Working as EMT below RN scope as side gig for cash??

Published Jul 5, 2020

524 Posts

Specializes in ICU.

Hello Everyone,

So I have been an EMT for about five years. During prerequisites I worked as an EMT on the ambulance and through nursing school I worked as an ER Tech. During my last semester of nursing school, I accepted an ER residency spot out of state. I moved in mid-May and got an EMT job on an ambulance in the new state while I was waiting to take my boards and the residency start date in mid-July. I have since passed NCLEX and start my residency this coming week. I am still working my EMT/ambulance job for money even though I now have my RN. The ambulance job is part time and I just schedule myself whenever I want, so it's super flexible. Pay isn't great but it's not bad, it helps.

While I know people say don't work under your scope (CNA, EMT, LVN, etc. when you're an RN, even to get experience if you can't get an RN job), what are your thoughts if I'm already working as an RN and I'm just doing the ambulance job for extra cash to help pay back student loans? What risks am I running by working in an EMT capacity as a licensed RN? I don't have a year of experience so I can't get an acute care PRN job and I've tried to look for other opportunities I could do on a PRN basis as a new grad concurrently working in a residency, but haven't found anything.

Any thoughts or insight is much appreciated!