Putting nursing school on hold to work as an EMT?

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Hi all! My name is Katie and I am currently a Pre-nursing student at a California community college. I am 19 years old. By the end of this fall semester, I will be done with all of my pre-reqs. The time to apply for nursing school for the Fall 2017 is coming up shortly. Recently, it has crossed my mind to become an EMT and gain some experience before going off to nursing school. Nursing school is still my goal at the end of the day, but being an EMT for a year or two seems like a great idea to me, at the moment. Should I put nursing school on hold for a little bit to try out being an EMT? I am not someone who usually goes off of whims, but this one is starting to make me really think about the next few years. I am a bit conflicted as to what I want to do/should do. Any experience or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks:)

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Why are you thinking EMT-B and not CNA?

I suspect that being an EMT for a while may make your application to nursing school stronger, depending on where you're applying. You will certainly get experience with patient care, some basic drugs, taking vitals, HIPAA, documentation, etc. Nursing school may also count towards some of your CE requirements for maintaining your EMT license, depending on your state's laws. Depending on where you work, you may get exposed to some of the care-related issues which nurses have to deal with, like body fluids, violent/uncooperative patients, difficult family members, and so on. You might also only be moving stable patients back and forth between LTC facilities and hospitals for two years, depending on where you work.

However, there is a significant opportunity cost involved. The pay differential between an EMT-B and an RN can be $25-30 thousand dollars per year or more! So if you delayed getting your RN license by two years, you are losing at least $50,000 in potential earnings.

Assuming you can get in to nursing school with the credentials and experience you have, I wouldn't delay. You can always get an EMT-B license while you are working as a nurse, if you're still interested in EMS.

Good luck!

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You could get your EMT work and go to school. Many people I know do it. Can do a 2 to 3 month accelerated class if you want in the summer or a 4 month class in the summer. Decent pay around $12 to $18 an hour depending where you work and specialty you do.

The EMT exam is a great practice test to give you a feel of the NCLEX. Bit immature in my age when I took the EMT exam never passed became a EMR. Opened doors still worked in various units of the hospital mainly anesthesia, but that led with my bachelor's degree to work as a psych tech.

Best of luck with your decision and school.

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