Paramedic to RN, ADN or BSN

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first off Hello everybody, I am currently a Paramedic in Southern California however I am looking to make a jump from pre hospital to In hospital care. I have done shadowing in the ER and ICU and am leaning toward the ER. I have my AS in paramedicine and want to know if there is a major benefit to the BSN over an ADN? I have 5 years experience in EMS and hope this will mean something for interviews. thanks in advance for your input, all of your advice is greatly appreciated.

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I agree with the posters that say to go for the BSN ... don't be like me and end up with three Associates degrees first (I call them collectively my "Masters in Indecision," haha). I have an AA in Liberal Arts/Journalism, an AAS in "Emergency Medical Technologies" (i.e., paramedic), and then my ASN. I immediately went into a BSN completion program after NCLEX. It worked out for me timing-wise as far as future goals and whatnot, but I would have loved to have just gone straight to BSN!

IMO, the NCLEX-RN was not as difficult as the NREMT-P exam, but I only had to do 75 questions for the NCLEX vs. all 180 or whatever it was for NREMT-P! Haha. At least the NREMT-P exam is on a computer now.

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well i am glad that I am not the only gurney slinger (or box jockey) here. thanks for all your advise so far. are there any pointer you could give me for making the transition? I know to leave my Paramedic hat at the door, but what did you find helpful from working in the field prior to nursing school? was there any animosity during your clinical internships, did anyone think less of you for moving from EMS to nursing?

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Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.

Lunah, I love the "master's in indecision"!! I have 2 associates and 2 bachelors degrees (both in nursing and paramedicine...I should have wised up sooner, the amount of time I spent could have easily produced a doctorate).

socalmedic, I think public universities may be best your best bet. $25K is a lot for tuition! The training of ADNs for "task-oriented" and BSNs to be "more autonomous" is kinda hokey in my opinion. I work with both (as well as master's prepared RNs) and we all have the same job description/work assignment, etc. To be honest, I've seen a lot of the newer BSNs come out of school with the mindset of supervising co-workers who have probably been nurses since they were in elementary school. If I were you, I'd get my BSN as soon as possible because it does open more avenues of opportunity up for you.

Many of the people who may think less of you for moving into nursing will be other paramedics. I've seen that alot. The infamous "dark side". I've also seen some paramedics bash nurses for years, then ask for help getting into nursing school.

I think being an RN/EMT-P is a good combination that compliments each other. Each discipline can augment the other and help you understand things in a more well-rounded way. as for leaving your paramedic hat at the door, no one wants to hear someone always saying "...as a paramedic I would do this or that..." but you do have some real-life experiences that your classmates will not and most of them will probably value that.

good luck wherever you decide to go!

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The training of ADNs for "task-oriented" and BSNs to be "more autonomous" is kinda hokey in my opinion.

That's just what the instructors told us, homeslice. It's not my editorial.

I personally think they just told us that to keep the girls in class that freak out every time they don't get an A (which they usually don't) so they'd feel better about themselves taking a heavier course load.

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SoCalMedic:

I would suggest to pursue higher education if you time and money. You could check the website UCLA-Daniel Freeman about the bridge program from Paramedic to Nursing. Nursing on the other hand will open up different avenues for to find your "niche". You might want to consider MICN so you have both world being Nurse and paramedic.

Good Luck to your Endeavor!!!

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Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.
That's just what the instructors told us, homeslice. It's not my editorial.

I personally think they just told us that to keep the girls in class that freak out every time they don't get an A (which they usually don't) so they'd feel better about themselves taking a heavier course load.

I hear ya man, my comment definitely wasn't directed at you. I've heard the same thing for a long time and I agree with you.

that's funny about freaking out by not getting an A. I remember listening to either that or people debating whether or not angels exist. Inorganic chemistry was the class where most people freaked out the most.

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I hear ya man, my comment definitely wasn't directed at you. I've heard the same thing for a long time and I agree with you.

that's funny about freaking out by not getting an A. I remember listening to either that or people debating whether or not angels exist. Inorganic chemistry was the class where most people freaked out the most.

Inorganic has premeds, lol. They freak over anything south of 99.5% Good fun watching them really. My "oh well" attitude didn't let me finish premed, lol.

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Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.

Yeah, what I learned from inorganic was that if anyone ever asks me to diagram a benzene ring I will quit on the spot and drive home knowing I did the right thing!!

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Specializes in CVICU, education.

Here is a link to the CSUB Pre-Admission site. http://www.csub.edu/nursing/preadmission.shtml

The tabs across the top provide information on their criteria and process. I felt their application process was easy, and although GPA isn't everything, it does help to have a strong GPA in their required prereqs.

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