Madigan

It's not letting me send you a pm. Can you send me one and tell me what you liked and didnt like?

So another major question, how can you tell 'nursing is for you' or its not for you? I'd hate to leave a job I dislike, go to school, then find out I don't cut it here.

If I do the ADN program would my previous college count for anything?

Thanks for all the tips. Yeah my college chemistry has expired - Ironic given I taught highschool chem a while.

What I meant by accelerated is I already have a science degree, so would go for my BSN in two years (ideally). How do cops, emts, paramedics etc fit into nursing? What has been your experience?

Hi everyone. I work as a fire fighter and long story short I hate it. I hate the hours, the chemical exposure, the endless 'macho/alpha' attitudes. Etc etc. I hate every day I go to work, but largely feel trapped. I have a few friends working as nurses and it seems like a pretty interesting field, as I like figuring out what could be wrong with someone. The problem is, i'd have to go back to school obviously, (I do have a bachelors so I'd have to get into an accelerated program). The big things weighing me down is giving up a job I'm making 50k at, and taking on debt to go to school for 2+ years. Have you seen males from jobs like this be successful in nursing? Anything to know that you can share? Thanks!

I dont really get it, can you just leave for long periods of time and not have any ill effects? Or just full on move to new city? Was it easy to get into the ER? I have heard its hard, that new nurses end up in less desirably locations. As far as the job, how does it actually compare? It is more varied, more predictable? More challenging? More interesting?

Would my 10 years of EMT (mostly volunteer some clinical) help get into ER/ED?

I worked pre-hospital for many years as an EMT and been doing some serious consideration of going back to school for a BSN (I have a bachelors in science for a different degree) and really want to work ER. Reading some of these topics like https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/is-the-nursing-1021496.html kind of scare me in that it makes it seem like nursing is some grinder of seeing how long you can last before you too get taken down, mixed with never finding a job, horrendous conditions, everyone hates you etc. I want to make a difference at the end of the day and enjoy mental challenges…not get sent to some slaughter…any current nurses out there to clarify if its ‘really' that bad? Does everyone really hate you, are there really no jobs, is everyone in it really just trying to get out? Oh, and if you can tell me how much you enjoy ER maybe that would help!

What is the difference between critical care and ER? I am considering swapping to nursing and love emergencies, thanks!

What is the difference between ICU, CCU and ER, loosely? ICU is kind of a super by-the-book kind of job right? I am way way more of the adapt on the fly, thats why I like street emt so much.

Could you imagine yourself being a floor nurse, or a bedside nurse etc? I ask because the ER seems really interesting to me and about one of the only places I would want to be a nurse, not sure if that means the career isnt for me, of it legitimately attracts different types.

Hi, just joined this site because I wanted to talk to some people about getting info about a career decision and nursing specifically flight nurse. I did volunteer EMS/rescue/fire (EMT-B IV cert) for about 7 years while trying to find a job in my college field (ecology). When I was younger in my teens I never considered ems/health care at all as it wasn't on the table but when I got a taste of it, I loved the huge calls and the saves and knowing I WAS MAKING A DIFFERENCE. I tried getting onto paid depts but the rough hiring + nepotism was insane, so I gave up fire fighting but still liked the medical/rescue. At my station we were rural with a major highway so we had a lot of really cool cars of major car crashes, people fallen off cliffs etc, and I LOVED when the helicopter was coming in because it felt so ‘real' and intense and I knew bringing those people out of the woods or up the cliff that this was the real deal. Anyway, so about 4 months ago I got a job that I had to move for in ecology that pays pretty well, but when I am sitting at work whenever I hear a fire truck or a helicopter it stirs my heart and I feel so pathetic not being part of the action. Part of the problem my be I have a good friend who is a flight nurse who we talk a lot and her stories always remind me of how cool it seemed. It is hard to describe just how amazing it was having a big call on a mountain that we had to hike up to and stabilize to bring to the helicopter landed in the valley. So my question is, given that the EMS was really cool and exciting, minus the routine calls of passed out diabetics etc helicopter evac/EMS seems like the ultimate in prehospital care and excitement. I am under no delusion I would have to go back to school to get my RN, and then work ER/ICU for a few years but is ICU at all like the excitement of prehospital? I did a few shifts in the ER for my IV cert and I was amazed at how boring it was, just a bunch of old people needing cleaning, maybe it was a bad rotation but it scared me from the ER. My new job is decent, but I can't help but feel like I am missing something and my mind has seized upon this from my past, any help here? Thanks tons, I can answer any questions.