How to become a transport nurse

So, you want to be a transport nurse? Here is a little about me. I have been a nurse for a little over 11 years. I have tried a little of lots of things, step down, NICU, ER, peds ER, home health, fixed wing transport, and travel nursing. In my current position I am on the PICU transport team of a children's teaching hospital. I sit in on peer interviews, and am a preceptor and resource nurse to new team members. I will discuss common traits that seem to be present in successful transport nurses. I will also give some insight on what desired qualifications are, and a few interview tips.

Transport nursing encompasses a wide variety of things. There are nurses who work for ambulance companies and accompany paramedics on calls for sicker patients. There are nurses who work for police and fire departments on their ambulances and helicopters. There are transport nurses who are hospital based and do primarily interfacility transports, that is from one hospital to another. There are nurses who work for fixed wing transport companies that transport people from various locations world-wide to hospitals. There are nurses who accompany people with special medical needs on regular commercial airplanes. This article is not going to discuss in-depth the different types of transport nursing. Rather, I wanted to give you a base of understanding that transport nursing may encompass more than you previously realized.

There are a few traits that seem to be present in most successful transport nurses. The first is an ability to think on your feet. Transport nursing has the tendency to throw you into situations for which you were not prepared. For example, you were sent to pick up a patient with a seizure disorder, arrive at a facility and are asked to help run a code in progress instead. Equipment may malfunction, disease processes may not be textbook, and medical control might be otherwise occupied. If new situations throw you for a loop, transport nursing may not be your cup of tea. If however, you can take a moment, gather information about your surroundings, and calmly look for ways to deal with the situation at hand, transport nursing may be right up your alley. For example, your IV pump breaks, and you need to give pressors for a low blood pressure. How do you handle it? A person who is successful in this role searches out ways to give the needed medication with the current resources. Perhaps this means using the outside facility's IV pump until you figure out another solution. Perhaps who use a different type of pump, or a back up pump. Maybe you call for additional materials if your base is close, maybe you borrow the current facility's equipment and bring it back. This brings me to another common trait.

You can identify your resources. Your resources in transport may include reference materials, your paramedic, your medical control, a doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist at another facility. Resources can include many more things, but those are some of the most commonly used. In nursing, as in life, you frequently discover that the more you know, the more you realize how little you know. So, what should you do if you arrive at a pt bedside and after a quick assessment you know things are very wrong, but you are either not sure what is going on with them, or you know, but have run through all available protocols and still need to intervene. A successful transport nurse will utilize other people and materials to help discern what is happening, or how best to treat the patient. There is no shame in phoning a friend in transport, or looking up dosing or calculation information for medications that you do not frequently give.

The third thing that makes for a successful transport nurse is people skills. This is essential. After all, you need to be able to communicate with patients, families, medical staff from various facilities, and your own team. This enables you to provide the safest, best care for your patients as possible. Compromise, in critical situations where 3 or 4 different people have different ideas about how to care for the patient, becomes an art form. Putting stressed out patients and family members at ease despite their current predicaments may help you obtain a better history, and improve patient outcomes.

A desire to know why you are doing things, and the ability to speak up and question diplomatically when things seem off. This frankly applies to all realms of nursing. Gone are the days when it is considered appropriate to blame the doctor if a medication or other error is made. If a dose or drug seems off, ask about it. Never give something that you are uncomfortable with, or unsure about. Utilize the resources we talked about earlier. Interventions once completed, frequently cannot be undone. So, take some time to understand why you are giving IVF, performing ROM, giving medication, taking a patient to surgery etc. If your patient asks you why you are doing something your answer should never be, because the doctor ordered it.

The final, but one of the most important traits of a successful transport nurse, is a broad knowledge base. Transport nursing frequently affords, and demands a large amount of autonomy. If you do not possess more than a rudimentary knowledge of common disease processes, medications, common testing, and expected results, it will be very difficult to do your job effectively.

So, you have read through the list of desirable traits in a transport nurse. You feel that describes you in your current practice. How do you get an interview for transport? Here are a few tips for getting the interview and acing it.

First, be aware of the desired qualifications of the job for which you are applying. Most transport positions require that a nurse has a minimum of 3-5 years in Emergency or ICU nursing. Extra classes and certifications may also be desirable. For example having taken your CCRN, CEN, or CPEN. ACLS, PALS, and NRP are also often desired. Some jobs may request that you also be certified as a paramedic or prehospital RN. Take some time to read through a few job descriptions in your desired niche of transport. Then strive during your practice to fulfill as many of those as possible.

Meet and greet. Transport can be a very competitive field. Attending a few transport seminars, or transferring jobs to a hospital unit that has a transport team based out of it can be helpful. This alone will not make or break you. however, it can be useful for getting your foot in the door.

Ace the interview. In the interview, you can expect to be asked general questions about your past experience, strengths, and weaknesses. Additionally you may be asked some what would you do scenario questions. No one expects you to know everything. However, generally people are looking to see if you exhibit good working knowledge, have people skills, and can think on your feet. Answer questions honestly. If you do not know an answer, propose a way to find out. Don't forget to ask questions of your own. Ask what a typical day or call is like. Get a sense of modes of transport used. Ask who goes on the calls, who triages and assigns the call, and whether the program is protocol based. This gives you a chance to figure out if the job is a good fit for you, and takes a little pressure off of you so that you can let your personality and people skills shine.

Transport nursing is a very demanding and rewarding job. It can be very competitive, so don;t get frustrated if you don't land your dream job the first go around. Instead, ask what skill sets or qualifications you should focus on to become a better candidate, then work on those things. Best of luck to you!!!