Recruitment and retention benefits of EMT--paramedic utilization during ED nursing shortages.

ED nursing shortages have been widely documented in the literature; however, there has been little exploration of the benefits of using Emergency Medical Technicians-Paramedics (EMT-Ps) in the recruitment and retention of experienced ED registered nurses (RNs). This article will discuss the functionality of EMT-Ps in the nontraditional emergency care setting and the impact of their utilization against a background of nursing shortages. The proposed benefit from use of EMT-Ps in the emergency department will most certainly be lost without the input from the bedside RN. ED RNs play an integral part in the decision making and evaluation of all nontraditional roles that effect their departmental staffing, and their involvement in the process is critical to its success.