[VegasNurse05]

I am aware that CRNA school is very difficult. I have a few questions though.
Lets say you have 2 students. One is a 5 year ICU nurse w/ CCRN, who has assisted (from the nursing side) in multiple intubations, codes, and has extensive practice starting PIVs.
The other is a 5 year PACU nurse.
Both get into CRNA school b/c both are extremely bright.
In your experience are nurses w/ the most training/certifications the ones that have an *easier* time of it?
Have you seen nurses drop out b/c they had no idea it would be so hard?
Does PIV practice help make you a better "line starter"?

[SuperSleeper]

To answer the general question you're asking, there is no way to know who will have the better time of school. It's beyond tough for everyone and each person brings their own background and coping mechanisms in with them.

More specifically, though, PACU does not generally qualify for CRNA school. ICU experience is the requirement. If there are schools that take PACU experience, I am not aware of them, myself. So, I guess that would make it harder for the PACU nurse to succeed, seeing as he or she wouldn't even get accepted!

SS

[VegasNurse05]

I was just seeing that 2 of the 3 schools I was looking at accepted people from PACU. I'm wondering if they would have enough experience to do well in a program w/out all the *stuff* you learn by being 'in the trenches'.

[SuperSleeper]

I wasn't outright saying you were wrong, I've just seen over and over and over that PACU wasn't an area that qualified. Good for those nurses if those schools take them. Then I rescind my attempt at humor.

In that case, I would have to say that if the same vent issues and drips and acuity are handled by nurses in each area, then there is still no way to know who will fare better. It's an individual thing.

Btw, stellar PIV starting is a great skill to have, but can be developed pretty easily. So, I'm not sure that would weigh too heavily.

Are you a PACU nurse?

[Easterdragon]

Hey Vegas Nurse,

Can you PM or email me what two schools allowed PACU nurses in? That's a surprise. I wonder if they're changing the requirement? I would think the requirements would be getting more competitive.

Thanks.

[mark2climb]

I think some of that depends on the type of patients admitted to the PACU. If your PACU recovers fresh hearts or other ICU type patients on a regular basis and you are the one taking them, then the experience should be as good as the ICU. It seems though that most PACUs don't take very sick patients, so the experience won't be as helpful.

I've worked both ICU and PACU and felt that I lost skills while in the PACU, so I had to go back to an ICU to regain those skills. On top of that, not all ICUs are equal. Any sort of surgical ICU will tend to have more unstable patients than your typical MICU.

[armynse]

Originally Posted by Easterdragon

Hey Vegas Nurse,

Can you PM or email me what two schools allowed PACU nurses in? That's a surprise. I wonder if they're changing the requirement? I would think the requirements would be getting more competitive.

Thanks.

Much to my chagrin, my alma mater(LSUHSC) accepted a PACU nurse for this year's class that will matriculate in August. I do not agree with the adcom's decision to accept that particular nurse. Sure, she is nice and all that other gooey stuff. But, bottom line is the fact that she is inexperienced in all areas of critical care. I know this to be a fact because she worked right across the hall from me. The high acuity patients were sent directly to the ICU postoperatively...we recovered all hearts in the unit.

So, basically one of two things must have gone down, she either had a really good interview along with some inside help or the CRNA program was desperate to fill all seats. I believe the former is the more likely scenario than the latter. The program formerly excluded any and all nursing experience that wasn't specifically adult ICU...clearly, they've gone soft.

[VegasNurse05]

No. I'm not a PACU nurse. I work in a Surgical ICU. I just know of a PACU nurse that got accepted to USCs program and thought it was strange since she can't start an IV and doesn't have good hemodynamic experience.

[FLAreN]

Honestly, I can definitely say that I didn't want to goto ICU to get my required experience but after doing so, I can see why it is a requirement. Luckily, I am a quick learner and have been on par with my classmates who have more ICU experience than me but I now strongly feel ICU is a must for success in any CRNA program.

Do I feel confident in things that I should feel confident in as an ICU nurse? No. Do I get chastised for it? YES. Will I remember the next time? YOU BET!

On a sidenote: I feel anyone who has the right attitude, drive, and brains to do this program can succeed, it will just be harder.

[ZARDOZ]

The AANAs standards for admission into a CRNA program actually say \"ONE YEAR OF ACUTE CARE\"... for example the US ARMY GPAN will admit an OR nurse and send them to an ICU for about 6 months.