Learn me EMTs/Nurses

Well my financial situation has gone from bad to worse. The last job I had fell through, so we're being forced to move to Florida and live with my in-laws.

At any rate, I'm finally going to go college and get me some learning. Getting a normal 9-5 office job sounds like a half step above cutting my own hand off. I did some EMT type things while I was in the Army. I'm not bothered by the gory bits of the job. Any EMTs or Trauma Nurses around?

Currently in nursing school right now....2 years to go for an ADN. After that, I'm looking for an ER trauma hospital to work in....

I used to help a trauma surgeon fix his M3. He is good for about $350k a year but he works about every waking moment of every day.

I have a friend who took an EMT job as a second income to his prison guard job. It pays E36 M3 but he finds it more rewarding than sitting in a dark hole making sure no one escapes. He also works more than anyone should.

I have some nurses in the family. They make a good living, generally enjoy the work and that is good because... they also work every night, holiday and weekend on the calendar.

Seems like if you are going to be up to your eyeballs in E36 M3 and gore for a living and spending a loong, long time at it every week ... might as well get paid top dollar for it. It might be too late for 12yrs of medical school but nursing pays much better than EMT.

FWIW, more earning potential on the nursing side. If you're willing to commit, you can get school paid for. There's also shortages for imaging and radiation techs.

Don't become an EMT. The pay is E36 M3 and you can make more as a nurse or tech.

Despite the constant demand for nurses, I always hear about tough competition to actually get into nursing school.

MitchellC wrote: Despite the constant demand for nurses, I always hear about tough competition to actually get into nursing school.

lack of teachers...which irritates me, as it seems there are teachers begging for jobs as well?

Grtechguy wrote:

MitchellC wrote: Despite the constant demand for nurses, I always hear about tough competition to actually get into nursing school.

lack of teachers...which irritates me, as it seems there are teachers begging for jobs as well?

Coming straight from my instructors.... In order to teach the students, you need a minimum of a BSN and to keep teaching, you need a MSN in 5 yrs. You always have to be at a higher level education then who you are teaching. Also on the same vein, the pay to teach is LESS then what a beginning nurse starts out at in the workplace. So why teach if you aren't going to get paid for the knowledge needed?

As for getting in, it was tough. A few of the schools I applied to turned me down because of previous college course work. Of the others, I took the entrance exams, nothing more then enhanced SAT/ACT style tests, totaled up my entrance points, and prayed I had enough to get in.

Edit: Normally my school takes roughly 100 students per year, this years class is only 72. The other school I applied to at the same time, takes 30. Also through normal demands of the coursework, family, etc..., half of the accepted class graduates. So just because you get accepted into a program, your chances of making it out alive with a degree are slim.

The nursing shortage and teaching shortage are one and the same problem. There is a shortage of (employed) nurses and teachers because those hiring them can not or will not hire the appropriate amount. I was a teacher on and off for a few years and could never find meaningful long term employment. I went back to school for (you guessed it) nursing a couple years ago. I've been an Emergency nurse for about a year now.

First of all, employment opportunities are certainly out there - I was able to find a decent job about 2-3 months out of Nursing school. However, the grass is not amazingly green over here. I have friends who graduated a year ago and are just now finding their first jobs. These are BSN-prepared RNs who graduated from a top-tier University, so I'm not sure how the market is for associate degree nurses.

Secondly, pay isn't amazing, but it has room to grow. I certainly know people who pull down six figures, but they work 12-24 extra hours a week and have been at their jobs for 10+ years. Expect starting salary about 24 bucks an hour, at least here in the Midwest.

The hours can be grinding at times, and things are pretty much always very busy. It's often an extremely stressful job, and many experienced Nurses are known for "eating their young," or treating new hires very badly. All that said, I love the job, love the people I am around, and I love working 3 days a week.

If your goal is to become a Nurse in a trauma environment, you could do worse than get a part-time phlebotomy or nurse's aid job while you are in school. Learn how to start lines and draw blood.

Ranger50 wrote: Also on the same vein, the pay to teach is LESS then what a beginning nurse starts out at in the workplace. So why teach if you aren't going to get paid for the knowledge needed? snip... As for getting in, it was tough. A few of the schools I applied to turned me down because of previous college course work. snip... So just because you get accepted into a program, your chances of making it out alive with a degree are slim.

Most of what Ranger said was spot on for my experience except for the nurses getting paid less to teach than a beginning nurse. Most RN instructors teach AND work as Nurses, and at my University the teachers were getting paid about $60k a year for one or two groups of students in clinical settings, which is a piece of cake, and certainly more than I'll make this year.

I didn't have a hard time getting in, but I can say entry standards are high, and the schools that do not have high standards have multi-year waiting lists and high dropout rates. The coursework is difficult, no doubt about it. You have to put in a lot of time and effort, and it rarely leaves room for much more than a simple part-time job.

Oh, and my program was a second-degree 1 year program. Those are options if you already have a BA or BS in any field, but tuition prices are very high.

Is there a difference between EMTs and Paramedics? I have a few friends who are paramedics for the city here and regularly clear $100K with overtime (the newspaper prints the names of all public employess who clear 100K), so I was surprised when I saw people saying EMTs don't make much.

Bob

Schmidlap wrote: Is there a difference between EMTs and Paramedics? I have a few friends who are paramedics for the city here and regularly clear $100K with overtime (the newspaper prints the names of all public employess who clear 100K), so I was surprised when I saw people saying EMTs don't make much. Bob

As I understand it, Paramedics are the top of the EMT field. Most place have a system that goes EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, and Paramedic. I think a lot of places have to steps of Intermediate.

My wife is a trauma/ER nurse with a BSN--She's pushing close to 30/hr, but is only working part time due to the little 'uns. She started out with a bachelor's in social work--did that for a few years, got the associate RN and then BSN. She loves it. I'm hoping she goes on for her DNP so I can just be a trophy wife.

Unfortunately, the starting pay is pretty sucky for the life/death situations that you wind up getting stuck in. There's supposed to be patient/nurse ratios--but that's usually overlooked and you wind up taking on a lot if you're at all a self starter. Of course, you also have the 'other' kind of nurse that just sits at the central station and eats all of the crap that the drug reps bring in. Like anything, she tells me it's as rewarding if you care and also aggravating as E36 M3 if you care.

YMMV.

On a side note, how does one find schools for the tech side?

Per Schroeder wrote: got the associate RN and then BSN. She loves it. I'm hoping she goes on for her DNP so I can just be a trophy wife.

Aside from becoming a trophy wife this is almost exactly what my plan is (as suggested my sister who is a nurse).

You cant really compare Emt's and nurses. Around here it seems that being a good nurse is more a matter of having excellent management and people skills. I honestly love nurses not just hot ones. They save my life all the time. They work every holiday because They make more money that way. In Denver anyway a Nurse can make there own schedules and signing bonuses are upwards of 100k+. I don't have the patients to be a nurse I wish I did.

EMTs have maybe 10% of the training as a BSN. An EMT Basic certification isn't particularly advanced. Do the bare minimum to stabilize patients and get them to the hospital ASAP. Paramedics sort of split the difference between nursing an EMTs and get to administer drugs and do some more advanced stuff. Nurses are on a different planet entirely.

My wife was an EMT for Boston EMS after college and loved it. The pay with the city was good compared to the private ambulance company she worked for. There was lots of sitting around doing nothing though, compared to being a nurse where you'll barely have time to breathe at work. Granted, the nurses I know all work in big medical centers, so things tend to be unusually intense, but it's no cake walk. Speaking of walking, plan on doing it around 5-7 miles per day as a nurse.

Nursing is a real long-term career option. They're only going to be in greater demand as the boomers age, and there's lots of room for career development. EMTs suffer a bit more with the economy when cities are forced to cut services.

Really quick little personal experience on nurses from me. I just graduated in May from Cleveland State University with my BSN. I had worked at the Cleveland Clinic throughout nursing school in a program that let you work your way up to an RN as school was going on. I was a secretary, a nurses aid, and a nurse associate, each for a year until I graduated and was offered a full time RN position. It was kinda neat to work my way up and get a perspective on what all the differnet positions are that keep the nursing floor afloat. Most hospitals now prefer to have nurses with their bachelors,but I know that if you have a good resume, credible references, and good interviewing skills you can make it pretty well with an associates degree. The bachelors degree is stupid, in my opinion, as there is more to say for work ethic, experience, and critical thinking than school-savy book smarts. Yes it helps, but there are some classes that you really don't need (again, in my opinion) that you have to take with the bachelor's program. As for the job market, it has its ups and downs, and from what it sounds like it always had. Yes there was a time where nurses were in demand hard core and there were places offering sign-on bonuses, but those days have passed for now. It is true that there is a lack of teachers for nurses, but there is also a lack of positions available in certain regions. This is especially true for new grads. Its silly how all these hospitals want years of experience, won't hire new grads, then complain that they are understaffed. Although I must say that the economy isn't helping with getting nurses hired too.
All in all, nursing can be very rewarding. Try to hook up with a nurse recruiter at a hospital, see what the atmosphere and pace of that place is and then decide if nursing is right for you. My girlfriend and I both are nurses. She works at MetroHealth on the Trauma Step Down floor, and I work at the Cleveland Clinic on the Colorectal Surgery floor. We both went into nursing for different reasons, and have varying opinions on the profession now. The pay wasn't as awesome as we had expected right off the get go, the hours are kinda hectic, and overall the whole job has its ups and downs. Sit down, think it through, and weigh your options. Don't rush into it and don't have the attitude that once you become a nurse everything is awesome. Its still just a job

Cool, my wife would love to work at the Cleveland Clinic.

Thanks to everyone who goes into this field.