Hello all! This thread is basically a big rant. hahaha. Well! I went into this profession with the ulitmate goal of becoming a CRNA. I've wanted it ever since the beginning. I will be starting my BSN program in the fall. I already have my ADN and am working in a med/surg ICU. During the next 2 years, I have to finish my degree, take the GRE, take a chemistry/stats class, take CCRN, and start the grad classes before I even apply......which will be in the spring of 2010. I plan to start the grad classes before I get an interview which would hopefully be in the fall of 2010. By that time I should have almost 3 years of ICU experience. Here's the thing. The ICU is soooooo depressing. None of our people end up getting better unless they're overflows. The staff is so rude and they don't help you at all. Ha, but they will criticize your every move......ESPECIALLY if you're new like me. I feel like I don't really know that much yet. I've only been in the ICU for 3 months. I don't know. I guess I'm just feeling down right now. I just wish that I could get it all now but I have to play the waiting game. People tell me that it is sooooo normal to feel overwhelmed in the ICU especially as a new grad but I just want to understand things. I do my research if I have questions, but I just wish that I could be super smart like these other ladies on my unit. Of course, their experience backgrounds range from 3-10 years. So, right now I am not enjoying my time in the ICU. I know this sounds bad, but I just want to learn everything I can and "do my time" so I can get the great experience that I need. I have a friend who is a CRNA and she told me that she HATED working in the ICU so it is normal to feel that way. One girl who worked on the unit hated the ICU so much that she dedicated all of her time and energy to meet the pre-reqs for CRNA school and got in eventually. I just wanted to hear your thoughts!!! To my aspiring CRNAs or CRNAs, did you like working in the ICU?? Be honest! :) Thanks for stopping by! :)
Thank you all very much for the great feedback! :)
I ended up transferring out of that med/surg ICU about a month ago and went to our CCU. I must say that it is really interesting. We don't have all of the drama that ICU has, but I do see a lot of vasoactive drips, an occasional balloon pump/swan pt, and occasional vented ICU overflows. I am happy here. I hope that this experience will count towards my CRNA experience. Thanks for all of the great stories!
SoREAdy4CRNA: you might want to check the school you are applying to, to make sure they accept CCU
CCU is usually the top preferred ICU experience that nurse anesthesia schools like to see. CCU probably has the most transferable experience to CRNA school of all the ICUs d/t frequent gtts that will be similar to what you will use as a CRNA, and it was one of the few places that you still get swans on a semi-regular basis.
Specializes in ER/ICU, CCRN, SRNA (class of 2010).
CCU is usually the top preferred ICU experience that nurse anesthesia schools like to see. CCU probably has the most transferable experience to CRNA school of all the ICUs d/t frequent gtts that will be similar to what you will use as a CRNA, and it was one of the few places that you still get swans on a semi-regular basis.
Duke lists CCU as number 3 below SICU and MICU for preferred experience. Check it out.
Grab a copy of "The ICU book" by Morino or "Perioperative care in cardiac surgery" by Robert Bojar and READ, READ, READ!!! Critical Care is an intense place to work and the last thing someone wants to deal with is someone who Doesnt care to learn, someone who we constantly have to repeat things over and over becasue they didnt care to listed to you the first ten times or someone who is just there for a paycheck. Im not trying to imply that you fall into any of these categories at all. You have to realize that no matter how you act or what you do, there are ALWAYS going to be people who want to ***** at you and pick you to death about the way you do things. Some people will just be mean because you look a certain way or act a certain way. All you can do is learn and try to do the best you can do and eventually people will start to talk about how you are the new person and do such a great job. I see it EVERY single day I work. Good luck!
I would actually list CVICU as top, then CCU, ( I was having a brain fart and actually thinking about CVICU and not CCU when I made my other comment), then SICU and then MICU, but since I am already an SRNA it is a mute point.
Hi there! As an ER RN who went to ICU expressly to get the necessary experience for CRNA school, I hear what you are saying. Although I have REALLY enjoyed the critical care, I have absolutely hated the "politics" of the unit. I work in a large general ICU which does everything, so while the learning opportunities have been fantastic, the staff is old and crotchety and honestly, down-right evil. :argue: I could expand on that but why dwell on the negative. The truth is that you are there for an express purpose and that is to learn what you need to know. So I put my head down, kept asking for the sickest patients so I'd get great experience, and concentrated on obtaining all my certifications (ICP, CVVH, CV, IABP, CCRN, etc) ASAP and then on getting into school. Honestly, I have been there for almost 2 years now and am leaving in 2 short months to start CRNA school @ OHSU and am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!!! So I am rambling, now, but my point is...hang in there! Just remember why you are there and focus on the great learning experiences that you are presented w/ every day. If you keep your eye on the prize you will be there before you know it! If nothing else, working somewhere you hate keeps you focused on your goals. I mean, be honest, if you loved it there you would be complacent and ambivalent about pursuing a grueling graduate regime. Call me sick but I think it has been a great motivation for me!
P.S. Since I got into school I have been working a shift in the ER once a week...just to hang out w/ the nice people (staff, not patients) and to remind myself that it sucks there too most of the time. The variety helps with the short-timers syndrome.
I just joined this site and i read your question "do aspiring CRNA's really enjoy working in the ICU?". I was wondering what you think of it NOW, since you've been there awhile. I've always had the goal of CRNA school but working in the ICU has only confused me now. I was kinda happy to read that someone else thinks it kinda sucks working in the unit. Let me know your thoughts....
I re-read my post and I laughed a little. I am a CCU nurse now and occasionally I am floated back down to that MSICU. I know that I will do whatever it takes to be a CRNA. Honestly, some days I like being a critical care nurse and there are other days where I walk out of those doors and I never want to come back. Overall, I still think it sucks...lol. I commend people that can stay in the ICU for 10-15 years because I couldn't do it. But I keep telling myself that I NEED this in order to reach my ultimate goal. So I hope that helps. I feel like I have learned quite a bit but I still have a long way to go. I finish my BSN in 2010 so I'll have roughly 3 years of experience by the time I apply. I wish you the best of luck with your journey. We'll get there one day! :)
As much as I don't really miss alot of the ICU stuff, and I'll admit I was one who did the 2 years I needed and bailed--CRNA school is no cakewalk either. In fact, after about the first 3 weeks of class a buddy of mine and I started polling our classmates with the question "What do you miss least about the ICU?" We use the answers we got as motivation when we are experiencing a sag in morale. In case you are wondering..."drug OD's" and "GI Bleeds" seem to top the list...
Hahaha! Beedog you are great! I think I'll keep using that for motivation. I have a few "gems" of my own that I won't miss from ICU/CCU. Although I must say that GI bleed is DEFINITELY on the top of my list. That smell is deadly.
Cardiac pts:
-your typical acute MI pt that has JUST had his sheath pulled and is found sitting at the side of the bed with blood pouring out of his leg. (this has never happened to me but it did happen to a colleague of mine...bless her heart...that was a BAD day)
-Balloon pump patients who are NOT on sedation (usually those who are on a 1:3 ratio); they always are trying to get up and are mean to you if you tell them the dangers of moving their leg/body.
MSICU pts:
-freshly extubated patients: why is it that when people can start talking again that they are as mean as a rattlesnake?
-Bipap overflow pts who never want to keep their mask on and curse you out in the process.
-Septic pts who have MRSA/CDIFF/VRE and have a thousand pressure ulcer dressing that YOU have to change with a sterile field. It takes hours to do it and you are gowned up in the process so you sweat out your entire body fluid supply. Oh, and I can't stand butt wounds that get soiled 5 min after you change them....lol....nice terminology huh?
-Know-it-all family members that tell you how to do your job because they are a nursing assistant at a long term care facility or my personal favorite: EMTs. I think the worst ones are relatives who are nurses that state, "I'm a critical care nurse". I simply state, "Oh really???" (with a big suprised look on my face)....then I say, "So am I!!!" LOL....what??? Am I supposed to be shaking in my scrubs?? Um....no!
-having a pt die that you grew fond or just having a pt die in general; I see it so much more in ICU than CCU. It gets so depressing to have to send people to heaven so frequently.
Those are just a few examples of what I won't miss. I'd love to hear some more stories from you all. We can all look back at this in a couple of years when we are CRNAs (notice how I wrote "when" LOL) and we can have a good chuckle.
I will have to agree that GI bleeds are one thing I am NOT going to miss...especially when they have a history of ETOH-->going through DTs-->getting out of the bed spreading their nasty smell all over the floor. (luckily not my pt., but have been pulled into helping with clean up) All I have to say is YUCK :barf01:
I do have to say that on the whole I enjoy working in my ICU.
I work in a large general ICU which does everything, so while the learning opportunities have been fantastic, the staff is old and crotchety and honestly, down-right evil. :argue: I could expand on that but why dwell on the negative. The truth is that you are there for an express purpose and that is to learn what you need to know. So I put my head down, kept asking for the sickest patients so I'd get great experience, and concentrated on obtaining all my certifications (ICP, CVVH, CV, IABP, CCRN, etc) ASAP and then on getting into school. Honestly, I have been there for almost 2 years now and am leaving in 2 short months to start CRNA school @ OHSU and am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!!! 
So I am rambling, now, but my point is...hang in there! Just remember why you are there and focus on the great learning experiences that you are presented w/ every day. If you keep your eye on the prize you will be there before you know it! If nothing else, working somewhere you hate keeps you focused on your goals. I mean, be honest, if you loved it there you would be complacent and ambivalent about pursuing a grueling graduate regime. Call me sick but I think it has been a great motivation for me! 
SoReady4CRNA
20 Posts
Thank you all very much for the great feedback! :)
I ended up transferring out of that med/surg ICU about a month ago and went to our CCU. I must say that it is really interesting. We don't have all of the drama that ICU has, but I do see a lot of vasoactive drips, an occasional balloon pump/swan pt, and occasional vented ICU overflows. I am happy here. I hope that this experience will count towards my CRNA experience. Thanks for all of the great stories!
Future