EMT and Paramedic school will take up 3 full semesters that you could have otherwise dedicated to your nursing prereqs. And the transition programs still require you to take most, if not all of the exact same courses you would have if going straight through nursing- often its mainly the timeframe that's different. So you'll delay yourself 1.5 years from school alone, then you'll start working, making probably around $15/hr as a paramedic (about the average starting pay rate), then you'll still have to take all of your prereqs, now as a part-time student since you're having to work. Hopefully life doesn't happen in that time, which has a tendency to delay people even more. Then after your prereqs as a part-time student, which will take longer since you won't be taking a full course-load, you'll finally start the actual nursing piece, still part time and taking longer. In that time, you'd have already been a nurse for probably a year or two (probably more), making considerably more than you would have as a paramedic.
Paramedic can be a good gig. And yes, people often do move from paramedic to nursing. But it's because they started off as a paramedic, then decided they wanted better pay and working conditions as a nurse. It's usually not because nursing was the terminal goal and paramedic seemed like a good stepping stone. If you know you want to be a nurse, there's no need to add 1.5 years (likely more) of deviation just because there's a step in between. Go be a nurse, make more money, have many, many more options, and start working towards your next step after nursing.
