funnski

A topic that is sure to fire up both on this debate indeed. Having first been a Paramedic and EMT for over 30 years and then completing my RN I think I can address this issue. First these are two completely different schools of thought and training, and simply being one does not make it that you are going to be able to function as the other. Nurses are trained differently period! To be a solo EMS provider is NOT for everyone, the "street" smarts that are needed to survive, or your patients survive, is not taught in a class room. Paramedic training requires much more hands on learning for a reason. Sorry, but RN school didn't come close. I would be very leery of letting a RN that challenged a Paramedic cert work on my family, by the way that is the ultimate complement in the Paramedic world - to have your co-workers tell you that you are one of the few that they would let work on their family! The Nursing world told me very clearly that my experience as a medic is not experience as a Nurse and in reverse I feel the same way, experience as a Nurse is NOT experience as a Paramedic.

After completing the bridge I would disagree with having to complete an entire course. They made us complete the last two semesters after the "bridge" course. Our class was made up of half LPN's and half medics. As medics we were far ahead of the others as the last two semesters were on critical care, our specialty. The hard part is trying to find work. As a "New grad" you have no experience, but as a 13+ year medic it is a huge cut in pay to start as a "New grad". I think in time it will be worth it, but right now I wonder. Oh by the way, all the medics scored over 1000 on the HESI exit exam something that they had never seen before at the college, the LPN's scored less than 900. As for the NCLEX 100% on the first try, LPN's 80% don't know what to say but those are the facts.