Advice for a prospective CRNA

[bridgfor428]

Hi,

I see a lot of education and advice related posts on this thread and don't want to annoy anyone, so this is one of those if you want to move on...

1. How many years of critical care experience do you realistically need to be accepted into a CRNA program?

My longer question:

2. I am just starting my nursing career and am trying to decide if I want to move into OR or ICU right now. (I know that OR will not cut it for clinical experience at most CRNA programs. That is part of my problem.) I feel that I belong in the OR in some way, and CRNA fits into that path as a terminus of sorts. I also understand why the ICU is a necessary prerequisite for the CRNA programs, but I am unsure what to do. I like all of the rigor and science and other things that seem to be involved in CRNA studies and practice, but I don't know if going into the ICU for several years is right for me (and so I guess this partly hinges on my first question). Maybe I don't know enough about ICU nursing and if it's really that different from Med-Surg nursing. But I am not sure what to do. Would it be very hard or unwise to work in the OR for a couple of years, then try to transfer out to ICU if I still want to do CRNA? Will I be sealing myself off or severely delaying my CRNA prospects by going into the OR now? Or, similarly, if I worked in the OR for a couple of years, then tried to be an RNFA for a little while, am I totally hamstringing myself? What should I considering as the bottom line if I want to be a CRNA in the future?

I know this was many questions rather than just two. So if you're willing to respond to a couple of the inquiries it would be GREATLY appreciated.

[tonyccrn]

1 year icu is the minimum requirement for anesthesia school according to the standards set by the AANA, however some schools require 2. which is understandable in my opinion since you really dont start to get comfortable until after that first year or more.

if you like all the science and waht not, go to the icu, the OR is not the place for you. no offense OR nurses, but you are more of a set up person slash "gofor" if you know what i mean. (just my opinion, dont bash me, some or's may be different) :cheers: in the icu you will titrate drips, work with vents, monitor and adjust meds related to invasive monitoring devices. where as the or anesthesia does this.

ok, just my opinion, but i would go to the icu, get a couple of years there and if you decide you dont want to go to crna school go to the or, atleast this way you have your icu experience out of the way incase you do want to go.

my 2 cents.

anthony

[shandsburnRN-CRNA]

Hello and welcome,

You listed ICU vs. OR vs. Med-Surg.....all three are different animals and the only one that will get you into CRNA school is ICU. You said that you feel you belong in the OR and that CRNA fits into that path and that you enjoy the rigorous sciences incorporated in CRNA education.

You seem pretty unsure about the whole CRNA aspect...so do this if you haven't already. Go to the OR and find some CRNA's, sit down with them and ask them about their career, then shadow them for a day or two to see what they do. If CRNA is what you really want to do skip the Med-Surg and the OR and go straight to the ICU, the other other areas are just extending the time it is going to take you to become a CRNA. Besides once while you're in CRNA school and after you are going to LIVE in the OR.

You also mentioned that you didn't know if ICU is right for you....or if ICU was that different from M/S......yes ICU is totally different that M/S, if you haven't been in an ICU, go visit several.....the CVICU, SICU, MICU, Trauma ICU, Burn ICU and see if one fits you better than the other.

Once in the ICU, work on getting CPR, ACLS and PALS certs as well as CCRN. Most schools require at least 1 year ICU experience, I had 2.5 when I went into CRNA school, some people in my class had 16 months when the started the program. You also need to take the GRE.

So I guess bottom line: CRNA school= BSN,ICU, CCRN, CPR, ACLS, PALS, GRE, apply ....really anything else is just going to slow you down.

Good Luck!!!!!

[bridgfor428]

thanks to both of you for your advice. it was very, very helpful. i see there is a pre crna inquiry form i probably should have gone to, but since i have already started this thread, i have a couple more questions:

tonyccrn: what did you mean exactly when you said that or nurses are "gofor" people? your perspective would be really useful to me.

shandsburnrn-SRNA: did you have any other nursing experience besides the 2.5 years of critical care experience before you went into your crna program?

thanks to both of you and to anyone else who cares to respond. i really appreciate it. i am weighing both of your words because i really feel crna could be right for me and am trying to gather whatever information i can get.

[armynse]

tonyccrn: what did you mean exactly when you said that or nurses are "gofor" people? your perspective would be really useful to me.

I can answer this question, OR nurses are, in fact, "go-for" nurses. Meaning, they go-for this and they go-for that. You will lose your nursing skills by going straight to the OR following graduation. An OR nurse spends his/her day running errands between OR suites. If you really want to go to CRNA school, you should plan to work in a critical care setting. Your career as a CRNA will give you all the OR time your heart desires.

Army

[CaslaRN]

as a nurse who has worked in med-surg, or and icu, i feel i can speak to this topic.

first....... or nurses are not go fors............. that is insulting to a specialty that is legitimately known for being a catalyst for numerous changes that affect patient outcomes/safety. by merely observing an or nurse, one might come away with that impression but spend a day in their shoes with the responsibilities they have and you will have a different opinion. or nurses' responsibilities include:

a) ensuring that the patients' rights and responsibilities are followed/carried out. a patient is at their most vulnerable when they are in the surgical setting - there is no family to 'look out" for that patient. the or nurse is that person's eyes, ears and voice. they are advocates for their patient every single minute that the patient is in the or. what you may see as go fors, i see as someone ensuring that everything is available and functioning in order for the case to go smoothly and finish so that the patient can move on to the recovery phase.

b) or nurses are responsible for ensuring that the standards of care are followed. who do you think ensure that you or your family member has an infection free or less of a chance of getting an infection? who do you think remind the surgeon or anesthesia about preoperatively prophylactic administration of antibiotics? traffic control? skin prep? say an orderly doesn't clean the room well in between a case. whose job is it to make sure everyone does their job????? the or nurse! as an or nurse you have to watch what everyone is that room is doing and call them on it when they are not doing it right!

c) prevention of injury to the nerves, skin, bones etc is the primary responsibility of the or nurse. positioning is a major component in prevention of injury and it is the or nurses job to ensure that all providers (surgeon and anesthesia personnel) take care to not cause an injury.

d) who do you think knows how to operate all equipment (except for the anesthesia machine to some extent) in the or room????? if you have a nurse in a room who does not know how to trouble shoot an equipment that is being used and sh*t hits the fan, do you think a go for is the one you want at that time.......... you want a competent or nurse ...... not a go for!

e) would you want a go for documenting what occurred in that case? some may frown on documentation but remember that you or your family member is under the influence of medications. you want someone who will put down on paper everything that occurred on your behalf. anesthesia will document their part; the surgeon will document their part ......... the or nurse documents it all.

d) please go to the aorn's website and read and educate yourself on the role of the perioperative nurse. "you want one on your team........ you need one on your team".

! could go on forever but i will stop.

to answer the ops question. go to an icu first if your goal is to become a crna. skip med-surg. while i learn to thoroughly assess my patients and could spot an abnormality within a few seconds or minutes of being in that room without the aide of a machine working on a busy med-surg floor, it will only delay your time before you can apply to crna school.

i have worked in the or and was an educator in this setting for 6 years or so but when i decided to go to crna school, i had to suck it up and leave an area that i absolutely love and go to critical care. i had a hard time finding a manager that was not suspicious of my intentions. they felt that a nurse doesn't usually leave the or setting to come back to the bedside unless they were planning to go to the cath lab or crna school (i was told that to my face). it was challenging but nonetheless, i persevered and will be starting crnaschool in august. in the end i only had to do 1 year in an icu. i applied to 2 schools, interviewed at 1 and was accepted. during my interview, i told them that my or experience has prepared me to work in an environment in which if one is not use to such an environment it can be quite difficult to adapt to, especially as a student. i told them that my focus will be on learning anesthesia because i have seen it all and done in all so i would not be in awe of what's going on with the surgery etc etc etc..........it must have made a difference... i am in!!!!

good luck op. again go to critical care if you truly want to become a crna, not because icu nursing is better than or nursing (that would be comparing apples with oranges) but because it will help you as an applicant.

my

[CaslaRN]

I can answer this question, OR nurses are, in fact, "go-for" nurses. Meaning, they go-for this and they go-for that. You will lose your nursing skills by going straight to the OR following graduation. An OR nurse spends his/her day running errands between OR suites. If you really want to go to CRNA school, you should plan to work in a critical care setting. Your career as a CRNA will give you all the OR time your heart desires.

Army

I never lost my nursing skills by going to the OR. I do believe if you go straight out of school into the OR, it would be a disadvantage later on if you decide to go back to the bedside. In fact I was a better OR nurse because of my prior experience on the floor. Nurse to patient ratio 1:1 ---------- you can't beat that.

I respectfully diasgree with you Army.