question for SRNA's and CRNA's

Specialties CRNA

Published

I know this question has been asked before in a slightly different manner and I know the "required amount of time"

I was just wondering the average amount of time spent as an ICU RN before applying to CRNA school.

I heard that the average is around 3 years.

However, If you check the schools most only require 2 years before entry.

I have only seen schools that require one year....who requires two? Just curious!

I have seen schools that require one, but say on their website that they "recommend" two. (Villanova in PA for example)

I have seen a few that recommend two. Cant tell you off the top of my head which ones. I realize they all require at least one. I just was wondering about on average how long people generally practice before applying to CRNA school.

After about a year in CCU, I think a year should be a bare, bare, bare minimum. There are things that I feel

comfortable with...but there are also lots i have to look up.... ie gtt concentrations and titrations... .i always keep something handy to look it up real quick...even when I am sure the concentration or my titration is right.

Do you think schools want to see you taking more of a leadership role in the unit.... ie on the level of maybe a preceptor before they accept you??? (obviously I guess this varies school to school)

New CCU, in my class the one with the least experience is 3 yrs going all the way to 15 years. Avg age of students mid 30's. Balance of males vs females. Not sure about the class behind me, have not talked to them much d/t our different schedules. Most of the people with 5 plus years had leadership roles on and off but I don't think that played a role in acceptance.

One of them even stepped down from a mgt. position in the sicu and went back to bedside in the unit to update her skills and get back in the groove. They just want to make sure you could handle a sick pt on drips, vents, etc..

Lee

Most of the schools I researched required a minimum of one year critical care experience. I was recently accepted to UT-Houston's program for fall 2003...I have one year of ICU experience and 3 years of pediatric ER experience :)

I did not hold a leadership role in the ICU but I was a charge RN and preceptor in the ER...I also instruct PALS and ENPC on a frequent basis.

When I talked to several schools via phone before applying they all stated that they evaluate their applicants as a whole....they look at the whole package...experience, grades, GRE scores, leadership roles. So you might have a student who has great grades and less experience compared to another student who has acceptable grades and years of great experience...basically it all balances out.

I recently applied to CRNA school, but decided I wanted to wait a year, and perfect the skills that I have.

Mostly though, I've seen schools only require a year of experience in critical care. Coincidentally, I had a nursing instructor who wrote me a recemmendation for CRNA school. Well this instructor probably has about 10+ years of experience above me in critical care, master's degree, etc. Well can you believe that my instructor actually applied herself to the school she wrote me a recommendation for? She got to thinking about 3 of her former students who were applying to CRNA school I guess. She had a nice talk with me about it before she did it, in case we met up in interviews and such(this particular school had group interviews). But the ironic part about it all is that she didn't have any recent bedside care experience, just the clinical portions teaching college nursing students. For this reason, she was at a disadvantage over me, apparently is what they told her.

My instructor actually did go to the interview session, and decided for personal(family) reasons that she would not beable to fulfill the educational requirements over the next two years.

The impression I got is that CRNA schools are looking increasingly more for younger minds, or that 'professional student' so to speak. They're not as concerned that you have so many years of experience. They want you to have the theory and education down pact. Though it does benefit myself, I kind of think this is unfortunate. I firmly believe that the smartest CRNA's are the ones who have practiced nursing for a greater amount of years. The experience gained by monitorring patient's airways, and watching how they react to medication is more than valuable for CRNA school. That is why I am taking another year in the critical care environment to gain some more experience.

See ya around the block,

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