RN-Medic Program Questions

Please don't do it! Having done both roles and having gone through full education programs for both, I seriously do not recommend you bypass paramedic education. Go be an EMT to get some of the ropes on the street and then go to medic school. RNs and paramedics think totally differently and it is a whole different world when there is no doctor to assess the patient and write the orders!

Annie

I'm a flight nurse and my company requires all their nurses to be paramedics as well so I attended a bridge program. It was a very fast program, relying heavily on my past experiences as an ICU nurse for pathophysiology and pharmacology. My 8 weeks of ride outs with the fire department was an interesting experience since living in a fire house with 5 other guys was something new, but as stated earlier, pre hospital (medic) medicine is a different thought process. Nurses can assess but we can't order drugs. Medics can assess and refer to a protocol book to administer drugs. I'd recommend getting familiar with EKGs (you'll get a lot of chest pain calls), COPD and asthma (lots of respiratory distress calls), stroke assessments, how to treat hypoglycemia, and become proficient in starting IVs. Car accidents are also something new for nurses as even a trauma/ER nurse only receives patients; they're not on the front lines extricating them. So don't be shy if you get toned out for an MVA. Stick to your ABCs, get ready to provide ACLS at a moment's notice (no doctor around to lead a code) and remember that pedi patients aren't little adults.