STAGES OF OUR CAREER, OR COCKY?

[letmesleep]

I'm not sure how this is going to go over with everybody, but I'm going to throw it out there any how.

Being that MEDICINE is full of free-thinking, educated, type A personalities.......what are the different stages of our careers (EMS, NURSING, MD/OD, ect)? We have had discussion about generational gaps, but what about the stages? I personally have been through the "I got this, nothing can stop me" portion, and some burnout. We all say at the beginning of our lives in medicine that "it won't happen to me", but it does, and even if you try to deny it, someone will point it out to you. As I see it (speaking as a medic), we start out with our new License in hand ready to take on the world, and scared to death that people are going to rely on us to fix any problem they may have. After about 2 years you get in to this phase where you have been flawless, and you think "I got this" as the comfort begins to set in. You relax your daily practices, because You know your truck and were everything is, then BAM.........you make a mistake! You learn from this mistake and vow to be better because you realize that your NOT infallible. You use this and your other experience to teach newbies, and try to tell them that it can happen to you. After about 10 years you get in to the "I can teach everybody this job" era, and you bring to the table tons of knowledge (book and street). You enjoy this era, but need something else, and ask yourself "can I do this forever, or should I try to move forward?". Then you hit the 13 to 18 year range, and the burnout starts getting you (this is of course if it hasn't killed you in the first 5 years of your career). You get up everyday, come in to work, go through the motions, maybe see a few Pts and can hardly remember what was wrong with them after the call was done. The negativity that you bring to work with you day in and day out is unbearable to your co-workers. Then one day you wake up and realize that this has happened, and your dead set on changing it by getting a new career or going back to school and educating yourself till your blue in the face...........

I'm not real sure what comes next, and hopefully we will hear from those who are there now. I do realize that the wording me be different with everybody reading this, but how far of do you think it is? what kind of wording would be more universal? How do you RNs see it? MD/ODs? RTs? Hey newbies, how can you prevent any of this from happening to you? Is it possible?

I have described personal experience with personal observation from throughout my 15 years on the job, and even if the wording isn't what you want to hear (read), what have you seen? Am I way out in left field with this?

[Just Plain Ruff]

I decided after 14 years in the field that I was not gonna be like my friend Ron who suffered a career ending back injury and I started to go back to graduate school and got a masters degree. I'm not out of the field but.... I stay current in ems and in june of next year I will let my license lapse and finish my life out as a civilian.

[SANDMEDIC]

I'm approaching the 9 year mark. I never thought I would get burnt but being in a clinical setting has to be the most boring thing I have done in my career. Yes you get to have 110 medications in your formulary but rarely see any acute illnesses. When they do walk through the door, you know it. Immediately you whisk them to higher care or call in MedEvac immediately and are usually out of your hands within a few hours.

Although, I never dreaded a day going in to work on a ground ambulance, firetruck or rotary wing. I wouldn't say I'm burnt out, just feel I'm losing grasp on the Critical care & "street smart stuff". I devote at least 2-4 hours a day reviewing "emergency medicine". So when a call for something acute does come in, I'm still on my "A" game.

It's great taking care of those supporting the war, don't get me wrong, just overdue for getting back on the street, even if the pay sucks.

[DwayneEMTP]

SM, it seems as though I saw in one of your posts that you're in Afg?

Which base are you at? ( :wink: The multiple undisclosed locations only works on those not over here)

I work directly with the country medical manager here, so have heard of most if not all of medics in country (Afg/Georgia) that work for our company...Would be great to hook up when you come through sometime!

Stay safe.

Dwayne

[firedoc5]

The best I can offer is some advice, especially to those just starting out or going to a new level. You have to be careful not to get over confident. Don't think that you will have everything covered for everything thrown at you. Just when you think you've seen it all or experienced all, that's when a curve ball comes at you. If you make a mistake, which you will, don't get discouraged. Learn from it. Take that lesson and pass it on to others before they make a similar mistake. And yes, admit your mistakes. And don't get bent out of shape if some gives you constructive criticism. No matter how much you learn, someone will know more. And nobody learns everything.

Have talks with everyone. Sometimes it might sound like a round of "war stories" but knowing what others have dealt with may prepare you in case it happens to you. Sometimes after a call, break it down. Look at it at different angles. What did you do? What could you have done differently? What would so & so have done?

No matter how long you've been in your respective field, you are not going to have all the same experiences as others, and they won't have your same experiences. Learn from others and let others learn from you.

I found that burn out itself has stages. I won't go through them because I know it's different with everyone. But if you are in the field for any length of time you will have burn out. It's inevitable. Be prepared for it. I myself, when I started, thought I'd be doing this til I was 65. Burn out would come and go. You can go through it many times if you are determined enough to get through it. When it does come along, get help. Don't do it on your own. After 16 yrs. my down fall was burn out along with physical problems. To this day I question myself whether or not I could have toughed through it if it was only burn out or if it was only physical problems. I just knew I couldn't though through both at the same time. Save your body. It's the only one you have. Know your limitations, (physically, mentally, academically), and respect them. You start to over extend yourself in any way and you're just asking for trouble.

One thing I've noticed is there are those who are in too big of a hurry when starting out. Take your time. The experiences, the classes, the advancements. They will come. You'll get the calls and the classes in due time. They will still be there.

Good old fashion common sense can be one of your best friends. Use it.

I'm hopping off my little box now.

[AZCEP]

After 16 years of running all manner of calls with a number of different agencies ranging from big to small, I've decided that I'm tired of the restrictions that go hand in hand with working under a "borrowed servant" profession.

I'm starting medical school Sept. 1st, and hope to get to a point where my decision is the end of the discussion on what should be done.

[paramedicmike]

After 16 years of running all manner of calls with a number of different agencies ranging from big to small, I've decided that I'm tired of the restrictions that go hand in hand with working under a "borrowed servant" profession.

I'm starting medical school Sept. 1st, and hope to get to a point where my decision is the end of the discussion on what should be done.

I was just going to PM you about school. Glad you're starting. Kick arse! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

[SB_Medic]

Going on eight years in ems, started at Basic while working for a printing company, jumped right into Intermediate since company was paying for it. This is when I decided to get a part time with an ambulance company, the new classes were fairly advanced for a basic with no idea what ems was all about. Here started my stages:Scared, Confident, Disgusted. The disgust came from working with below average Medics who couldn't answer questions beyond the basic level without a little BS thrown in. So I jumped into Medic school! Not a big difference between intermediate and Paramedic classes, least not to me. Got my blessing and on the street. Scared all over again (It's so easy being a backseat driver, lol) then confidence, then depression. Depression because I was only getting 4-5 calls a day, mostly Diabetic or nausia/vomiting it seemed. Changed companies to get a bigger drug box, good experience but call volume was still not there. Enter disgust again, I needed experience! Moved to a bigger city, now I'm back down to a restricted system with a shallow drug box, but averaging 7-8 calls in 12 hours (Sundays are REALLY slow). I would classify myself as confident again, but I think I am missing the burnout because I have moved around a bit, changing the scenery. Altho I wouldn't suggest everyone jumping from company to company, it does help to train newbies. You get to see the shine in their eyes as D-50 or narcan works right before their eyes. Reminds me I am doing this because I love it.

[jsadin]

It's been 13yrs so far for me in mostly rural EMS (with urban for about 3yrs). I do this part-time so burnout is less of an issue, but I did experience a year where I dreaded the tones and got pretty apathetic. Our town service was hurting for EMTs and I was on call almost every night plus working weekends for another service (in addition to my full time job). I remember getting really angry when the tones would go off, even if it were for something legit. I was always tired, always irritable. Once we got some more EMS folks employed I cut my runs WAY back and that helped a bunch. It's super easy to over-extend oneself in this field and you need to be careful.

Another issue I've noticed is medics who feel "trapped" in EMS. I was speaking with a medic I've known for a while and he expressed displeasure with EMS as a career. When I suggested he move on to something else he said "are you going to give me money while I retrain? I'm not qualified for anything else". I can imagine there are others who feel like they've painted themselves into a corner career wise.

[SANDMEDIC]

SM, it seems as though I saw in one of your posts that you're in Afg?

Which base are you at? ( :wink: The multiple undisclosed locations only works on those not over here)

I work directly with the country medical manager here, so have heard of most if not all of medics in country (Afg/Georgia) that work for our company...Would be great to hook up when you come through sometime!

Stay safe.

Dwayne

I just feel it would be a good idea not to slather what my location is.

BTW how do you like the new protocols?

Tell CJ I said hello, he's a great guy.

Take care,