Am I heading in the right direction?

MayisontheWay · Mar 8, 2008

As much as you may like the OR, it will not count for CRNA school. You MUST have at least 1 year of acute care experience, usually translated as an ICU of some kind.

You must take and do well on the GRE. How well depends on the school you are applying to. Most schools require GRE...very few accept the MAT.

Please spend some time reading this forum as most every question you can come up with has been asked and answered multiple times. After reading profiles of successful candidates, you will quickly see what is competitive.

Very good luck to you,

May (interview over...stalking the mailman)

lovegasRN, BSN, RN · Mar 8, 2008

I think everyone on here will tell you that you will need ICU experience. The OR, although a great experience will not count towards the ICU requirement for admission. I think if you want to pursue your CRNA goals in the near future you should start working as soon as possible in an ICU, preferably an SICU or CVICU and stay there for at least one year. If you still want to get the feel of the OR you could always shadow a CRNA and see what they do. This would serve two purposes, let you get a feel for the OR and make your application look better. Hope this is helpful.

one_crna · Mar 9, 2008

I'm new to this forum and would like to know if anyone has any helpful advice/constructive criticism into pursuing my future dream of becoming a CRNA.
My past experience/education....I obtained a BS in Health & Wellness at 22 yoa and realized quickly that nobody would hire me with that degree so hence I moved on to pursue a MHA. During this time I was employed as a dialysis tech and also worked per diem/on call on a transplant recovery team performing the surgical recovery of tissue for transplant/research.
After graduating with my MHA at 24 I was hired as a coordinator for a hospital system to manage disability and workers comp claims. I spent 2 years here and although this was great experience I always felt there was something missing. I wanted to gain more clinical knowledge and had always thought about nursing school. I was still employed on the recovery team during this time in order to keep my feet wet in the clinical arena.
At 26 I finally decided to pursue a BSN which took me 2 years. At 28 after graduating nursing school my fiancé and I moved out of state (for his job) and I started working in a level 3 NICU. 15 months later I decided I needed a change. Ethically I had a hard time dealing with many of the issues in this inter-city NICU. It was great experience and I have no regrets...I was even asked to precept 10 months into my employment which was a successful experience. There was/is a HIGH turnover in this unit with many internal issues...I will leave it there.
In February I started a new position within the same healthcare system at an affiliate hospital in the OR. I want to be sure I like the OR environment from a nursing aspect prior to pursuing CRNA. I am truly excited about this new career path and can't say enough about the staff/educators. So far it is a very stimulating environment with high morale. The orientation is about 1 year in length. We do not float to PACU as they have their own staff. Although I am considering obtaining ACLS in about 6 months even though its not a requirement.
My question is whether or not I'm heading in the right direction for a possible future in CRNA??? I've researched many of the admission requirements but would like to know if anyone out there has similar experience and was excepted into a CRNA program?

Hi. There are some programs (a few?) that will accept NICU experience for the 1 year in acute care experience however, you will definitely be limiting the number of schools you can apply to. Experience as an OR nurse, may help you decide if you like the OR environment but probably will not be of any help getting you into anesthesia school. Some type of adult ICU experience will definitely give you the most options in applying to schools. Depending on what your goals are for the OR, you may want to consider making the move to ICU sooner than later (like now!). I'm guessing if your OR job is going to spend a year training you, the aren't going to be too excited to have you leave shortly after that time. If I were you, I would shadow a CRNA for a week, decide if you are interested and then go to adult ICU. I do have one friend who went to anesthesia school with only NICU experience. Good luck!