Tired of searching for CRNA Interview Questions??

kern24 · Jan 20, 2014

Since this site helped me during my CRNA interviews, thought I share some of my insights from my interviews. I had one year of experience and did the whole nursing thing to become a CRNA. Most of my class had the same goal but most people never end up doing it for multiple reasons. That being said, I was surprised how much competition their is to get into a program. The first 15 mins of interview you can tell how good a program is. The rest of the time is for the interviewers to determine how good you are. The rankings of programs does not do justice to many programs. In general, I would recommend a program that is not in a school of nursing. When a program is in a nursing school, you have to meet additional MSN requirements. That basically includes taking BS classes, where you learn absolutely nothing. A program not in a nursing school has more flexibility and generally only has pertinent classes to the profession. So here is my list:

VCU:

Great program overall. Invested faculty and good facilities. Pretty large number of faculty relatively. Only concern would be traveling to different clinical sites to get required cases, especially for the main campus. Interview consist of being one on one with different faculty. Most of them asked personal questions, like why do you want to be a CRNA and what you do to relieve stress. Got asked one technical question about my last sick patient. I mentioned pressors so got asked more about NE and how it works. All the interview interactions where short and they do a great job trying to be consistent. Good integration for DNAP if your into that.

Pitt:

One of the more challenging interviews. You meet with couple of faculty at a time and they ask some unexpected questions. Like what question would you ask an interviewer, the downside of becoming a CRNA, strengths/weaknesses, whats a good power point and some technical ones. Should definitely review paralyzing agents and pressors. Program overall is solid. Great faculty and facilities. My main concern was pitt itself and being in mountains and snow. Also they have residents and are trying to farm students out more. Also part of a nursing school.

La Roche:

Very long and technical interview. The director just grills you with technical questions. Questions range from blood gases, drugs, and EKG readings. The interview is two parts: the short part is personal questions and the long part technical questions. The program is very low key. I think they only have two full time faculty. The program is part of a hospital, which also has residents. So there is traveling for cases. Had mixed feelings about this program.

Columbia SC:

Definitely liked the program and city. Great faculty that really try to get to know you at the interview. The interview is very long. You get two attempts at the interview. I thought the interview was difficult. They pick out details from your application. So be ready for anything. They asked me about CRRT and totally messed up the interview. Also if you have bad grades, be ready to be grilled. They also asked multiple time about why you want to be a CRNA and never were satisfied with my answers. You are on the med school campus and get to take science classes with them.

WCU:

Decent program and invested faculty. Weired campus setting. You interview with a panel. The first question threw me off. They asked about using blood products and just got more technical after. Asked about ratio of blood products, SVO2, coags. Felt like a hematology exam.

ECU:

Decent program and faculty and facilities. It is in a school of nursing. Kind of old school approach to nursing. Good potential for clinical experience with little traveling and access to med school for didactics. Interview is with a group. They ask a range of questions, just depends on the mood of the interviewer. Got asked one technical question about PAC. Other personal questions like why you want to be a CRNA, why this program, experience, doing something bold, hobbies, previous academic stuff, and so on. Kinda of a small city with not much to do.

Wolford College:

Very interesting interview. Considering all things, I would really try to avoid this program. I am all for private institutions in theory, but in reality I dont know how well it works in the students favor. The program needs alot of students to meet overhead and make a profit. This can be summed up in the very large deposit they require. They definitely farm out students for clinicals. Most people that apply do so because they have specific issues, like old GRE or low GRE scores, lack of basic sciences and so on. No faculty to speak of except a former graduate of the program that looks like he just graduated. Facility wise, the building is new but kind of empty. They lack regional accreditation (they do have the CRNA school 10 year accreditation), for what ever that is worth. The interview is very low key and just some personal questions since you are pretty much in the door. I dont know how much this effects your ability to market yourself in the future for a job. If I had to consider two CRNAs to hire and knowing about the program, I would most likely go for someone who went to a better program.

Ultraposh · Jan 20, 2014

I'm really wanting to know how interviews went at Rutgers (UMDNJ)!

msxdbsk · Mar 5, 2014

kern24 said:
Since this site helped me during my CRNA interviews, thought I share some of my insights from my interviews. I had one year of experience and did the whole nursing thing to become a CRNA. Most of my class had the same goal but most people never end up doing it for multiple reasons. That being said, I was surprised how much competition their is to get into a program. The first 15 mins of interview you can tell how good a program is. The rest of the time is for the interviewers to determine how good you are. The rankings of programs does not do justice to many programs. In general, I would recommend a program that is not in a school of nursing. When a program is in a nursing school, you have to meet additional MSN requirements. That basically includes taking BS classes, where you learn absolutely nothing. A program not in a nursing school has more flexibility and generally only has pertinent classes to the profession. So here is my list:
VCU:
Great program overall. Invested faculty and good facilities. Pretty large number of faculty relatively. Only concern would be traveling to different clinical sites to get required cases, especially for the main campus. Interview consist of being one on one with different faculty. Most of them asked personal questions, like why do you want to be a CRNA and what you do to relieve stress. Got asked one technical question about my last sick patient. I mentioned pressors so got asked more about NE and how it works. All the interview interactions where short and they do a great job trying to be consistent. Good integration for DNAP if your into that.
Pitt:
One of the more challenging interviews. You meet with couple of faculty at a time and they ask some unexpected questions. Like what question would you ask an interviewer, the downside of becoming a CRNA, strengths/weaknesses, whats a good power point and some technical ones. Should definitely review paralyzing agents and pressors. Program overall is solid. Great faculty and facilities. My main concern was pitt itself and being in mountains and snow. Also they have residents and are trying to farm students out more. Also part of a nursing school.
La Roche:
Very long and technical interview. The director just grills you with technical questions. Questions range from blood gases, drugs, and EKG readings. The interview is two parts: the short part is personal questions and the long part technical questions. The program is very low key. I think they only have two full time faculty. The program is part of a hospital, which also has residents. So there is traveling for cases. Had mixed feelings about this program.
Columbia SC:
Definitely liked the program and city. Great faculty that really try to get to know you at the interview. The interview is very long. You get two attempts at the interview. I thought the interview was difficult. They pick out details from your application. So be ready for anything. They asked me about CRRT and totally messed up the interview. Also if you have bad grades, be ready to be grilled. They also asked multiple time about why you want to be a CRNA and never were satisfied with my answers. You are on the med school campus and get to take science classes with them.
WCU:
Decent program and invested faculty. Weired campus setting. You interview with a panel. The first question threw me off. They asked about using blood products and just got more technical after. Asked about ratio of blood products, SVO2, coags. Felt like a hematology exam.
ECU:
Decent program and faculty and facilities. It is in a school of nursing. Kind of old school approach to nursing. Good potential for clinical experience with little traveling and access to med school for didactics. Interview is with a group. They ask a range of questions, just depends on the mood of the interviewer. Got asked one technical question about PAC. Other personal questions like why you want to be a CRNA, why this program, experience, doing something bold, hobbies, previous academic stuff, and so on. Kinda of a small city with not much to do.
Wolford College:
Very interesting interview. Considering all things, I would really try to avoid this program. I am all for private institutions in theory, but in reality I dont know how well it works in the students favor. The program needs alot of students to meet overhead and make a profit. This can be summed up in the very large deposit they require. They definitely farm out students for clinicals. Most people that apply do so because they have specific issues, like old GRE or low GRE scores, lack of basic sciences and so on. No faculty to speak of except a former graduate of the program that looks like he just graduated. Facility wise, the building is new but kind of empty. They lack regional accreditation (they do have the CRNA school 10 year accreditation), for what ever that is worth. The interview is very low key and just some personal questions since you are pretty much in the door. I dont know how much this effects your ability to market yourself in the future for a job. If I had to consider two CRNAs to hire and knowing about the program, I would most likely go for someone who went to a better program.

Thanks for your post!

When you said you had 1 year of experience, did you mean that when you applied, you had

maricleveland · Aug 21, 2014

^ good question...I was wondering the same. Hopefully someone can answer thanks

jordiRN · Aug 21, 2014

msxdbsk said:
I am looking over some of the interview questions that were thrown at the interviewees-- they seem so detailed about cellular activity of drugs & process of inserting Swan & placement (stuff you dont learn in nursing school).. so do y'all study these type of questions ahead of time to prepare for potential interview questions and/or do your experience in ICU help you answer these type of questions?

Also would love the answer to that. And if you studied outside of work for these interview questions, what resources did you use?

SrNaOnMyWaY · Aug 21, 2014

The specific clinical questions CRNA schools ask in interviews are usually based on what you claim your area of expertise to be. I looked up everything I could about the things I saw the most in the area I worked, such as vasoactive drips (mechanisms of action, dosing), comorbidities and clinical implications, vent settings, etc. Anything you mention experience with during the interview is fair game for them to drill you on every detail they can until you can't answer anymore. If this happens, don't make anything up, admit that you don't know but provide an alternate solution.

Go-GetterRN · Aug 22, 2014

I havent been to an interview or anything, but I agree with KellyRNCCRN. If you get into a good icu, you will know all of this stuff like the back of your hand. I'm fortunate to be in a large med-surge icu with some experienced, motivated nurses who have spent years researching the 'why' behind everything we do in the icu so I ask them questions every day about patho, pharmacology, etc and have learned so much. Even so, I still do my own research at home, which is very important to grasp complex concepts.

Btw this is an awesome thread, I plan on coming back to it when I apply and go to an interview somewhere! I hope to see more contributions from people!!

SrNaOnMyWaY · Aug 22, 2014

Agreed, but not every icu has awesome people in it like yours. You have to be proactive (like Go-Getter), ask questions and do research on your own to increase your knowledge every chance you get. I have been to 3 interviews, and the pattern has been pretty much the same at all of them concerning clinical questions. I hope this helps!

stihlnurse · Sep 13, 2014

Just received an invite for an interview at Bryan College of Health Sciences DNP CRNA prgoram in Lincoln, NE. Anybody familiar with the interview questions at this facility?

SLWCCRN · Oct 6, 2014

Received a interview with University of Scranton any insight on the CRNA program and their interview process.

mmlpn · Nov 18, 2014

Agreed! CRNA interview questions normally accompany in-depth conversations regarding your "specialty". I've only interviewed at 2 schools (accepted into 1 of them) and have a 3rd interview coming on Dec. I lead both of my interviews to a certain point. They both asked me to describe a typical patient in my CVICU. They then asked what medications I typically see on a weekly basis. I began naming off vasopressors and they would pick and choose some that I mentioned and say "ok tell me about xxxx". I would go into great detail regarding receptor sites, types of drug, side effects...etc until they were satisfied. My last interview also hammered me on ventilator questions and weaning parameters. My advice would be that if you mention a medication or procedure you better be able to spit out every little bit of information that you can about it to show your complete understanding of what you practice. Going above and beyond the knowledge level of the bedside nurse shows initiative that you have the willing and drive to learn

nesha2199 · Dec 16, 2014

I have just been invited to interview for an anesthesia program in Middle Tennessee- does anyone out there have any experience with MTSA's interview process?