Shadowing a CRNA

[Howyaluvdat]

HI,

I am interested nurse anesthesia. I contacted my local hospital and was granted permission to "shadow" their anesthetist. My question is, how long should I shadow him? I have no idea if I should go once a week, 5 days a week, 1 month, 5 months. I will be the first nurse to shadow an employee and the hospital has given me free reign, but they don't know what is considered "sufficient" either. HELP...........

P.S

Any tips on how to prevent passing out in the OR? From past nursing clinicals, I've found that eating breakfast REALLY helps.

Thanks,

Ursula

[CRNA, DNSc]

Alot depends upon how busy the OR is and what you get a chance to see. I would suggest that if you can manage it, do 3-5 days to see more and talk to more CRNAs and get a better feel for what CRNAs do! Good Luck!

[1savvydiva]

hello!!

i figured, i'd add this here since it's relevant. i am currently 'just' a nursing student, but i am also a full time hospital employee. i am interested in begining in surgical trauma icu nursing, and eventually moving into anesthesia. after reading this thread, i went to my own nurse recruiter here and asked if we did shadowing as well, and she told me that we do and to call back and set it up. i wanted to get some advice from you srna's and crna's about the experience. are there any questions in particular that you would suggest that i ask? what all will i get to see/do? thanks in advance for anyone that could offer some insight.

[CRNA, DNSc]

Go to AANA.com and read everything you can about a career in Nurse Anesthesia, it will help you develop what questions are important for your understanding of the role. Good Luck!

[1savvydiva]

originally posted by crna, dnsc

go to aana.com and read everything you can about a career in nurse anesthesia, it will help you develop what questions are important for your understanding of the role. good luck!

thanks for responding!