Ohh my! What am I doing?

[Getnjgywitit]

Ok so quick story short. I've been a certified Paramedic for all of 4 months. I haven't been working as one because I've been enjoying being relatively free of responsibility and just been Bartending and racing motorcycles. But now the time has come where I need to start my career and have the old lady take me a bit more serious. My internship pretty much scared the crap out of me. I did well in my clinicals, but the field internship was brutal. I've never had ALS experience before so I was really just thrown into it. I still get pretty damn nervous just thinking about applying to a place as a paramedic, mostly because I'm not comfortable with the job. Are these feelings normal? How can I over come them?

~Thanks!

 

[medic001918]

The feelings you have are normal to some degree. You shouldn't come out of paramedic school thinking you can handle all that comes with being a paramedic. When you finish school, you really still have an incredible amount of learning left.
I don't know what kind of BLS experience you have coming into the field. So it's difficult to say. If you're that concerned about being a paramedic at this point, maybe you can apply someplace and work as an EMT-B for a little while before making the jump to paramedic. A little extra experience working with a paramedic partner won't hurt. Your other option is to take the leap, jump in and see how you do. If you have a good preceptor, they should be able to help you along.

Shane
NREMT-P

 

[Asclepius]

A healthy respect for your chosen profession is perfectly normal. If you were entering the field with no reservation of anxiety at all, I'd be seriously worried about you. As you begin interviewing and looking for work in ALS care, be honest with your prospects. Tell them you're new and you want to learn. Most agencies appreciate a person who understands their limits.

BUT remember this as well...you have been through all the training, completed the required hours and passed all the testing or you wouldn't have the P at the end of your credentials. That means enough people thought you did well enough to deserve the opportunity to practice ALS medicine. Be confident in that.

Take every opportunity you can now to soak in the experiences you're going to start encountering. Every call, even the ones that are routine in nature, are opportunities to learn, hone your skills, or perfect your style. Walk away from every call asking what did I do right and/or what could I have done differently.

Good luck. I think you'll do fine, because you understand that you need real life experience.