What specialty of nursing is best for someone with a Paramedic background?

Nurses Career Support

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Allow me to give a little bit of my history. Been in EMS since 2006, been a Paramedic since 2007. I currently am finishing up my RN degree,and will graduate in December. I hold Instructor certifications in CPR, ACLS, PALS, ITLS, PITLS, and EPC. I have been selected for AMLS instructor as well. I also have 1.5 years of supervisory/management experience. Needless to say, I am very comfortable in my assessment and treatment skills. I currently work in an ER right now, and pretty much function as an RN now, to a certain extent. What field/specialty is going to be the best fit for me, and also pay pretty well also. I am not sure what will be the best fit for me, but I wanna do cath lab or units? I definitely wanna stay off of the MED SURG floors. IS that the best step for me?

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Why don't you just stay in the ED? Do you not like that?

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

I suggest a good SICU in a larger trauma center. Get some experience doing that, combined with your prehospital experience and you can go into transport, helocopter, fixed wing and ground mobile intensive care.

Transport services want high level critical care experience, not ER. I also suggest you try to get into a nurse residency program like the one I went to. It was a 9 month residency for new grads going directly into ICU.

There is no such thing as an "RN Degree". It would be more helpful is you accuratly described what kind of nursing program you are in.

I too did medic to RN. They are different worlds and don't have as much crossover as you might think.

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It is a small ER and my wife what's to relocate closer to her family. I personally like the area where she wants to relocate to, and the pay for nurses where I work is not that great. It is better where she wants to relocate to. I am in a 3 bed ER by myself, and an ER doc. OT is more like a clinic than an ER.

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I am in an ADN program. It is not a BSN program, and is a paramedic to RN bridge course.

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