The BEST of Both Worlds...

[NotYourTypical, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

First a little background story about me. I became a licensed paramedic in 2016. With previous experience being an EMT, I have about 4 years of experience in emergency medicine. Later 2016, I transferred from the community college I was in and got accepted into a university. I spent a year finishing prereqs for the nursing program there and I got into my university's BSN program Fall of 2017. I will be done with my program in December of 2019. YAY!

I have many questions because of what my plans are after I finish. But I'll start with this one: What are some ways to go about combining my paramedic licensure and future nurse licensure?

I wish I knew more people in my life to speak to about this but I don't know anyone else in my position and I can't seem to just look up information on the web without seeing 10 billion articles and discussion boards about why one side is better than the other.

I still want to be a paramedic, but I am not interested in being in road EMS AT ALL. The state where I live and the state that I plan on leaving to immediately after I finish my program have hospitals that hire paramedics in their hospitals. I currently work in a hospital as a paramedic. So, I don't know if I could do both separately or...

I don't really want to be a flight nurse. People give me that suggestion ALL the time... But as of right now, I'm not really interested in that either.

I was thinking of just being an ER nurse somewhere, but are there other career pathways that I should consider for combining both?

I don't want to drop my paramedic license for many reasons... I really want to do both.

What are your thoughts?

[Kaisu]

I was a paramedic for 5 years (very busy system, ran 3,500 calls in 911 and critical care transport) and received my nursing license a year ago. I tried med/surg in a hospital and it was so not for me. I have been working 4 months now in home health and I absolutely love it.

I do starts of care. Like dispatch, I get a referral package which contains an H and P, physician face-to-face, face sheets from hospitals and nursing homes, etc. Like dispatch, the information can be complete and accurate, or it can be very very thin.

I really don't know what I am dealing with until I get eyes on that patient.

Like EMS, I am in the patient's home. There is so much information about that patient that can be gathered from seeing them in their own setting as opposed to meeting them gowned and relatively clean in a hospital bed.

It takes all my assessment skills to determine the status of the patient, all my listening skills to determine what this patient wants and needs, and all my analytical skills to design a complete care plan.

Unlike EMS, where my goals were limited to addressing life threats, I can holistically address a myriad of issues to make that patient's life better.

Like EMS, I am out and about in my community. Sometimes the biggest challenge in a case is getting to the case.

Like EMS, even though I am organized and have all my equipment in order, I may have to improvise. (did you know that if the foley kit does not have a syringe for deflating the balloon, you can cut the port off with your bandage scissors and pour the saline out?)

There is plenty of unpredictability and surprises. Sometimes I have to call 911 because the patient is very ill. Sometimes I have to deal with unsafe environments. My EMS experience has served me well. Situations that have new nurses confused or frozen do not phase me at all.

I gave up my paramedic license. The RN license with current ACLS, PALs and Trauma certs provides me with far more capabilities than the limited ACLS protocols I used to work under.

Welcome to nursing. I hope you find something that you love. I did and I am so happy.

[NotYourTypical, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

On 6/2/2018 at 2:43 PM, Kaisu said:

I was a paramedic for 5 years (very busy system, ran 3,500 calls in 911 and critical care transport) and received my nursing license a year ago. I tried med/surg in a hospital and it was so not for me. I have been working 4 months now in home health and I absolutely love it.

I do starts of care. Like dispatch, I get a referral package which contains an H and P, physician face-to-face, face sheets from hospitals and nursing homes, etc. Like dispatch, the information can be complete and accurate, or it can be very very thin.

I really don't know what I am dealing with until I get eyes on that patient.

Like EMS, I am in the patient's home. There is so much information about that patient that can be gathered from seeing them in their own setting as opposed to meeting them gowned and relatively clean in a hospital bed.

It takes all my assessment skills to determine the status of the patient, all my listening skills to determine what this patient wants and needs, and all my analytical skills to design a complete care plan.

Unlike EMS, where my goals were limited to addressing life threats, I can holistically address a myriad of issues to make that patient's life better.

Like EMS, I am out and about in my community. Sometimes the biggest challenge in a case is getting to the case.

Like EMS, even though I am organized and have all my equipment in order, I may have to improvise. (did you know that if the foley kit does not have a syringe for deflating the balloon, you can cut the port off with your bandage scissors and pour the saline out?)

There is plenty of unpredictability and surprises. Sometimes I have to call 911 because the patient is very ill. Sometimes I have to deal with unsafe environments. My EMS experience has served me well. Situations that have new nurses confused or frozen do not phase me at all.

I gave up my paramedic license. The RN license with current ACLS, PALS and Trauma certs provides me with far more capabilities than the limited ACLS protocols I used to work under.

Welcome to nursing. I hope you find something that you love. I did and I am so happy.

Thank you so much for your reply! ?