Ont: RN taking EMCA without College

[cdn.drifter]

I'm an Emergency RN in Ontario looking into doing my required clinical hours on the ambulance then doing my EMCA exams. 450 hours of clinical time, then test out, without doing the college program. Can you please give me any feedback about this, and if you know anyone who has done this can you tell me about their experiences. I dont want to stay in the ER forever, and would eventually like to end up working for Ornge.

Thankyou

[akroeze]

Is that even still allowed anymore? I thought that went away a long time ago?

[cdn.drifter]

The link here explains it:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public...equiv_qa.html#5

And I've talked to one person who has done it, another who is in the process, and a couple of more who are working on it for the future. It is possible.....

[Acosell]

Ornge employs a few RNs for their Pediatric transfers. You might want to look into that as an option as well.

[vs-eh?]

This is for PCP only, I assume.

I don't know anyone who has done this. I know of (I think) RN's and RPN's who have done the 2 year PCP in addition to their 2-4 year nursing education.

Education for (degreed) RN's wouldn't be a problem. Putting into practice I could potentially see as an issue in the EMS environment especially for a non-ER nurse. I do see an issue as possible only needing 10ish shifts and being able to challenge.

Meh, wouldn't really matter anyway. You still have mass competition to get hired and stuff.

[akroeze]

I got my RPN (2 year) before my PCP education.

I can state with 100% certainty that there is no way an RPN would be able to simply do some ride outs and have the same level of competency as a fully trained PCP. I can't say the same for RNs, but from what I know I am fairly confident that the same applies.

[CheekyEMT]

From what I was told when I looked into this back in June of 03, it isn't possible to do that anymore. I went through EMCA right out highschool and carried a current license for 12yrs. Then I moved to the United States for 5 yrs and was licensed and trained there out of Fairfax County. When I returned to Canada I was told by the ministry as well as a few medic friends that I could not challenge the provincial exam anymore and in order for me to get my Ontario license back I would have to complete the full 2 yr program but would likely be exempt from several of the courses. I'd be very interested to know if there is a way around this. If you find out anything or are in fact able to do what you are wanting to do please let us know.