Paramedic, RN, or something else?

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Specializes in Emergency.

I have been a long time lurker and have found a lot of answers here in the past. Hopefully I can find some much needed answers. This question has been asked before, but I was hoping to get some insight specific to my situation. If this post is in the wrong place, I am sorry.

First, a little background on myself. I have a bachelor's degree already (not science related) and have done a lot of wildly differing things in my life so far. I mention this just to show that I have found many things I do not like, not to sound old and salty. As far as anything medical or nursing related, I am a relative novice.

After college, I joined the Army and have been out a while now. When I was on the way out I became an EMT and then Advanced EMT. My goals were on the lines of getting more medical experience in the emergency setting to pad my resume for overseas contract work (non-medical, combat related stuff). After a few years in the contract scene, and while getting my EMT certs, I became more interested in the medical side of things, and not just the combat side of things. I am also an avid mountaineer and have reached the summit of both Mt. McKinley and Mt. Rainier. I have an interest in law enforcement but I think now that I am married it might be time to retire from the gun-toting line of work (although I do love it). For me, Paramedic seemed the next logical step to work toward all of these areas as it is good to have in all areas except maybe law enforcement. I am interested in wilderness medicine and it seems that I can do that as an RN or Paramedic and can get my Wilderness EMT fairly quickly even if I just stay an AEMT. Also, Paramedics, RNs, midlevels, and Drs can get the Diploma of Mountain Medicine (internationally accredited). Oh yeah, I am also interested in flight medicine. I guess I basically want to keep as many doors open as possible, which is one reason why RN appeals to me (not sure if that is true though).

I really enjoyed my time in the ER during EMT and AEMT. The first shift wasn't the greatest, but since then I have been paired up with some great nurses that I learned a lot from. Not sure if this is just how our ems education is, but we were paired up with nurses for the duration by our preceptor.

I could write more but I will try to limit this. My choices:

1) I can start Paramedic School (Associates Degree) in January 2015 and it would run until next December 2016.

2) I could get my last requirement (microbiology) and start an accelerated ADN program (can convert to BSN with more classes) that runs from July 2015-May 2016.

All the paramedics and nurses in the area speak highly of both programs and some have gone through both. So there it is. Any advice or input from anyone who has been in this position (or a similar position) would be much appreciated. I have asked around where I live and am just looking to get as much info as I can. I am an all in type of guy though. I am ready to work hard and not afraid to make short term sacrifices to get where I want to be.

I feel like my first degree was a waste and am trying to avoid that feeling again. I do have 33 months of the Post 9/11 GI Bill left which pays a book stipend, tuition and around 1200 monthly for housing. Additionaly, my wife and I have a goal of being debt free ASAP and have 50k left.

Again, sorry if it is TMI and I hope to hear back. Thanks, everyone!

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Specializes in Emergency.

Go for the rn. Many more options and much better pay.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Thanks. Will my Advanced EMT cert be valuable or useful as an RN? It gave me a pay increase of about 50k overseas per contract but I am not sure how useful it will be stateside outside of an ambulance.

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Specializes in NICU.

I would look into an ABSN (Accelerated BSN) program. It would help in getting an ER/ICU job to put time in for flight nursing. BSN are more sought out over ASN nurses in a hospital setting.

They may start you out a tiny bit higher pay in the ER, but any other nursing specialty there is not much correlation between EMT and nursing to be valued for more pay.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is do you WANT to be a paramedic or do you WANT to be a nurse.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Thanks Don1984 and FlyingScot for the responses. Don, I have looked into those programs but there are none that are very close to me. There is however a big state school nearby that offers the ADN-BSN transition. I could do it part time while working as an RN locally. Since my wife has a good job where we are located now, moving wouldn't be the best idea for us. Any downsides to the ADN-BSN vs just doing the accelerated? The hospitals hire quite a few RNs from the ADN program I am looking at. One I know is almost done with her MSN and recommended this program to me so it seems legit. Ive heard all kinds of arguments for and against this though.

FlyingScot, from what I have seen, I would enjoy either. There are pros and cons of both but I am leaning a bit toward nursing right now. I just hadn't considered nursing before I did my clinical hours in the ER and actually saw what they do there. I want to shadow them in other roles though before I make a final decision.

Additionally, I have a social science background from my second bachelor's degree so I could see myself doing something with psych too. Basically I have a lot of interests and the more I discover of nursing the more it convinces me that I would be able to constantly change, learn, and experience new things. Also, I suppose there is nothing stopping me from becoming a medic if I find that I hate nursing. Financially, I think that it may be easier to go from X amount of years of nursing to medic vs X amount of years medic to nursing. Plus the paramedic school (that I am looking at) is not quite as time consuming compared to the nursing school--this is coming from the people I have talked to who have been through both. The paramedic classes are typically during the late afternoons/evenings and nursing is typically during the day.

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Have you actually worked full time for an ambulance service? It's not all lights, sirens, and trauma calls.. in reality the majority of the calls are routine transfers.... and that does not sound like something that you are too interested in.....

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Speaking as one who is both a Paramedic and an RN (earned both the traditional way), I would say that if you're considering becoming an RN, work toward that instead of Paramedic. If you're leaning toward Paramedic, go for that instead of RN. In either case you should be able to take that WEMT course.

Personally, I would suggest going RN as you can usually challenge the Paramedic license/certification. With your AEMT training, it shouldn't be too difficult of a step for you to take.

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Specializes in Emergency.

203b--I am in the final stages of the hiring process right now actually. My only experience is from my ride along hours as far as the ambulance goes. I have had some experience in theater although I realize this is totally different. I am looking at Emory's ABSN program if I can get in for the August class. If I decide after this semester of prereqs that I want to go the paramedic route, I can always do that. The deal with Emory is that they only admit once a year (like most places I am familiar with). As far as not enjoying routine goes...I am ok as long as there is something to do. I will admit, I was a little crestfallen to see how slow some of the slow days in EMS are. I am sure that is all over healthcare, regardless of which job.

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Specializes in Emergency.

akulahawk--Thanks for the reply. The more I discover about nursing the more I think it might be for me. People say don't do things for the money, but you gotta live and enjoy it, right? I have some expensive hobbies and if nursing and paramedic are about equally desirable to me, nursing seems the way to go, financially speaking. I was thinking along the same lines with the WEMT and Mountain Medicine stuff. For RN do you think that where you get the degree matters as much?

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Not really. As long as you go to a school with a good pass rate you are fine.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

You know I have an idea that might just fit the bill for you. I'm assuming you live out West. You seem to like outdoorsy things. Do you ski (downhill)?

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