any discrimination in crna schools admission?

Nursing Students SRNA

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i am currently completing my bsn and i am really hoping to get into crna school but i heard that there is discrimination in the crna school admission. i have very high grades but i heard that that alone will not be enough to get in crna schools. i heard that they prefer men over women and they don't like women who are married even if she does not have kids. i also heard that they prefer you to be tall... i am only 5'0 so that might be a problem. i was hoping that good icu experience and high grades would be the basis for admissions in school. please help me clarrify this. and by the way i am in california so i have 3 crna schools to choose from.

thanks.

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As far as Texas goes, your information couldn't be further from the truth. If your grades and experience are suitable, I'm certain you will beafforded the same chance as everyone that applies. You may want to work on defusing ludicrous rumors before getting worked up over them.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I would not think discrimination of any type would be tolerated for the CRNA admission since its a none-issue in other areas of nursing.

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i heard that there is discrimination in the crna school admission. i have very high grades but i heard that that alone will not be enough to get in crna schools. i heard that they prefer men over women and they don't like women who are married even if she does not have kids. i also heard that they prefer you to be tall... i am only 5'0 so that might be a problem. .

thanks.

It is illegal for a program to question you about personal issues...ie...are you married, do you have children, what are your finances etc...Now they have a way to get you to offer the info but you don't have to. Having been involved in selection committees, we don't care about those things...especially how tall you are...I'm 5'2" and there are alot of CRNAs who are shorter than me. We always laugh at how challenged we are sometimes. No patient is placed in danger b/c of your height. ORs have step stools incase you need to increase your height a bit. My department has 15 FT employees and only 4 of them are male. I've heard a class just graduated had only 1 male in their class (so obviously not giving male candidates a better chance).

Your experience, grades, gre, and personality will get you in. I find that CRNA schools invite alot of diversity. Apply and see what happens. Don't approach the process with suspicion.

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Specializes in CVICU.

I don't think they discriminate. I am a woman, minority, single, with a child and 5'1". I was encouraged to apply and they knew about my situation.

I also had a high GPA with good ICU experience ;) Good luck!

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

if they go on height Im definately out teehee

good luck

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency.

not withstanding... i implore all to apply.. one never knows... trust me.. and i'm am doing just fine ~

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Specializes in SRNA.

Seems to me like CRNAs are mostly women. I'll of the people that I interviewed with were female and most of the CRNAs at work are female. Most are a lot shorter than me - and I'm average height for a guy. In the interview, nobody asked if I was married or had kids or anything. They did ask if my family would support me emotionally and if they were up to the financial stress - which I think are appropriate questions. It sounds like maybe your anxiety about getting in may be getting the best of you here. I know my anxiety level was pretty high when I went through the interview process. I was looking for things to worry about! Good luck!

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Minorities, for whatever reason, do seem to be under-represented in the ranks of CRNAs. According to AANA Pres Terry Wicks, writing in the latest AANA NewsBulletin:

72% of the American workers are White

80% of RNs in America are White

92% of CRNAs are White, 2.2% African-American, 1.5% Hispanic, 2.6% Asian/Pacific Islander

As to gender, I believe the stats say CRNAs are M/F in roughly the same proportion as the general US population, i.e. 48/52.

deepz

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Specializes in SRNA.

It would be interesting to see if these stats really differ from the national averages for graduate degrees. I doubt there is much of a difference, but I have no idea where to find such information.

-S

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency.

i can't imagine that stating that all graduate degrees will fall in the same parameters.. i have to believe more minorities are within that category, especially african americans, people from india, asian, and so on, just in the MD category.. i even think whites are the minority...

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Specializes in SRNA.

I understand what you are saying - in my hospital the majority of docs are from another country so it may seem that way. However, all of the CRNAs at my hospital but one are white. In my pre-nursing career which I dealt with software developers (many with a MS), lawyers and MBAs, it was extremely rare to meet someone with an advanced degree that wasn't white - or male for that matter. In a country that is 70% white, it seems very unlikely that minorities with advanced degrees would be the larger group.

-S

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