It’s that time of year, I get to practice as a nurse. I got my R.N. a number of years ago, but I only actually touch patients as a nurse at flu shot season. While going to nursing school, I got my EMS clinical coordinator job, and that combined with still working full time as a paramedic pretty much killed any time to do nurse work. The R.N. after my name definitely helps with giving me more credibility working in a hospital where nurses play a powerful role in administering the place. I went to nursing school in the first place to have a fallback if I got hurt or if overtime dried up. I imagined working full time as a medic, and part time as an ED nurse. I will likely go to my grave as never having had to put a foley in anyone. Every year I get to give flu shots to my fellow paramedics and EMTs. Not that giving a flu shot involves anything a paramedic doesn’t already know, but in this state paramedics can’t give them. Has to be an R.N., which is me.
If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, you should consider getting it. They are not fool proof, but have been proven to both reduce your risk of getting the flu by 40-60% or may lead to a milder case should you get it.
