Could I be a CCRN specialist for both kids and adults?

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Hi guys! I'm currently a pre-nursing student and my future goal is to become a CCRN working with both children and adult (then later down the road become a CRNA). But since I am a new HS grad there are a lot of things still unclear to me; like could I work with both children and adults simultaneously as a future grad nurse? I want to obtain my certification in PICU and AICU. I also want to be a travel nurse after having two years of experience (for maybe three years), then be employed by the navy to help pay off some of my student loans (this all be before going back for my masters).

Yeah I know, my future goals does look a little lengthy. But I have been planning this all out since my sophomore year in HS. I currently have no support from family or friends to pursue my future goals, (my mother even suggested to me that I don't need to go to college) however, their non-support makes me want to pursue it even more.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

The CCRN designation is an exam one takes after several years of bedside practice with the target patient population. So, for example, I am a peds CCRN. If I wanted to sit for the adult CCRN exam, I would need to spend two years or so as a bedside nurse in an adult ICU and then sit or the exam. Theoretically, one could do both. Practically, well, they are completely different skill sets, different diagnoses encountered. Adult CCRN is much more common. I was told by the accrediting body (American Association of Critical Care Nurses) that of every 100 CCRNs in the US, only TWO hold the peds certification.

And don't let anyone tell you to skip college. 40+ years ago, I was told the same thing. No one in my family had ever gone to college, and no one saw the use of a girl being educated. In fact, 'smart' girls were not encouraged AT ALL! So, I did it anyway. Enrolled in an out-of-state college, worked at a grocery store and as a nurses' aide to pay tuition and living expenses. Became an LPN, then earned an associate degree (RN). Then a BA, then a BSN, then an MSN and in eight months, I will have earned my doctoral degree (DNP). No student loans either- just incredibly hard work. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

You go girl!

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Your kind words are very encouraging!

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Like Meanmaryjean said, you could get both certifications, but there isn't much point to it. The CCRN is not required to work as a nurse, it is just a test you can take to get a certification showing you have advanced knowledge in critical care (you can apply to take it after working as a nurse for about one year). And as far as ICU's go, there is the NICU (newborns), PICU (pediatrics), and a plethora of adult ICU's such as burn, trauma, cardiac, surgical, neuro, and medical. But, working critical care, you would never work with both adults and peds at the same time. The only exceptions I can think of would be if you worked in a very small rural hospital where the nurses were a catch all, the Emergency Department, or Post-Op.

If you want to become a nurse, do it! Don't let you family talk you out of it. My family was also not supportive of me going to college, so I ended up getting a job as a plumber (student loans were not really available back then), and went back to school later in life. I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I love my job. With student loans automatic now, you will be able to do it without their help, though if they did help, or you lived at home while in school, it would make it easier.

As far as what area to work in, I would just focus on getting through college for now, there is plenty of time to decide on a specialty later. During school you will do rotations through the various areas such as OB, Psych, Community Health, Peds, Critical Care, etc. which will give you a chance to see what you like. You can always change specialties also, so there is no reason you could not work both peds and adults at different points during your career if you wanted to.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.
And as far as ICU's go, there is the NICU (newborns), PICU (pediatrics), and a plethora of adult ICU's such as burn, trauma, cardiac, surgical, neuro, and medical. But, working critical care, you would never work with both adults and peds at the same time. The only exceptions I can think of would be if you worked in a very small rural hospital where the nurses were a catch all, the Emergency Department, or Post-Op.

I would just like to add to the conversation that this above statement is misinformed. My 400+ bed, level I trauma, level III NICU, teaching, Magnet, top 100, designated stoke, ACS, etc has a NICU (which is only babies), a CVICU (which is only adults, except when SICU beds are full and they take their overflow and vice versa) and a SICU/CCU (which is both adults and any age of baby or child). Plus an adult Step-down unit. Our ED also sees Pt's of all ages.

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and a SICU/CCU (which is both adults and any age of baby or child).

Your SICU takes adults, peds, and neonates? That is the first I have heard of anything like this; does your hospital not have a PICU? This is extremely uncommon, especially for a combined CCU since it is very rare for a child to have an MI, CHF, etc. And the medications/dosing/interventions/as well as physicians are so vastly different between the populations. Do you mind if I ask what hospital you work at?

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.
Your SICU takes adults, peds, and neonates? That is the first I have heard of anything like this; does your hospital not have a PICU? This is extremely uncommon, especially for a combined CCU since it is very rare for a child to have an MI, CHF, etc. And the medications/dosing/interventions/as well as physicians are so vastly different between the populations. Do you mind if I ask what hospital you work at?

I really don't want to pin point my location for anominity reasons as far as AN goes. But yeah, we honestly do! Our Peds floor takes floor status and PIMC (probably know but pediatric intermediate medical care = stepdown Peds). Our NICU only takes babies just born or transferred from another NICU so if a two day old newborn was just DC'd and was involved in a MVA or developed respiratory failure, etc, then the baby would go to our CCU and not our NICU. Once babies are DC'd out of our NICU they are considered "dirty" in the sence that allowing them back into our NICU would be way too much of an infection risk for the other NICU babies. Of course we have a Peds/NICU ICU MD available at all times just like we have an ICU MD for the adults. Honestly, I wouldn't have known any different because I haven't ventured outside of my bubble, other than the surrounding hospitals that transfer everything to us. The only thing we really transfer/defer out are burns >20% and transplants. We're not a big name hospital (or a big name city like Chicago) but we are the place to go for a very large area of the state and the other states that we are close to.

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a SICU/CCU (which is both adults and any age of baby or child).

Holy smokes! I thought PICU seemed terrifying because the patients' developmental stages and conditions/injuries are so diverse from age 0 to 18. I am in awe of nurses who have the assessment skills and breadth of knowledge to care for surgical cases or cardiac cases of all ages.

In response to the OP, the only circumstance I can think where it would make sense to have both adult and child CCRN certification might be in the ED. I don't think having both would make you a more or less desirable candidate for CRNA school other than the fact that it would suggest you'd worked in both a PICU and adult ICU, which would demonstrate diversity in and of itself (regardless of dual CCRN certification).

As far as your goals are concerned, more power to you kariace! With determination and a nursing degree, you can do just about anything.

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Some Peds CCRNs will probably jump in here, but some situations where this might be useful could be in small community hospitals which have mixed-age ICUs - that's where I got my start 40 years ago, or in critical access hospitals. Another more recent phenomenon is that peds hospitals are now frequently caring for adult patients who have survived childhood diseases such as cystic fibrosis into adulthood but are still being cared for by pediatricians or are having revisions of congenital heart defects into adulthood by pediatric cardiac surgeons. In these patients, it would be valuable to have the knowledge of both pediatric and adult critical care. To renew your certification, you would be required to have CEUs for both certifications, but there could conceivably be some overlap. You would still need to have the required clinical practice hours for each patient category in which you were renewing your certification.

The wonderful thing about nursing as a career is that you will never tire of it. There is always a new opportunity or area of interest available for you to explore and learn about. I thought I would always stay in my home town, in my home state, working in Peds. I have now been licensed in five states and had an astonishing variety of experiences and job types. I wish you well on your journey. You will meet some amazing people along the way, and when you are an old lady like me, you will never have to wonder if your life has been worthwhile!

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