Am I the only one??

Nursing Students SRNA

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I am curious if there are more students out there frequently fighting the urge to quit anesthesia school. Just hanging on b/c I have loans up the wazoo!!! I enjoy anesthesia for the most part, but being a student is less than glamorous!! Didactic was fine, but clinical is a different story........Any words of wisdom from other students or CRNA's would be greatly appreciated!!!

Gosh! I sure hope that this does not happen to me. I am still in nursing school, but I am planning to go into anesthesia one day.

It is beyond me how human beings can treat other human beings in such a terrible manner. We all have faults and no one is perfect, but why treat someone as though they are not a person with feelings?

It just makes me sad and scared as !@#$ that I may just have to put up with this behavior just so that I can pursue my dreams.:crying2::uhoh21:

Best of luck to all of you who are already in CRNA school. I hope that your road to pursue your goals is a smooth one.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU.

Lately, it has been every day that I wish I could quit. The clinical site I am currently at sucks, our instructors are just plain nasty, and we are having one heck of a didactic semester too. It's a frustrating existence, and I didn't believe everyone when they told me how horrible it was, and you probably won't either. But, it's worse than anyone told me it could be. The feeling you get inside is so terrible, feeling stupid every day, from clinical instructor to didactic instructor. I swear, they take pride in knowing that they make you feel like poo. It's horrible. I'm just starting my second year, and I would have to say that I wouldn't do it over, if I knew what I (and my family) would have to go through.

And that's the truth.

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Nobody knows more about how you are feeling than me, believe me!!! I am now 4 clinical days from being done and I would still give it all back if I could just get back all the money I have put into this ordeal!!! What I have missed out on in the past couple of years and the stress and depression I have gone thru is so not worth it!!! To all of you wanting to get into Anesthesia School, you need to read this and actually BELIEVE what we are saying to be true!!!!

Lately, it has been every day that I wish I could quit. The clinical site I am currently at sucks, our instructors are just plain nasty, and we are having one heck of a didactic semester too. It's a frustrating existence, and I didn't believe everyone when they told me how horrible it was, and you probably won't either. But, it's worse than anyone told me it could be. The feeling you get inside is so terrible, feeling stupid every day, from clinical instructor to didactic instructor. I swear, they take pride in knowing that they make you feel like poo. It's horrible. I'm just starting my second year, and I would have to say that I wouldn't do it over, if I knew what I (and my family) would have to go through.

And that's the truth.

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Wow, Optimistic...that's terrible. I feel so bad for you and others in your situation. Of course we don't know what we are doing sometimes, we are learning (pssstt...it's because we are STUDENTS!). What a load of horse crap that they are dumping on you!

They are arrogant to think that they know everything. I've heard experienced (20+ yrs) CRNAs tell me that they still see stuff that they've never seen before. I've had MDAs tell me that they still learn things all the time. That's how it should be.

Something is going to bite them sooner or later, whether they admit it to anyone or not. And in that moment, they will be surprised that they didn't know something.

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Specializes in CVICU.

One would think that clinical instructors/preceptors would be doing such a job because they enjoy it, but after reading this thread it sounds like these people signed on because they wanted to belittle someone, maybe to help their own damaged self esteem. Surely those people are not taking pride and satisfaction about actually teaching, seeing students have those Aha moments and taking pride in the quality practitioner that they've produced, but instead gaining personal satisfaction from degrading someone. They sound like some miserable people who probably are unsatisfied with themselves. I'm happy that I've read this thread so that I can truly expect and prepare myself for the worst when the day comes that I start anesthesia school.

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Specializes in Cardiac Tele, MICU RN.
Lately, it has been every day that I wish I could quit. The clinical site I am currently at sucks, our instructors are just plain nasty, and we are having one heck of a didactic semester too. It's a frustrating existence, and I didn't believe everyone when they told me how horrible it was, and you probably won't either. But, it's worse than anyone told me it could be. The feeling you get inside is so terrible, feeling stupid every day, from clinical instructor to didactic instructor. I swear, they take pride in knowing that they make you feel like poo. It's horrible. I'm just starting my second year, and I would have to say that I wouldn't do it over, if I knew what I (and my family) would have to go through.

And that's the truth.

What school do you attend?

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Specializes in MICU, SICU.
What school do you attend?

Sorry, not going to answer that one :) But all the Michigan schools have their downside, I can tell you that for sure!

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Well, I'm one of those people who experienced anesthesia school the way fungirl described, and I did withdraw. I was about half way done, with good grades and good evals from the CRNAs. It had been tough-going in the first 4 months of clinical--at a site with really nasty, nasty people. The next 4 months were at a different site, and it was not as bad. I was starting to think that it was actually really turning the corner--getting good evals everyday--but the program director tipped the scales. The PD is a real nut-case and being with the PD in clinical was stuff out of nightmares. Close to the end of the first year, I was purposefully assigned with the PD a handful of times, and those days were like everything that can be horrible about a SRNA's-day-in-clinical. Each day with the PD was more surreally horrible than the last. I realized that the PD had judged me based on the first months of clinical and that the PD was not going to allow me to finish. I decided that wasting two years worth of money was worse that wasting 1 years worth of money. So I withdrew.

I, and many SRNAs I know, have suffered PTSD. The method of clinical education is condoned hazing, pure and simple. Not every CRNA does this, and some are good teachers. But lots and lots are sadistical, and yes, emotional, verbal, and sometimes even physical abuse happen. Shoving, slapping at, and hitting are not that uncommon. There is absolutely no recourse for the SRNAs; the CRNAs and MDAs are always right, period.

It is understandable that not everyone is suited to this kind of 'education'. It's unfortunate, because I believe that I would have made a good CRNA. But, maybe not. Who knows? I thought I was emotionally tough, and am very stubborn about finishing what I start. But non-stop hazing interfered with my mental and physical performance. There was no way that it did not call forth the fight/flight thing at some level, even after I had learned to consciously clamp down hard and immediately on that response.

The funny thing is, is that I was doing the job in clinical. Inducing, maintaining, emerging, doing LMAs, MACs, lots of different cases, I would have liked to have been able to continue to learn. That's what I regret, the wasted learning.

I was doing the one-day-at-a-time thing. Busting my butt in clinical everyday. And the daily evals were meets-expectations everyday. (the best you could get). If I'd been able to avoid the PD, I think it would have ended up OK. I would have survived the PTSD, the hazing would have lessened during the senior year. That's what happens most of the time, you know......when it is very bad, SRNAs just keep showing up, they eventually get to senior year, and it does get better.

Why hazing is tolerated as an educational approach in graduate nursing education, I don't know.

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Specializes in SICU.

Do you feel comfortable telling us what school you attended since you did withdraw or at least what state it's in? I am apalled that a PD (or any clinical instructor for that matter!) would go so far as to treat you that way to force you into quitting!!!

Did any of you even get a hint of dissatisfaction when you talked with students already in the program at your interview? The schools I've interviewed at, the students seem pretty happy. Tired, but happy. Now you have me worried...:confused:

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Aw man, this thread is depressing...:cry:....did any of you guys go to school in New York?

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Is this a systemic problem with CRNA schools in general or is this only a problem with only a few schools that the people on this forum have attended? I am curious because I eventually hope to become a CRNA one day. It makes me very sad (and to be honest scared) that people would have to go through such terrible experiences to pursue their education and dreams.

Best wishes to all of you SRNAs out there!

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I start CRNA school next year and was nervous about clinicals and all the info/procedures to learn now after reading this should I be nervous about suffering a blow to the back of the head when I'm bent over the patient doing something??!! That just sounds crazy but I believe it happens because I've read similar stories on other threads. How do we newbies avoid such brutality (besides dropping out)? :eek: :smackingf

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