To give a inside view of the nurses I work with, let me tell you what we "talk" about in private.
1. We thank god for the paramedic techs in our ER, they are invaluable, hard working, and a wealth of knowledge.
2. We talk about which ones give the best advice on patient care, which we all listen to.
3. That we would not abuse them by asking them to "wipe a butt" that we would not be willing to tackle ourselves.
4. That like other EMS workers, when we work in the "field" as flight nurses we make 50% of the hourly wage we make in the hospital.
5. And lastly, we talk about how the paramedics need to be paid more for the hard work they do. And if it is not in the close future, then help them find a excellerated nursing program so they can get the darn degree and get paid for their knowledge and skills.
The end fix is to standardize paramedicine, covert all programs to degree's, and set a base pay rate with room for cost of living raises. The nursing profession did this years ago, instead of getting upset at nurses, lets just make the same changes for paramedics, end of story.
