Paramedic discrimination?

[Estateboy]

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?

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

I can see this happening. I went to school with a guy who was a paramedic and he had said multiple times that if a pt needed this or that he was going to do it and we all were like "No, you can't do that as a RN".

[PeeWeeQ, ADN, RN, EMT-B]

As an EMT as well as a nurse (I have been the former for a lot longer) I have started to see where these problems arise. I think the main thing is that nursing (even in the ER) has different goals than pre-hospital care...

[emtpbill, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

I’ve been a medic since 97 and just got my RN license about 2 months ago.  I interviewed for a local hospitals ER and about 2 hours after the interview I got the phone call offering me a FT ER RN spot.  About 2 weeks after I started I was talking with the manager who hired me.  I asked him what was it about me that stood out instead of other candidates.   He tells me that because of my past medic experience it put me at the forefront. There were about 12 nurses who interviewed and myself and another EMT were selected. He goes on to tell me that the other RN’s who interviewed were brand new or had never worked in the emergency room. He reasoned that he didn’t want to burden the already limited number of current RN’s with having to train someone from the bottom up. 
 

Been good so far.  I love the ER.  The day goes very quickly because of the pace of the ER and you never know what is going to roll in from the ambulance doors or someone from the waiting room.

[summertx]

On 2/7/2019 at 6:25 PM, Orca said:

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.

Thinking like a nurse is different. It's not there 'here and now' the way you guys think. When ya'll come to my facility and get report, there is no 'report'. EMT's don't have to be accurate. Nurses do. That's why we can't rely on you to give report. I simply have to call the ER myself  to ensure accurate report. 

 

 

 

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

On 12/29/2021 at 3:19 PM, summertx said:

Thinking like a nurse is different. It's not there 'here and now' the way you guys think. When ya'll come to my facility and get report, there is no 'report'. EMT's don't have to be accurate. Nurses do. That's why we can't rely on you to give report. I simply have to call the ER myself  to ensure accurate report. 

I'm not an EMT. I said that a classmate was. I have been an RN for 27 years.

[FiremedicMike, RN, EMT-P]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:31 PM, Estateboy said:

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 won't 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?

I know your post is old but I wanted to give a “2022 update” on being a medic/RN.  I have 21 years as a medic and about 4 weeks from graduation and was hired about 3 weeks ago for an ER RN position pending licensure.  From my initial application to job offer was 6 days, and my EMS experience is the sole reason they are willing to hire a new grad into an ER position.

The other medics in our program have also had no issues getting jobs lined up for licensure, whereas some of the other new grads are still working through applications and dealing with a handful of rejections.

Perhaps your issues were regional or just a sign of the times, but in 2022 and in my area, the ems experience is helping us get hired..