsis and other cardiac issues that other RNs have missed.

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Specializes in OBS, Cardiac, Psych.

Drawing from personal experience I was actually told my time in EMS was valuable and interpreted by management that I should be reactive to emergencies and not buckle when things become critical on the floor. Only thought to your experience (which I find ludacris) is they are over analyzing / thinking you're too experienced and less malleable the way a new RN would be. Apply to a different department, prove you can resist the instinct to throw ET tubes and transfer to your prefered unit in 6 - 12 months time if no other hospitals around you appeal to you.

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Update. I've been at a small hospital for 16 months now and have been floated to the ER almost a dozen times and told by staff that the ER is were I should be due to my experience and calmness. I am also on the code team, chair the hospital sepsis team and the DON has asked me, last week to apply to a NM position...after only 16 months an RN. The large hospital that rejected me due to my EMS experience has lost out.

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I could not get hired at some places for nothing in the world I could offer. Other places there was no problem. I think it depends on the hiring individual themself. I just go on to the next place and follow up with any questions or interviews. I applied at locations and got turned down at a few too many I thought. Other places took a different view/ opinion.

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On 1/31/2019 at 9:00 AM, 911nurs said:

That sounds crazy ! i to am well experienced working for a 911 service for 15yrs now an LVN and have found that i am hired on the spot above anyone coming out of school barley knowing how to take a b/p . I have even been given options in any position like anesthesiology tech because of my knowledge in airway adjuncts/intubation skills . It is frustrating for me as a matter of fact working with RNs that have little to very poor skills beyond taking a b/p no offense to anyone. I think that the BON should make it mandatory for nurses to have emergency skills at least a year in any 911 EMS service to have a well rounded patient care experience instead of giving continued useless college classes that you never use or very soon forget . Keep your head up they are probably jealous or intimidated of your knowledge and skills .

Pretty sure RNs have more skills than "taking a b/p" but okay..

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

I also went into nursing with an EMS and Army Medic background. I don't know about you, but, I struggled in nursing school trying to get out of the EMS mindset. Its not easy. EMS goals are different than nursing goals--even in an ER (I worked as an ER Tech during my last six months of nursing school).

I find the cliched competition between nurses and medics a little perplexing because they simply aren't the same and they don't have the same goals. Nonetheless, anything you learned in EMS is valuable in nursing, even if its simply knowing how to get hands-on a patient (though its obviously more than that, particularly when you are talking about technical skills).

As a newbie cardiac nurse just out of school, I once felt your frustration. I hope your search is productive and you find a home. There are a great many places that would be lucky to have you.

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As an RN with paramedic experience, I put my EMS assessment skills to use all the time. I can recognize a pt in resp distress or when something is just not right because patient assessment is what paramedics do! I was floated to the ER where I work, helping with a code when we lost the IV! We had an IO but no one there ever used one...except me. It's an EMS skill we have to know how to do. Same with IV's and EKG's and EKG interpretation and advanced airways. You're right, EMS experience is very valuable in a hospital setting.

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Specializes in ER.

I was a medic in the military for 20 years, got out and became a nurse, then went to civilian paramedic school and only had one chance to pass the TSOP, a civilian group of medic instructors didn’t like me so they flunked me. Guess they didn’t like the fact I was a nurse already, made more money, was better looking, and an 18D at that. Lol, ******** are everywhere!

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On 1/26/2020 at 1:32 PM, Estateboy said:

As an RN with paramedic experience, I put my EMS assessment skills to use all the time. I can recognize a pt in resp distress or when something is just not right because patient assessment is what paramedics do! I was floated to the ER where I work, helping with a code when we lost the IV! We had an IO but no one there ever used one...except me. It's an EMS skill we have to know how to do. Same with IV's and EKG's and EKG interpretation and advanced airways. You're right, EMS experience is very valuable in a hospital setting.

This. Even low tier medics can look at a patient and know its time to get their *** in gear.

I remember my nursing clinical with a dude going into respiratory failure. You know, anxious, trying to scoot up in bed to sit upright, all the accessory muscles goin. New nurse proceeds to lay patient flat and cover with blanket while reorienting.

Guess you don't have to be a medic though. Just takes time with patients till you can just look at em and know "yup, that ain't right"

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