What do you look at when you try to pick out a CRNA school?

Nursing Students SRNA

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Hello there,

Any ideas on where to start to look for a CRNA school? Any feedback will be really appreciated.

wow I thought I was the only crazy person investigating all the schools polarbecca! I listed shortest and longest mileage to clinicals on my document though, lol.

Candyn, I pm'd you.

Specializes in CRNA.

Jobs are a little tighter, so a short program might not be the best route. Look for where you can gain a well rounded clinical experience. Employers are looking for someone who doesn't need a lot of on the job training. If they have options, they will go with the applicant with more experience. Also consider if you will need to pay for housing at distant clinical sites-some programs require the student to pay.

Missnurse01,

You go to each of the clinical sites and search mileage? Woah, that is really intense. How long did it take you? I only gather what people give me in this post and make a list about this school. Seem like I still have a lot more to research

Loveanesthesia,

Are you saying a longer program is better because you will get more clinical hours? What is the minimum required hours for CRNA program and what is considered as good clinical program? Some CRNA schools do not list the hours, does that mean that is when I contact the adviser to find out?

Specializes in CRNA.

Don't look just at the legnth of the program, but get as much information as possible about what your clinical experience will include. Some longer programs still only have 15 months of clinical. The minimum number of cases required is 550, if you can get 1000 that is a good sign, but that's not everything. It can be difficult to assess from the outside. SRNA clinical experience at a well known major medical center can be very poor if the SRNA is not allowed to do many things because of a residency or departmental philosophy. Also in some large programs some SRNAs might get great experience, and others poor experience because of their clinical site assignment. Ask where you will be assigned, and if you can't find out I would worry. Will you do OB, regional anesthesia, work with independant CRNAs? Will you be able to experience a variety of practice settings? Ask for average case numbers from the last graduating class transcripts. Every programs has those, so if they don't want to share the numbers there may be a reason. Again, case numbers don't tell the whole story (if the SRNA is acting as an assistant on many cases then the numbers don't mean much) but it is a place to start.

Specializes in SICU/TICU.

Candyn-

It goes by # of cases not hours:) COA designates minimums for graduation but you usually graduate with much more than you need.

Candyn:

Loveanesthesia gave you some great info-you can see how I said that the more I started investigating the more I had to investigate. My understanding is that all programs are NOT created equal. This is why I have searched the boards, talked to grads, etc to get more in depth info esp regarding clinicals. I want more than the 'minimum' and want to be as strong as I can when I graduate, not have to rely on my new employer to train me further. Just keep looking Candyn...search here and the other boards. Many schools have much of the info that loveanesthesia stated.

And yes, I looked at the schools website, and found how far it was from the school to each clinical site. Yes, a lot of work!

Me

Missnurse01,

Who will be a good resource for clinical info? Recent Grad and/or the contact person listed in each school website? What other boards did you use?

Thanks,

Loveanesthesia,

Do SRNA get to pick where they want to do their clinical? What will happen if the school has some good clinical sites and some bad ones? Does that make the school a bad school? I feel like it is just a hit and miss like nursing school, where someone get awesome experience and others get poor experience.

Thanks.

You also hit the nail on the head in regards to clinicals, you do not know where you are going to be assigned...this is one reason I at least investigate the clinical sites. Many schools list what type of rotations that you have there. Here and the other website I try to find a recent grad of schools I am really liking to contact to get more info. But there is alot of written info out there on many schools already, just use the search function. I believe that if you contact schools they will give you alumni info, but I haven't yet tried this out.

Unfortunately all schools are not equal esp when it comes to clinicals.

me

Specializes in CRNA.

Some programs will tell you the clinical site before you accept the spot. I would stick with those-and they are often smaller programs but not always. Try to talk to alumni, talk to faculty, ask questions at interview. If the answers are vague....

Question programs who are increasing class size-have they added clinical sites? Are they sharing all their clinical sites with other programs or residents? if so it can be difficult to get all your speciality cases like OB and peds.

Yes can you email me the spreadsheet too or do you know where to find an updated one. Im looking for a list of CRNA programs that have a regional program. Trying to decide between active duty Navy program and a civillian program that offers yellow ribbon. I can also use the GI Bill. I have 8 years in the military already so trying to decide which route I want to take. Your spreadsheet would be a great help!

Please send to [email protected]

Thanks,

Jessica

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