The trauma nursing critical care course is designed for nurses and “officially” can only be attended by nurses. Other health care providers can attend the course as “observers”, meaning you can audit the class but do not get credit for it. Here’s a news flash though…If you are a paramedic there is no real reason to take it.

If you are a paramedic and want trauma training other then what you get in paramedic school, consider taking the pre-hospital trauma life support (PHLTS) course or an international Trauma Life Support course (ITLS) course. Both courses are trauma courses for EMS providers no matter if you are a paramedic, nurse, physician or EMT. Having looked at the TNCC course layout, I can tell you that most of the same topics are covered and you are not missing out on some super secret information that nurses get in the TNCC course. The real difference is that the emphasis is “in hospital” and not “pre-hospital”. In addition trauma certification courses a generally required for providers trying to get employed with a particular agency.or department. It is often requirement for nurses to have TNCC certification if they want to work in a trauma facility, ER and sometimes flight nursing. However, for paramedic the requirements to work in flight medicine, or an ER will usually be PHTLS or ITLS and not TNCC. Fire departments generally require PHTLS or ITLS from an applicant if they require trauma certification at all. This really depends on the department and/or region.

Sometimes new providers get certification happy and feel like they need to take every course under then sun to be the best they can be. I am all for being the best you can be, but do it intelligently. Certifications are nice and required for many of us, but the best “teachers” continue to be the “days” you spend actually doing patient care “in addition” to what you have learned in class. If you have the opportunity as a paramedic to take the TNCC course, I wouldn’t at all discourage you from doing it (course credit or no course credit). But I don’t recommend bending over backwards to try and take a course that isn’t much different then those already available to you….especially if it isn’t necessary.