Re: Thinking about graduate school
I would strongly encourage you to spend some time working in nursing (a year or two, at least) before making any decisions about grad school. Most people don't realize until they're
in nursing what a wide range of options are available, and it takes a while to start to get a feel for how the larger world of nursing works and where your strongest interests lie over time. Most graduate degrees in nursing lock you into a particular career role/path, and I have known quite a few people who "rushed" into graduate school only to find, after they were out of grad school and working, that they didn't particularly enjoy or want to
do what their graduate degree had prepared them to do -- and now they're stuck with a graduate degree and career path they don't particularly want (plus paying back the student loans!), and they're casting about for what they
really want to do.
You will spend an awful lot of time, $$$, and effort on
any graduate degree in nursing -- please, for your own sake, put in the time and effort up front to be sure you're getting a degree you actually want, that will get you what you want professionally. What seems to work best for people is to
first figure out what you want to do with your career (what do you want to be doing, most of the day, most days, for most of the rest of your life?). and
then look into what degree(s) you need to get you there.
CRNA programs require that you have at least a year's ICU experience (full-time) to be eligible, and the bare minimum of experience won't make you a particularly competitive candidate (the programs are extremely competitive, and there are lots of candidates with many years clinical experience applying -- of course, that's not the only factor schools consider.) So, If you're thinking CRNA, your first step (after licensure) would be to work on getting an ICU position. Some programs require a BSN; some will take RNs with baccalaureate degrees in other subjects but, I believe (I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong) that "other" degrees they accept are usually hard science degrees (chemistry, biology, etc.)
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