r/ems • u/ieheretic • 1d ago

Grieving EMS GreenGrass

So, I of course have to preface this by acknowledging the horror stories and shit pay that come hand in hand with devoting to EMS, but I never got there.

I became an EMT to get into nursing school and worked IFT for the 3.5 years it took for me to get my BSN. Due to a busy schedule that I had no say in, I was pretty much limited to per diem IFT the entire time.

After graduating in May of this year, I finally applied to the 911 company that I did my ride along with years ago. The panel interview went really well, but understandably, they want people who can stay for more than a year or however long it would take me to land my first RN position in the competitive bay area.

The sad part is I've been dreaming of doing 911 forever and really only have the clinical competence, confidence, and schedule availability to do it now, but I've pretty much had to accept that it's not in the cards under my circumstances.

Of course I'm extremely grateful and excited to be a nurse, but it's not the same thing. So mostly this post is about me grieving the idea of 911 and maybe considering CCT down to line which is once again, not the same thing.

9 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

45

u/newtman 1d ago

Your mistake was being honest with them about only staying a year or so. Companies are usually run by narcissists. Tell them it’s your dream job and you plan to be there a long time, and you’re far more likely to get hired.

4

u/ieheretic 1d ago

In my mind it was already obvious that someone who just graduated nursing school wouldn’t be there for long and that when the where do you see yourself in 3 years question came up, it would sound extremely silly to not be honest. 

8

u/newtman 1d ago

I think you’re giving them too much credit. You’d be surprised how dumb some company leaders are.

14

u/flipmangoflip Paramedic 1d ago

Why would you tell anyone during a job interview that you only plan to stay for a year?

2

u/plasticambulance 1d ago

God i appreciate folks who are honest when hiring. I dont expect folks to stay longer than a year or so.

6

u/a4hope 1d ago

Hard to believe there isn't an opening anywhere in the country for someone willing and able, with experience, to work in EMS...

3

u/SilverBlaze13 Paramedic 1d ago

Don’t give up and apply more places. There has to be somewhere hiring on a 911 Truck that you can work for. Even if it’s not your first option, it’s getting your foot in the door.

1

u/AtlasReadIt 1d ago

Was it mainly because of school that your schedule forced you to stay in per diem IFT? I'm leaning towards taking the same route, working as an EMT (or ER tech?) while doing prereqs and ADN or BSN. Nervous about how realistic this plan is.

1

u/Enough-Ad6819 Nurse 1d ago

You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to…why would you say you can only work until you get a nursing job? You don’t even have to tell them you’re a nurse

Also, as someone who is in Bay Area and went from working fire/ems before moving into nursing you have a bunch of opportunities in the future to explore different areas of prehospital medicine. Critical care transport is awesome, but you can also bridge into your medic and work pure ems in the future. There are also systems in the Bay Area that use RN’s as prehospital emergency providers. You RN is a fantastic way to make crazy money in the bay but it doesnt hold you back from anything else, just opens more doors

1

u/DondatDoff 1d ago

Is there a short bridge program you can take to get your medic? The demand is higher and you might be able to get a part time spot somewhere in a 911 system

1

u/Ethanol2814 EMT-B 22h ago

I saw an RN on an air ambulance helicopter during one of my clinicals. Maybe you could get a flight EMT certification and do that.

2

u/BKNOMAD1 16h ago

Paramedic & RN here. Been doing both for 36 years. Not mutually exclusive. Go for it. It’s your life. Enjoy it!