transitioning for EMS

My first response to you is DO NOT TELL ANYONE YOU ARE AN EMT! I have been a paramedic for 11 years and the negative responses we recieved from our nursing instructors as well as clinical instructors was awful. I attented a medic to RN bridge program and it was the first class for that particular college and to say the least it was disorganized and the instructors often said they didn't want to teach the paramedics because they were intimidated because we always taught the ACLS, PALS and BTLS classes to most of the nurses in the area and figured we knew what we were doing. They held us to a higher standard than the LPN to RN students who were intergrated during 2nd semester with our class. We had the hardest time trying to figure out a care plan, it was middle of 2nd semester before anyone had a clue and everytime we asked we always got the same answer.... you should have already learned that..??? when?? we don't do care plans in EMS...but by the time we finished things were looking better. A few of the instructors even said they learned alot from us, and that we were an entertaining class, and they even LIKED us after spending 11 months with us. BUT we were also told we were not the typical nursing students... because we could find a way to laugh at everything.. the last semester we even had a dress up day once a week and the instructor participated... we did a scrubs day, red,white,blue day, and a overall's day, along with halloween dress up just to name a few.

If you are attending a traditional nursing school the best advice is to blend with the other students like you have no idea what is going on... you will fair alot better. This comes from friends who have taken the bridge program along with the traditional programs... emt's and paramedics are picked on usually.. No offense to other nurses but that is the norm for our area .. the Deep south.

i whole heartedly agree with the previous poster! how i wish i could have remained anonymous during my 2 year nursing program. unfortunately, the week before nursing school began, i was the medic that responded to our first year instructor's car accident. i do feel that it gives you a unique perspective and adjusting from a trauma assessment to a full on head to toe assessment to meet the needs of my skills lab instructor was a nightmare for me! the best thing that happened was in my second semester when one of my instructors was also a paramedic and she would just put her arms around me and squeeze me tight and say that when you are in clinicals think like a nursing student, it does not matter that you are acls/pals, you are a nursing student!!! you cannot do anything regardless of your training. you are a nursing student! i just heard her voice in my head all the time and it kept me out of trouble from going beyond my scope. honestly, the hardest time was during a few codes in the ed during clinicals when i was at this small hospital and i felt like i was watching a three stooges episode. but i was a good nursing student and just stood in the back and observed as was expected of me. it was also a challenge on many test questions. my beloved paramedic nursing instructor would come in and write rtfq (read the f>>>> question) on the board for me. it is very hard to isolate the answer but remember in perfect nursing test question world that you have all the time, resources and what not available. do not pull in your outside experience because you will get the question wrong my friend! pretend that you have never been in that situation and even though you know none of the answers would ever be done in the real world, read the question, discover what the question is actually asking you for, remember abc, maslow and you will find the perfect nursing world answer. good luck in your endeavors, it was hard, it was entertaining and at times it was really fun. enjoy it!

~erica

Thank you both for the advice and insight!!! I start the 2 year program in 12 days!! I will try to just blend in... the down side is I work in the ER of the hospital we are doing our first semester clinicals in... it shall be interesting.

Good luck to you as you venture on into your nursing career. I am a brand new spanking rn, my 1st shift is Saturday. I think that your EMS training will help you so much more than you know. I am wishing you all the best in trying to maintain incognito, but you are bound to run into someone from "the other side." Now I walk by staring longingly at the lone ambulance in the bay thinking that my old freedom is only a 911 call away . Good luck. And be proud of your EMS experience it is priceless. Helicoptergal

Take TJ's and Erica's advice...DO NOT tell your instructors that you are an EMT/Paramedic. They will either give you a lot of crap or hold you to a higher standard. In their eyes your experience means absolutely nothing. (But I know, myself also being a paramedic, that you DO know things.) Your experience is a great asset. Best of Luck to you! :)