[kfinerthings]

First I Would Like To Hello To All The Nurses Out There! This Is My 1st Post. I Am Starting Nurse Anesthesia School May 2006. I Want To Ask Any Crna's Or Srna's How They Knew Nurse Anesthesia Was Right For Them. When You Started School Were You 100% Sure It Was Right For You. I Knew After 2 Years Of Being A Rn That I Would Have To Go Back For A Masters Degree In Something Administration Or Nurse Leadership. Then I Thought I Don't Want To Be A Nurse Manager. I Worked In The Nicu And Attended Many Deliveries On Any Given Night And Had The Opportunity To See Nurse Anesthetist In Action During C Sec. I Was Inspired And Immediately Did My Research About The Profession And Decided To Pursue This Career. But Now A Month B4 School I Am Feeling Anxiety And Anxiousness Out Of This World. Was This The Case For Anyone Else. I Keep Trying To Tell Myself I Am An Rn Whose Going To Learn How To Admister Anesthesia But The Reality Of School And Having No More Free Time Is Scary. HAS ANYONE ELSE FELT THIS WAY HOW DID U DEAL!! THANKS

[rayman]

Congrats! I am starting in January and I too am anxious. I first heard about nurse anesthesia 20 years ago when I was in the navy...I was an electrician not a corpsman. Something told me that was for me. After I shadowed a few crnas, strike that, after the first one I knew this was something I had to do. Sure the monetary, professional, educational and other benefits are enticing, but it was just kind of an epiphany for me. It just felt like I was destined to do this...lol sounds like gen. patton. Does that help you...don't know. I do understand your anxiety however. Best of luck!

Ray

[jenniek]

Honestly....I was expecting them to revoke their offer of acceptance....it wasn't real until I received my orientation packet and name tag with RRNA and the name of my school on it.
Enjoy your freedom. Spend time with your family. Read anything NOT related to anesthsia/science/school unless it invovles financial aid. I have the book Nurse Anesthesia secrets and it's helpful for down and dirty explainations when I'm wanting quick info.
http://us.elsevierhealth.com/product...sbn=0323031447
The Barash clinical anesthesia handbook is also helpful...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...32&TXT=Y&itm=3

But don't start reading until school! Honestly, enjoy your freedom!

[rayman]

Originally Posted by jenniek

Honestly....I was expecting them to revoke their offer of acceptance....it wasn't real until I received my orientation packet and name tag with RRNA and the name of my school on it.
Enjoy your freedom. Spend time with your family. Read anything NOT related to anesthsia/science/school unless it invovles financial aid. I have the book Nurse Anesthesia secrets and it's helpful for down and dirty explainations when I'm wanting quick info.
http://us.elsevierhealth.com/product...sbn=0323031447
The Barash clinical anesthesia handbook is also helpful...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...32&TXT=Y&itm=3

But don't start reading until school! Honestly, enjoy your freedom!

I'm expecting massive hyperventilation and emesis! It is surreal. Some days it just suddenly hits me...hey you are really going! Wild. Enjoying your blog too Jen. I bet it gets interesting when clinical starts. There are some twu students locally and they say there life is a living hell. Good luck

[jenniek]

Originally Posted by rayman

I'm expecting massive hyperventilation and emesis! It is surreal. Some days it just suddenly hits me...hey you are really going! Wild. Enjoying your blog too Jen. I bet it gets interesting when clinical starts. There are some twu students locally and they say there life is a living hell. Good luck

Advice for the first day....lomotil and Protonix.....honestly. Maybe some propranolol for good measure......
Thanks for the blog comment. I can't wait...counting down to May 11th......
Just so you know, you are not alone in hell, there will be 130 or so other students joining you.

[In2B8]

JennieK, I really got a kick out of your response about feeling that your offer to school might be revoked.............until you got your name tag. I feel exactly the same way. I start school this August, and my additional info should come in the mail in May or June, but until it does, it just won't seem real!

[JJRN]

Where are you starting school in May?

[kfinerthings]

UPENN. I HAVE SORTA FELT IT WASN'T REAL EITHER UNTIL APRIL CAME AND I KNOW MAY IS A FEW WEEKS AWAY. IT'S REAL AND I'M AFRAID VERY AFRAID. I GUESS IT JUST THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN. THANK YOU ALL WHO REPLIED TO MY THREAD. I GUESS MISERY REALLY DOES LOVE COMPANY. NO BUT REALLY ITS GOOD TO KNOW I AM NOT ALONE!

[JJRN]

Deep breath...RELAX. I go there now...it's funny cause we were all talking the other day how we could not believe that the Juniors were starting in a few weeks and crazier yet, we are gonna be seniors! PM me with questions, etc.

Later

[apaisRN]

I was similarly anxious. The first month or so of school wasn't too bad though. There was a lot of education about the profession and the politics. Depends on your school, of course, but they eased us in.

If you are any good at denial, apply it now. Being anxious before school starts has no productive value whatsoever and robs you of the few weeks of normal life you have left. Pretend it's not happening. Get lots of sleep, do fun stuff. I stressed myself out because the school suggested reading "Watchful Care" beforehand and I couldn't find a copy. It was totally unimportant. Just a stupid thing to focus my anxiety on.