Nursing Student Need information on CRNA programs

Nursing Students SRNA

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I am currently a nursing student in Florida. I have always had a desire to do something in the medical field. When I began college two years ago, I had aspirations of becoming a doctor. Those desires quickly faded however when I realized that I did not want to spend eight more consecutive years in school. Because I still wanted to do something that allowed me to interact with people and remain in the medical field, I decided on nursing. I would Ultimately like to become a Certified Nurse Anesthetist. That way I could still be directly involved with people, and medicine ( particularly surgical.) I begin clinicals in January '09 and will finish in May '10. In order to be accepted into the schools I am interested in for my CRNA license, I must work in a critical care unit for at least a year. I would like to be on an accelerated path to my goals and I am wondering if anyone knows how to go about working in an ICU setting right after school, or if I have to work a certain amount of years before I can be accepted in ICU. I do not mean to sound like I am trying to rush through the whole nursing experience, because I do want to learn all that I can, but I like to have a plan,can't really help it! If anyone has advice I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

LS

I think it mostly depends on the specific hospital you are going to work in. Some do accept new grads into ICU, some don't. However, I've also been reading this site because I want to become a CRNA and I wanted to see what people say about going into ICU and the impression I got was that you should make sure there is a really good orientation programmed offered for the ICU unit. Some people say that their ICU unit just throws nurses into ICU without having them properly adjust to the work and it just ends up being Hell...

I also read from multiple people that after they became an RN they worked in ICU while working on their BSN so they were able to go directly into a CRNA program without any time in between...I think this is great because you can get your schooling done much more efficiently and you're still gaining a lot of experience in ICU.

Search the forum...there's a lot of good info. It certainly helped me out.

Where in FL are you? I'm in Tampa, and while not all ICUs here accept new grads, many do. I graduate in August and I've only applied for ICU positions so far. The shortest orientation I've seen is 10-12 weeks with a preceptor, the longest is 20. I haven't been hired yet however, apparently the rampant budget cutting in FL right now is hurting hospital education budgets for new grads - one big one here is on a hiring freeze at the moment. If I don't get in for a few interviews at least soon I'll bite the bullet and do 6 months of med-surg - I just don't want to. You're not graduating yet, and the financial climate may change dramatically before you do. Apply for ICU postions at every hospital in your area. If you can't get in there, apply for ER or for a step-down unit. At least try to get on a floor that has tele. Also, do your best to get an ICU preceptorship - in Tampa at least, the ICU internship programs require either that or a year of med-surg. Good luck!

Hey MB37,

I was in Tamps FLA for two years at USF getting my AA. Now I am in Sarasota. Thank you so much for your response, it was full of useful information. After writing this post, I spoke with my friends mother who is the head of the ER in Venice, which is about 40 minutes from where I am. She said that I could shadow her to learn more about the ER so that I would have a better chance of being hired with that on my resume'. I will probably do as you suggested and apply for every ICU position I can. I am also going to continue school and get my BSN while working, so that I can get accepted to a good CRNA program a few years after graduating with my RN. If you have any other information or advice about your experience with nursing school, and would like to share, I would like hear. Good Luck with everything, hopefully you will be hired soon!

Thank you!

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