Am I too old???

tariet · Nov 25, 2001

If I could venture a question. I'm graduating in Dec with my ADN with plans to go on for my BSN, I'm working in the OR now and plan to contine to while I pick up my BSN. My question is this... did you all go into a ICU unit right out of nursing school?? I know I need a minimun of 1 year ICU experience in order to even think about appying to a CRNA school and I'm a little worried about spending so much time in the OR and not being able to get the experience I need to get into CRNA school. I love the OR but am really worried about getting the neccessary experience I need in order to move on. I'd really rather not be 50 by the time I apply to school! I've read other posts about why ICU experience is so critical and agree totally. You definately need to be able to do critical thinking. (I know just by watching our CRNA's those that have the skill and those that don't). What kind of experience/time did you all have before deciding to go to CRNA school?

WntrMute2 · Nov 25, 2001

I happened to go directly into the ICU. These days ICUs are desperate for warm bodies. You can easily find an ICU that will take you right out of school. If you can, get your ICU sperience while working on your BSN, that way you will be ready to go to school when you complete your degree. One additional suggestion, try and find a sophisticated ICU, maybe in a teaching hospital, talk to the attendings, fellows, residents and clinical educators (of course fellow nurses) about pathology, drug choices etc. Don't be passive, there is a lot that can be learned by reading, observing and getting involved. Find a system and really learn it, CV, pulmonary are good topics. Personally, my experience was 1 1/2 years in a medical ICU at a private hospital(bad Ju-Ju there) and then 6 years in a trauma ICU, there mostofour patients were surgical, at least managedby a surgical staff. However, the type of ICU is not as imprtant as the level of care and learning that occurs. IMHO.

adnstudent · Dec 21, 2001

OK nilepoc and wntrmute2...I realize it was a silly question about my age....but what about kids. :) I am going to be 32 when I graduate and really wanted to have children before then although it looks like I may have to wait. Are there many mothers in the program? I know it's best to wait but what is the schedule like in the program. Is it too much to go to school and raise a family if I wasn't working? Just curious. :)

WntrMute2 · Dec 21, 2001

The children will probably suffer a bit. You will spend all day every day doing school stuff. I mean you are at the hospital at 5:30. work 8 hours or untill your last case ends, get your patients for tommorrow and research them. Maybe you'll be up untill 10-12 looking/writing. Repeat. This is for clinical days, 1st semester-1 day a week, 2nd semester-2 days, this week- 5 days. This is on top of a full schedual of classes 4-5 classes which are hard and require lotts of study time. If you don't have a family now, I would suggest waiting although I do know one person who had her second child during last semester. Keep in mind you can't miss any real time from the OR or class time. No flexibility here. Your mileage may vary, my school is reputated to be quite a difficult program but I wouldn't plan on it being much easier. Luck.

nilepoc · Dec 22, 2001

I have no kids, and am currently waiting to start my program. I will start in August of 202.

Now the program I am going to ( Georgetown), is very different than Wintermutes.

We start with twelve months of classroom and lab time then have fifteen monts of clinical, that is fairly intensive. In that last fifteen moints, we only take about 8 more credit hours. This is called a front loaded program, and is quite different from what wintermute is in. Don't thnk it is easier, as during those first 12 months, you carry 15 to 17 credit hours. Typically nine hours is considered busy for a graduate student. My wife was not allowed more than say 13 hours durning her PhD.

Craig