Educational Path

[defib_wizard]

Here is my 2 cents;

If I were to be able to start over i would become a nurse. ( I am looking into starting my prereq's for it now).

The opportunities are endless. Including some prehospital work, most are as flight nurses on scene call. However some companies will hire RN's for critical care ground units.

Another option is what has been said here, get your BSN then your medic. You can work at both levels, nurse full-time and medic part-time or vice versa. ( although I wouldn't like the pay difference LOL)

[TDP]

It's better than good. It's the best. The best EMS care in the world is provided by those countries that operate under the nursing model, where a paramedic is a critical care nurse with a master's level specialisation in EMS care. Going to medic school before nursing school is like buying a mobile home, and then trying to go back and build a foundation under it, and brick it over later. Yeah, you've got a place to live, but it is nothing to be proud of.

Think of this in concrete terms. Build your professional career like you would build a house. Foundation first. Solid framework. Then all the sexy details come after you have a secure place to complete them. That is how you build the very best possible educational preparation for a career of excellence. And if excellence is not your goal, then I would very much discourage you from going into education and passing on your passion for mediocrity.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Medic One is overrated shyte. Like Maryland EMS, they are still somehow managing to milk the glory from a decades old bubble of lies that was long ago mythbusted. Don't buy the hype.

Good luck!

I see what your getting at,but why the hell would you want to buy a mobile home when you can just go and buy a regular house? I mean really, when you talk about EMS vs RN aren't we talking about 2 different career paths all together? Emergency Medical Services is just that. Professionals,who provide immediate care to those who are sick in some shape,or form or tending to those who have an "emergency" where as nursing, has that "clinical" so to speak knowledge, as well as that systematic approach to things. If your going to be a Paramedic,do so. If you want to be an instructor,put in some good street time before you decide something such as this. If your going to be an RN,than be an RN. I don't see anything wrong with getting a college certificate,then a degree in health sciences,but if you know what you want to do why waste time?

cheers Rob

[ccmedoc]

My opinion on this is:

Although the professional nursing and paramedic paths do tend to separate, the base should be the same(or similar). If the teaching is what he ultimately wants to do, then a nursing degree, specifically a BSN or higher, would give him the knowledge base to do just that; both in clinical knowledge as well as theoretical knowledge. The paramedic programs do not do this. They are much more geared towards training as opposed to education. If the OP had the learning/teaching theory background, coupled with the clinical experience, he could bring the learning to the classroom as opposed to simply training the prospective medics to ‘what they need to know’.

I, personally, think that nursing and paramedicine are great adjuncts to each other. I went about the process bass ackwards, and I can see where you would benefit from doing nursing school first. Irregardless, with both the RN and Paramedic license, he would be much more marketable as an educator and a better provider in the field. This is a fact.

I suppose it comes down to perspective, or priorities; do you want to be the best medical provider you can be and the best role model/mentor for your prospective students? Or do you want to be ‘Just a paramedic’ with some street time?

I don’t mean to insinuate that to be a good paramedic you have to be a nurse, or vice versa. I know some very good paramedics without an inkling of desire to be a nurse, and, of course, the reverse. But if the possibility of getting the additional education is there, and providing top-notch education to a new generation of paramedics is what the OP is preparing to do, Just being a paramedic and getting some street time is not the best answer.

I can’t disagree with this statement enough: “I don't see anything wrong with getting a college certificate,then a degree in health sciences,but if you know what you want to do why waste time?” :shock:

WOW. Maybe I am taking this wrong (I hope), but this has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum, and this is not the place for another debate on how education should never be a “waste of time”.

Like I said, my opinion

-Take it for what it is worth

[Rugby74]

What are the main differences in the duties and skills of a Critical Care Nurse, ICU (SICU,etc...) Nurse, ER Nurse, etc…. Why does one prepare you better for EMS work or for teaching EMS more than the other? Also, do each of these have the same amount of personal care duties - bathing, feces/urine cleaning, etc..?

[BEorP]

To the poster who mentioned South King Medic One: Yes, they are a non fire agency, but fall under the same hiring constraints as the rest of the Medic One system. It takes a long time to get in. In terms of education, I'd give my eye teeth to become a Medic One paramedic, but perhaps that will come in time.

Could you please expand on your comment about it taking a long time to get in? What do you mean by this? Is there though competition for spots? Do they hire and then drag their feet on orientation and getting people working? Are their education requirements so strict it takes a while before you can even apply? I am curious to know.

[WelshMedic]

There is a world of difference between the different specialities in nursing. An ICU nurse is very good at comprehensively caring for the most sick of patients whilst also supporting the family. It requires a great deal of clinical knowledge for the former combined with a healthy dosis of social skills and tact for the latter. An ER nurse needs similar competencies but is also required to be able to triage efficiently and deal with differing patient categories in terms of complexity.

As far as dealing with bodily functions is concerned, I'm not sure how it's relevant. Why does the term nurse and wiping arses have to feature in the same post at all? If it needs doing, it gets done. I am not ashamed of that fact. Even now, after being more 10 years in EMS, if a (non-critical) patient has soiled themselves then I will take the time to clean them up before transporting. It's the least I can do, surely?

WM

[ccmedoc]

What are the main differences in the duties and skills of a Critical Care Nurse, ICU (SICU,etc...) Nurse, ER Nurse, etc…. Why does one prepare you better for EMS work or for teaching EMS more than the other? Also, do each of these have the same amount of personal care duties - bathing, feces/urine cleaning, etc..?

Not at all worth a response......

[WolfmanHarris]

Ya Rugby I'm with ccmedoc. You need to educate yourself about the greater world of health care which you operate in. We can't keep perpetuating this sort of ignorance towards our colleagues. It only serves to breed the problems between nurses and medics that we need to move past. If your base hospital can get you in for an ER shift and/or an ICU shift I think you'll learn alot.

[Dustdevil]

An RN can certainly pawn all their dirty work off on NAs and PCTs, just like a lot of medics pawn all their transfers off on EMTs. But I wouldn't hire that nurse or that medic.

If all you want is the glory, with none of the responsibility, go be a firemonkey.

[WelshMedic]

Dust,

Never a truer word sproken. The same RN who passes the buck will not enjoy any degree of respect within the team. It's the same in EMS, as far as I'm concerned. I am not too good to do this sort of thing. Besides, is everyone aware of how much you can tell about a patient's condition from their stool sample (now there's a nursey comment for you..... )?

By the way, a quick question: what is a PCT? (Patient Care Technician.....?) It's not a term that we use on this side of the ocean. We do have NA's but here they are Nursing Auxillaries. What's the difference between the two?

WM