..explains the last four months...
Monday, 07-May-2012, was the last day of classes for my first
semester of nursing school. After completing my algebra, and anatomy and
physiology lecture and lab finals, I leaned back and an wave of relief and
wonder came over me. Relief because I had a small break in front of me to
recollect myself, and wonder... well wonder as to how fast the last four months
had passed. It is amazing that, when seriously focused, time seems to
stand still. But when that focus is lifted, and you're free to see the
sky and visit the crashing waves of the ocean again, it seems like only a week
ago when you clocked out from real life. It is not the first time that
I've experienced this time-lapse wonder, but it is an interesting phenomenon
none-the-less.
I realized that, had this of been paramedic school, I would have
just passed the 2/3 mark for the didactic section of school. Two
more months and I would be starting my emergency room and hospital clinical
rotations. One month after that, I would be stepping onto an ambulance
as a Paramedic intern and really starting to apply the skills and
knowledge I had been given in class. This would last for four or so
months, after which time, assuming I was successful, I would be graduating and
eligible for the national boards (NREMT) and subsequent state licensure.
The entire process usually takes 11-12 months, if there are only minimal breaks
in between didactic and clinical-field time.
In the time one can graduate from paramedic school, RN students
are, at best, only half way complete with their education. In a school
like I am enrolled in now, the two year process includes any prerequisite
courses that are required, so the paramedic curriculum model and the RN
curriculum model that I am comparing are truly apples-to-apples, in what they
include and require for graduation and and that they enable the graduate to sit
for their respective national board testing requirements. So what's the
difference? This past semester, I did not touch any of my nursing core
material and this upcoming semester, I am starting nursing fundamentals.
I will have completed 8 months of school, including some preparatory clinical
days, prior to ever touching my nursing core courses.
Paramedic schools are required to deliver a minimum of 728
didactic hours, which are dedicated to core EMS material. So far, I have
put in 120 hours of classroom time, none of which are nursing core. Next
semester, I will be completing 200 didactic hours and 24 clinical hours.
Of these, 40 didactic hours will be directed at my nursing core, as will the 24
clinical hours. The breakdown of my actual class/study time for this last
semester looks like this:
College Algebra
|
A&P Lecture
|
A&P Lab
|
|
Class Time
|
39.31 Hours
|
38.63 Hours
|
39.95 Hours
|
Study
|
77.42 Hours
|
126.18 Hours
|
|
* I was enrolled in two courses and attended class two days/week
for 5 hours/day. I completed the semester with all A's and maintain my
4.0 - I think as one of 10 of my cohort.
During this past semester, the requirements completed that were
not required in paramedic school were the following:
Anatomy and Physiology I:
- Review and comment on two journal articles.
- Osteoporosis – Useful for both paramedics and nurses to know.
- Dream state and consciousness – Less useful for paramedics than nurses, but does look to increase the base knowledge of the student.
- Write a paper on a disease. This would have been useful in paramedic school, as it brought light to a number of different disease processes that I was unaware of beforehand.
Algebra:
- Everything except drug calculations. A more comprehensive review of math would be useful for paramedics. I know that this is a debatable subject, but I believe the greater handle you have on logarithms, statistics, and percentages, the greater the paramedic will be when required to calculate dosages.
- Beyond just drug calculations, I believe that if the paramedic had a strong mathematical foundation, they would better understand not only their art, but how and why the company they work for chooses to run their business as they do. This is instrumental if we, as paramedics, ever want to move past our incessant complaining about how little we’re paid, and into a position where we can either make better decisions about our employment or assist in changing the way things are done.
One of my earlier posts quoted a school official stating that this would be the hardest thing I have ever done. So far, I can honestly state that paramedic school was more difficult. Paramedic school is an immersion into insanity where, even though you have a background as an EMT, the material is so advanced and so in-depth, that many get lost. I think that the unfortunate reality is that a great deal of the information learned, because it's done in such a condensed fashion, is lost to mental attrition. That said, and to be fair to the conversation, I have not started my nursing core courses. As I understand it, this is where the true challenges begin!
I suppose the question that needs to be asked (and remains to be
seen) is, how will these past four months (and the non-nursing core courses for
next semester) better prepare me to work as a nurse? And, would the same
preparatory courses assist in making a more well-rounded paramedic?
Note: As the new term
starts tomorrow, comprehensive blog posts over the next four months may be less
often, as my workload will increase incredibly. I will, however, attempt
to give monthly updates at a minimum, and will post if/when ground-breaking
events occur.
Thanks for reading!!
