Is CRNA school as difficult as people said?

[SlyFoxRN]

I consider myself to have above average intelligence and did fairly well in college (a top 20 private university). Last year, I decided medical school wasn't for me due mainly to the expense (4 years medical school than 3-5 years residency at a very low salary = loan buildup!). I was going to have to pay for any schooling past undergrad on my own, so I decided I could still go into the medical field, but with a cheaper route - an advanced practice nurse.

When I was going to medical school, I planned to either be a surgeon, dermatologist, psychiatrist, or anesthesiologist. I have interest in all 4 fields and would be happy in any of them. As an advanced nurse, I can be a dermatology certified NP, a mental health NP, or a CRNA - making it possible to still follow the paths of my 3 favorite specialties.

I've been finding out what I can about all three, and when I look up CRNA information I always see the same thing: That CRNA Education is a nightmare-ish experience. That it requires 10+ hours of studying per day, etc.

So did anyone find it a bit easier than it was made out to be?

I'm not saying easy...just easier than people let on.

For example, I went to an accelerated BSN program and all I ever heard was how hard it is from current students. One guy who spoke to us during orientation (a last semester student) said "Get used to B's...B's are awesome. You're never going to see another A again."

It terrified me.

Yet, here I am at the end of the first semester and I've made straight A's with very little studying (2-3 hours before an exam total).

So I wonder if anyone can give me some insight into what to expect really if I choose this route. Did anyone go to school and realize it wasn't nearly as difficult as people made it out to be...perhaps 1-2 hours of studying per day (with extra before exams) as opposed to this 10+ I keep hearing??

[Spoiled1, MSN, RN]

Was the prep course given by the school for your program's students or.is.it something any SRNA could take?

[SRNA4U, BSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

It was given just for the students in our program. It's a really good course because it ties everything you learn in Basic Principles of Anesthesia, which in most programs you cover it in a semester (15 weeks) and we covered it in 3 days in a class called Overview of Nurse Anesthesia. In our Basic Principles of Nurse Anesthesia class, we learned all of the equipment used by the CRNA as well as Airway Anatomy since we had to know all the nerves in the larynx and what muscles they innervate and what are the signs and symptoms of injury which can be caused by the ETT or the cuff if it herniates above the vocal cords. We also learned everything there is to learn about ETT as well as how to calculate tube size for peds. We learned about supraglottic airway devices (LMA) and other intubation techniques. We learned about the double cuff tube if you're doing thoracic surgery and how to perform a bronchoscopy once the tube is inserted. I'm getting excited as I'm typing just thinking about the fun things we've learned and will get to do in this profession.

You'll get to learn how to recognize when the ETT is in the esophagus, what the End-tidal CO2 waveform tells you about if youre patient has a restrictive or obstructive disease or if your soda lime needs to be changed on your machine or if your patient is starting to wake up, also how to recognize and treat laryngospasm, bronchospasm, etc.

Its a lot of information and one thing I will tell you about anesthesia tests is you are really tested on your attention to detail. Our tests cover the design as the CRNA boards...so we have multiple choice, multiple multiple where you have to select 2 or 3 answers that are right, we also have hot spots where you have to drag and drop your answer with the mouse, and we have essays where you have to list and explain and that part can trick up a lot of people. For example, we had to list how you would manage pt in preop who has a cardiovascular implantable electronic device, which is a fancy word for either a pacemaker or AICD and we had to write at least 4 things we would need to do to care for this patient...such as consult cardiology team, find out the age and manufacturer of the device, what prescription cardiology has for you in regards to the device, and what are the indications for the device, such as if it's a pacemaker does the pt have a hx of 2nd degree Type 2 Heart Block or complete heart block and if the pt has an AICD did the patient have heart failure or history of having lethal dysrhythmias. These were all the stuff we have to write out and explain. You really have to know your stuff and know why you are doing what you're doing. Because with these devices, you have to know how the bovie, which is the electrocautery device the surgeon uses to cut or coagulate tissue or vessels, will interact with the pacemaker or AICD. You need to know will the AICD pick up the use of the bovie and interpret it as the patient having v-tach or v-fib.... you need to know how long the surgeon can use the bovie if it interacts with the AICD device.

Have any of you all applied for CRNA school yet?

[Spoiled1, MSN, RN]

Thanks for the detailed response. I got excited too from reading your post. It sounds like your program is doing a great job of preparing you. I've applied to UNE and have my interview on Tuesday!

[icu_rn88, BSN, RN]

Hello SRNA4U,

I am a Drexel CRNA hopeful, graduated from Drexel with my BSN in 2012 and just applied for NA school to start January 2016. Can you tell me a little about your stats? I had a 3.3, 9 months LTAC ICU and have been in my current ICU/CCU at Lourdes since July 2013, 163 verbal/154 math. 5.0 on GRE and good solid recommendations. I just want to know what my chances are, I'm hoping being an alum will help a little. Also, how are you liking it so far?

[FutureCRNA?, BSN, RN]

How does taking call work? Would it be impossible to live very far from campus at all? I'm about an hour away from 2 crna schools. I usually commute about 50,000 miles a year for school & work although once I'm just (lol) working, that should go down to about 25,000 a year. People think I'm crazy as it is, just wondering if it would even be doable at all with taking call....

[linnusik]

As a follow up post to my last one. I am graduated and working now, and I can honestly say that it still hasnt hit me that I am in this amazing profession. Every time I put a patient to sleep, wake them up, and bring them to PACU and give them report... I have to pinch myself because I keep on thinking " is this real? am I really here?" School was completely worth it. I am still sort of traumatized over it since it wasn't that long ago that I graduated but honestly I can say it was worth it. Would I do it again... yes. Was it hard... god yes but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

[SRNA4U, BSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Just finished 2nd quarter of CRNA school. Clinicals hasn't been bad. I find that I am just chronically tired all the time. I do clinicals in Delaware so on Mondays and Tuesdays I am on the road at 430am. Have to do my anesthesia machine check, draw my meds, get any extra equipment I may need plus review my pts medical and surgical history. All of the CRNA preceptor have been awesome and most of the docs. Up to about 80% of getting my intubations. At my clinical site, their philosophy is students will start off with complex cases first in their training. My first day of clinicals I did a VATS-- lung surgery. Done lots of lumbar discectomy and fusions, axillary bifemoral bypass surgery. Clinicals are awesome. Just mentally exhausted from having to keep up with classes and exams and in clinicals I'm doing cases we haven't covered in school yet. I get home from clinicals around 4pm and then need to write up my care plan which is about 4 pages and if you have 3 or 4 cases it could end up being 12 or 16 pages of stuff you need to fill in....care plans take about 2 hours to write up if you do a good job and spend time on them. Then you need to find time to study for classroom lectures as well. At then end of each quarter were get a week off for a break before the next quarter starts again. Next quarter we will be in clinicals 3 days a week and classes 2 days a week. Good thing about our program is you are allowed to get a B- in your anesthesia class which is an 82 but your GPA can't drop below 3.00. We just finished our physics class which was pretty rough...one of my friends didn't do well in the class and now she's out the program. CRNA school is no joke and it just reinforces you have to really study and stay on top of all your requirements.

[SRNA4U, BSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I had almost 4 years in ICU. Been a nurse for 16 years. Worked OR for 11 years. Did med surg for 6 years. Undergrad GPA was 3.00 Masters GPA was 3.91. Science GPA was 3.67. I'm doing the Post Masters Certificate program in anesthesia since I already hold a MSN which exempted me from doing a thesis and having to do all of the core courses which lightened my load considerably.

[Kuriin, BSN, RN]

What school are you at, SRNA?

[SRNA4U, BSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Drexel University

[chop222]

SRNA4U....I am currently a 5-year xray tech turned to a first year nursing student at a nicely ranked hospital in PA. I have dreams of becoming a CRNA. I know I have a lot of time to see what I like, but from XRAY school I LOVED the OR atmosphere. In your mind, is it a better route to get the MSN before applying for CRNA school? Would that make much of a significant change in cost of attendance? I hope everyone is still following this thread! I am a hands on kind of person by the way..I think if I could lighten the academic load and focus on strictly anesthesia training that would be great. Thanks for your input ladies/gents.

SRNA4U said:

I had almost 4 years in ICU. Been a nurse for 16 years. Worked OR for 11 years. Did med surg for 6 years. Undergrad GPA was 3.00 Masters GPA was 3.91. Science GPA was 3.67. I'm doing the Post Masters Certificate program in anesthesia since I already hold a MSN which exempted me from doing a thesis and having to do all of the core courses which lightened my load considerably.

[verticaltriage, BSN, RN]

I would love to hear how people with families/children manage their time and guilt.