career choice advice

[peaceandmore]

Hi all,

I have a dilemma and I would really appreciate any thought on that.

I’m in an ADN program and will be graduating in May 2020. I will finish my LPN year in May 2019 and will have the opportunity to take the LPN board exam during summer before starting my RN year. As of now, my long-term goal is to be a nurse anesthetist and I would like to start getting experience on an ICU floor as soon as possible. However, I’ve heard that in my area (Omaha, Nebraska) hospitals do not hire LPNs on ICU floors. But they do hire CNAs. So, is it better to look for a job as a CNA on an ICU floor? Or should I rather take my LPN board exam and start working as an LPN even though it will most probably not be on an ICU floor? Which experience will benefit me the most in the long run?

[ICU2SRNA]

If I was you, I would start as an LPN. I have been an ICU nurse for 4 years now and I have done travel nursing for the last two. I have only worked in one small hospital that hired ADN nurses into the ICU. I would recommend getting your BSN as quickly as possible because you will have better odds of getting ICU experience as well as its a pre req to most anesthesia schools. CRNA schools will not even look at your CNA experience so starting in an ICU as a CNA will not help. They really only care about your experience as an ICU nurse so do not waste time on the floors if you really want to get into CRNA school. A lot of schools advertise 1-2 years minimum in the ICU but take the applicants with much more experience. I know people who have got into school with 1 year in the ICU but it is far from the norm.