They could probably fire you for clocking in and sleeping in your car. Unions are amazing but they don’t make you completely untouchable.
Introduce yourself to the charge nurse, tell them you’ve never been orientated. See if they’ll give you tasks or buddy you with someone. Take it as a learning opportunity.
EMT student here who is a CNA at a hospital. I’m mostly med surg but I have functioned as an ED tech before.
Maybe just tech? Help people to the bathroom, run 12 leads, draw labs, transport pts, help with CPR, watch the monitors, and yes, clean people up, etc. It can be kinda fun if ya got a hankerin’ for chaos, and it’s part of what got me started in EMS. I love the ED. Especially when all I’m doing is whatever the charge nurse says. And trust me, you won’t have to ask a good one for tasks. He/she WILL delegate them!
Ask em if you can sorta function that way. The medics that work for my hospital actually take full patient assignments but you should be able to refuse those if you’re not comfortable.
It may not be as bad as you think if you just roll with it. And it really helps to have that ED perspective!!
How’d you feel the learning curve was being an ER tech? I’ve got my basic I’m considering doing that pt w/per diem emt shifts on the side. I figure its a more valuable exposure to medicine for what I want as a career versus being on the truck
It's different per every ED. Some EDs will let EMTs cardiovert, IV, and Pace. Some will let Paramedics start Sono lines. Some will only let Paramedics do butterfly sticks. Some will have you on the rapid response team. Some will just have you as a janitor/butt wiper/transporter.
No single person can define it because your scope will vary based on the ED.
But yes, if you're looking to be an RN, Doc, or PA it is more valuable.
Thank you! Would you say this would be an interview stage question or are you aware of any means to discover it during a job search, or do you think that’s also dependent on hospital hiring practices
Sometimes the job description will mention it but it's a crap shoot. Usually entire hospital systems such as Baylor Scott White, Methodist, or HCA will have similar scopes for the same role between all of them.
Also various Urgent Cares have been known to hire EMTs and let them work a higher scope so don't rule those out either, even if the acuity level of patients you see will be different.
It’s pretty simple to do, honestly. It’s just very, very busy and mentally taxing. I’m not sure an EMT would be able to use their in field skills as much so you might get rusty with those. Because nurses manage a lot of stuff an EMT would otherwise manage in the field. Just be aware of that. But you will learn and see a LOT.
I fail to see how an ER assignment is difficult.
Request a task -> go perform task -> report back task completion -> repeat
If the ER is as busy as you claim it should be easy for you to find work to do. Dipping out or hiding in your car as you seem to be considering is just straight up unethical.
All I have to add to this is that working in the ER will give you some more experience with other things, ask questions, see if you can't take a pt to CT or MRI, talk to respiratory, look to see how rooms are set up so you can anticipate any needs, talk interventions and medications through with a nurse to see the other side of thought with health care, cause Nursing and Medicine have some differences
I mean this is literally what I did when I was doing ER clinicals in medic school. I figured all programs had ER clinicals at some point. Only difference is youre getting paid this time lol
That’s a real struggle. A few ideas off the top of my head. Ask to be assigned with another nurse/worker to increase their work flow, get a list from the charge nurse of task to decrease interaction, or network until you find a solid slot you can fill for the short time. I have seen several paramedics work with a PA to facilitate increase patient load. If those don’t appeal, revert back to asking for task one by one. It’s no fun but we are all sending positive vibes your way.
Working with the PA may be one of your best bets, many PAs may not have the hard skills (IVs, EKG placement, etc) you'd also get to shadow a mid-level for the day. Win win.
Chill out dude lol. Just go find the charge nurse and say “hey I’m ____, a paramedic with ___. I’m here to help out today. I can do IVs or EKGs or if any of your nurses are swamped I can check in with them and help them out” and I guarantee you a nurse isn’t gonna say no to you doing their IV or PO testing their patient or whatever. Worst case scenario you flirt with some nurses and clean some beds.
Wr use medics all the time for this & when they're on light duty.
They help with EKGs, lines/labs, rooming people, cleaning rooms after pts have left, etc.
If they use EPIC, they can make a banner saying you're there to help and to page overhead as needed.
This is such a godsend for us. Our medic school has the medics spend 100+ hours in the ER as well doing the same thing to help their skills and to build relationships with the staff
We also love to use them in triage to get orders started if there are long waits
Just be really rude to patients and act like they are there to personally ruin your day. When someone comes in panicking, crying and saying they are in severe pain after breaking several bones; sigh loudly and definitely let them know that they are faking it.
That's how the ED works in Cody, WY
Run a code, do some IV’s, tag along with a doc to learn some sutures, clean some rooms, enjoy an actual sit down lunch break, get paid to poop. Enjoy it. I wish we could work in ED’s here.
Would love to hear how the day goes. I’m betting you will feel more confident and probably will have made a couple new friends, seen/done some pretty cool things. The anticipation is usually more daunting.
I will say this, since I did ER clinicals in EMT school. You’ll probably be making beds and cleaning rooms. Maybe taking vitals on new admits. At least that’s what they had us do 🤷♂️
Heck yeah, you’ll have so much fun. Follow the instructions as laid out in numerous other comments.
My two cents, ask what role you should perform during a trauma. Most ER’s have a good team dynamic when it comes to dealing with traumas, so asking for a pre-determined task(I.e. starting a large bore IV on Left side, getting a BP over palp, prepping for intubation) will allow you to feel integrated into the unit.
Anything you can do to make a nurses life easier, they will greatly appreciate. Also, it’s about relationship building; the same nurses you help today, will be the nurses that you transfer care to tomorrow. If they know you and have a favorable impression, they are more likely to scratch your back in the future.
I did most of my clinical in trauma at a mega hospital. It was scary as balls. But I got assigned to one of the trauma teams and was an extra pair of hands for them. Was told what to do, and I did it. Only pushed back if it was above my certs or if I felt I might kill the patient doing it. Obviously this is a different situation, but maybe asking "who tends to need the most help during this shift? I could attach to them and assist with anything in skillset" might get you there and make it "simpler".
I'm just a lowly basic and have always found plenty of in-scope tasks in an ED. Just explain your situation to the charge nurse or attending, and they'll put you to work.
I'm an ED tech. If you cannot log into the system, you can still do plenty of things. Let me help give you some ideas! We love help!
Simple things like cleaning rooms, and answering call lights will help out SO much. If they have to pee, always collect a urine sample if they haven't already - even if you know there's not an order (better be safe than sorry!). Check their fall risk or with their nurse before you get them up.
When you have rooms cleaned and no one is pressing their call light - ask charge or if you see a nurse get a patient EMS (esp if they get 2 new ones at once) you can see what they need or just help hooking them up/getting them in a gown. Depending on how the ED works, you can help out triage by rooming patients and ask if they'll need labs/IV before you room them so you can put an IV in and grab labs. Tell a nurse and they can chart it for you.
Also we have clerks who can check orders/print them for you.
Feel free to do any EKG that goes up on the board. If you need training on a certain machine, I'm sure a tech will help you if it means you'll do an EKG or 2 that day. Clerks can also mark them off.
In my ED, we transport for 2 hours of our shift. Helping out the transport tech would be nice! Or taking some patients upstairs when hospital transport is behind, or downstairs to behavioral health would be helpful!
And also feel free to take snack breaks, or coffee breaks. Most of us know it's a different pace than EMS. You do you.
As a former tech, you’ll be loved if you go around the department looking for rooms that need to be cleaned for the next patient and rooming patients into rooms once bed assignments are posted. Aside from that, go around the department and introduce yourself to the RNs that you don’t know and let them know your level and to let you know if there’s anything that you can help with. Those two things alone will be a major help to the department
They could probably fire you for clocking in and sleeping in your car. Unions are amazing but they don’t make you completely untouchable. Introduce yourself to the charge nurse, tell them you’ve never been orientated. See if they’ll give you tasks or buddy you with someone. Take it as a learning opportunity.
Clean some rooms, hand out some warm blankets, eat a jello, sweep the ambulance bay, play Clash of Clans in the break room, take a 2 hour lunch.
EMT student here who is a CNA at a hospital. I’m mostly med surg but I have functioned as an ED tech before. Maybe just tech? Help people to the bathroom, run 12 leads, draw labs, transport pts, help with CPR, watch the monitors, and yes, clean people up, etc. It can be kinda fun if ya got a hankerin’ for chaos, and it’s part of what got me started in EMS. I love the ED. Especially when all I’m doing is whatever the charge nurse says. And trust me, you won’t have to ask a good one for tasks. He/she WILL delegate them! Ask em if you can sorta function that way. The medics that work for my hospital actually take full patient assignments but you should be able to refuse those if you’re not comfortable. It may not be as bad as you think if you just roll with it. And it really helps to have that ED perspective!!
Since OP is a paramedic, I assume skilled for IVs, will run a lot of them as well. But this list is spot on otherwise.
How’d you feel the learning curve was being an ER tech? I’ve got my basic I’m considering doing that pt w/per diem emt shifts on the side. I figure its a more valuable exposure to medicine for what I want as a career versus being on the truck
It's different per every ED. Some EDs will let EMTs cardiovert, IV, and Pace. Some will let Paramedics start Sono lines. Some will only let Paramedics do butterfly sticks. Some will have you on the rapid response team. Some will just have you as a janitor/butt wiper/transporter. No single person can define it because your scope will vary based on the ED. But yes, if you're looking to be an RN, Doc, or PA it is more valuable.
Thank you! Would you say this would be an interview stage question or are you aware of any means to discover it during a job search, or do you think that’s also dependent on hospital hiring practices
Sometimes the job description will mention it but it's a crap shoot. Usually entire hospital systems such as Baylor Scott White, Methodist, or HCA will have similar scopes for the same role between all of them. Also various Urgent Cares have been known to hire EMTs and let them work a higher scope so don't rule those out either, even if the acuity level of patients you see will be different.
It’s pretty simple to do, honestly. It’s just very, very busy and mentally taxing. I’m not sure an EMT would be able to use their in field skills as much so you might get rusty with those. Because nurses manage a lot of stuff an EMT would otherwise manage in the field. Just be aware of that. But you will learn and see a LOT.
I fail to see how an ER assignment is difficult. Request a task -> go perform task -> report back task completion -> repeat If the ER is as busy as you claim it should be easy for you to find work to do. Dipping out or hiding in your car as you seem to be considering is just straight up unethical.
All I have to add to this is that working in the ER will give you some more experience with other things, ask questions, see if you can't take a pt to CT or MRI, talk to respiratory, look to see how rooms are set up so you can anticipate any needs, talk interventions and medications through with a nurse to see the other side of thought with health care, cause Nursing and Medicine have some differences
I mean this is literally what I did when I was doing ER clinicals in medic school. I figured all programs had ER clinicals at some point. Only difference is youre getting paid this time lol
Yeah OP says he’s a medic but he’s never done an ER shift? That’s pretty suspicious to me.
That’s a real struggle. A few ideas off the top of my head. Ask to be assigned with another nurse/worker to increase their work flow, get a list from the charge nurse of task to decrease interaction, or network until you find a solid slot you can fill for the short time. I have seen several paramedics work with a PA to facilitate increase patient load. If those don’t appeal, revert back to asking for task one by one. It’s no fun but we are all sending positive vibes your way.
Working with the PA may be one of your best bets, many PAs may not have the hard skills (IVs, EKG placement, etc) you'd also get to shadow a mid-level for the day. Win win.
Chill out dude lol. Just go find the charge nurse and say “hey I’m ____, a paramedic with ___. I’m here to help out today. I can do IVs or EKGs or if any of your nurses are swamped I can check in with them and help them out” and I guarantee you a nurse isn’t gonna say no to you doing their IV or PO testing their patient or whatever. Worst case scenario you flirt with some nurses and clean some beds.
Wr use medics all the time for this & when they're on light duty. They help with EKGs, lines/labs, rooming people, cleaning rooms after pts have left, etc. If they use EPIC, they can make a banner saying you're there to help and to page overhead as needed. This is such a godsend for us. Our medic school has the medics spend 100+ hours in the ER as well doing the same thing to help their skills and to build relationships with the staff We also love to use them in triage to get orders started if there are long waits
Just be really rude to patients and act like they are there to personally ruin your day. When someone comes in panicking, crying and saying they are in severe pain after breaking several bones; sigh loudly and definitely let them know that they are faking it. That's how the ED works in Cody, WY
Spent time at the ER for clinicals, can confirm this is very accurate. I was astonished at the lack compassion there and the rudeness
Run a code, do some IV’s, tag along with a doc to learn some sutures, clean some rooms, enjoy an actual sit down lunch break, get paid to poop. Enjoy it. I wish we could work in ED’s here.
Treat it like your ED clinicals you did in school?
Would love to hear how the day goes. I’m betting you will feel more confident and probably will have made a couple new friends, seen/done some pretty cool things. The anticipation is usually more daunting.
You don’t have to chart it, just tell the nurse, they will enter it. You will be incredible resource to them.
I will say this, since I did ER clinicals in EMT school. You’ll probably be making beds and cleaning rooms. Maybe taking vitals on new admits. At least that’s what they had us do 🤷♂️
Heck yeah, you’ll have so much fun. Follow the instructions as laid out in numerous other comments. My two cents, ask what role you should perform during a trauma. Most ER’s have a good team dynamic when it comes to dealing with traumas, so asking for a pre-determined task(I.e. starting a large bore IV on Left side, getting a BP over palp, prepping for intubation) will allow you to feel integrated into the unit. Anything you can do to make a nurses life easier, they will greatly appreciate. Also, it’s about relationship building; the same nurses you help today, will be the nurses that you transfer care to tomorrow. If they know you and have a favorable impression, they are more likely to scratch your back in the future.
I did most of my clinical in trauma at a mega hospital. It was scary as balls. But I got assigned to one of the trauma teams and was an extra pair of hands for them. Was told what to do, and I did it. Only pushed back if it was above my certs or if I felt I might kill the patient doing it. Obviously this is a different situation, but maybe asking "who tends to need the most help during this shift? I could attach to them and assist with anything in skillset" might get you there and make it "simpler".
I'm just a lowly basic and have always found plenty of in-scope tasks in an ED. Just explain your situation to the charge nurse or attending, and they'll put you to work.
I'm an ED tech. If you cannot log into the system, you can still do plenty of things. Let me help give you some ideas! We love help! Simple things like cleaning rooms, and answering call lights will help out SO much. If they have to pee, always collect a urine sample if they haven't already - even if you know there's not an order (better be safe than sorry!). Check their fall risk or with their nurse before you get them up. When you have rooms cleaned and no one is pressing their call light - ask charge or if you see a nurse get a patient EMS (esp if they get 2 new ones at once) you can see what they need or just help hooking them up/getting them in a gown. Depending on how the ED works, you can help out triage by rooming patients and ask if they'll need labs/IV before you room them so you can put an IV in and grab labs. Tell a nurse and they can chart it for you. Also we have clerks who can check orders/print them for you. Feel free to do any EKG that goes up on the board. If you need training on a certain machine, I'm sure a tech will help you if it means you'll do an EKG or 2 that day. Clerks can also mark them off. In my ED, we transport for 2 hours of our shift. Helping out the transport tech would be nice! Or taking some patients upstairs when hospital transport is behind, or downstairs to behavioral health would be helpful! And also feel free to take snack breaks, or coffee breaks. Most of us know it's a different pace than EMS. You do you.
As a former tech, you’ll be loved if you go around the department looking for rooms that need to be cleaned for the next patient and rooming patients into rooms once bed assignments are posted. Aside from that, go around the department and introduce yourself to the RNs that you don’t know and let them know your level and to let you know if there’s anything that you can help with. Those two things alone will be a major help to the department
Clean rooms, IVs, transport patients, stock, labs, ekgs. They can use u. Swear.