As far as the job...things for entry/junior level in IT are frankly extremely bleak. I haven't seen an entry level job rec get approved in maybe a year. And I'm watching lots of my peers getting let go; it's a bad time to be old or young in IT. OTOH...not just my BiL but my wife is in health care, and whatever downside the job holds, 'no one is hiring' and 'they're laying off folks left and right' are absolutely not something they are worrying about.
And no matter what the downsides, no matter the lack of appreciation and compensation, you're actually helping people. That's better than most of us. Best of luck.
I'm curious about this...?
EMS also has a bad cultural issue with PPE and cleaning. Masks are not standard for every call, and by the time you walk into a house and realize you need one, your gloves may already be dirty and you may already be busy with the patient. I am thinking about wearing an n95 mask to every single call, but most people just need someone to take them to the hospital and be a friendly ear while riding. To put on a mask in front of a patient may be taken as a rude gesture, and facial expressions are a large part of communication.
Delightful. But you do it anyway, because that's the nature of the task.
Go into majority of nursing homes and the smell is a combination of shit, piss and disinfectant
But a good nurse can listen and advocate for patients in a very impactful way!
I'm certainly glad I have my good programming job right now. I'm not sure where the field is going, but it certainly ain't 2017 anymore. I will say: like the sibling comment mentioned, nursing (or PA?) can still be a very independent job, especially as an APRN or flight nurse. But I wish you luck!
Pros: - Societal good: There are few who would argue Emergency Medical personnel do harm. Being able to visibly see your work improving people's lives and contributing directly to the public good is incredibly self gratifying. - Handling emergencies: I am the one people call when things go wrong, in charge of patient care, managing scenes on the medical side. - Problem solving: each situation is unique. Assessing situations, determining patient care, and actively working difficult scenes can be fun and helps fulfill my unmedicated ADHD needs. - Handing out ambulance stickers to kids.
Cons: - Smells - Limited medical scope: I stop bleeding, give people oxygen, and get them to the hospital. I have very few medications, cannot intubate, and am not allowed to interpret an ECG. Paramedic is a 14 month program minimum that is a much larger time and money commitment, and even then, doctors are the ones that actually end up managing full patient care and make final decisions. - Pay: I took a very large pay cut. I knew this would happen, and I was incredibly burnt out at my previous job, but the medical field, especially first responders, gets away with low pay and high hours because they often rely on passion and many new people entering the field at the lower levels.
Ultimately, I still have not figured out what I want to do long term. I could go back to programming, but with the current job market, that seems inadvisable. THe medical field will pretty much always guarantee some job. I do want to pivot (still have not completed college), but see above untreated ADHD along with a few other personal things I need to work on. Nursing has higher pay, but puts you underneath doctors such that you rarely make independent medical decisions. And paramedic/firefighter is nice, but hard on the body plus issues in the culture previously discussed.
For anyone considering it, I do recommend taking a class. You can do it in 4 months with a one day a week class (how I did it), and volunteer somewhere. But understand the tradeoffs and recognize that is far from glamorous most of the time.