Critique Me Please Potential CRNA Student

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I am looking for advice on things that I can do to increase my odds of being accepted into CRNA school. My background:

3 years as a paramedic with experience in airway management (intubations, LMA's, combitubes, and RSI)

ADN through Excelsior

Working at a level 1 trauma center in a BICU and sometimes foat to other ICU's.

Just accepted into an online RN-BSN program

I plan on getting excellent grades for my bsn and trying to get enough hours in to take my CCRN before I am eligible to apply to CRNA school. Anything else you guys can think of? Will the paramedic experience give me any edge at all?

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If I hadn't gotten in this year I was thinking of taking an EMS course or two over the summer to learn intubation. I'd think it would be good for something! although you should be ready to unlearn and relearn skills as needed (and mention that to the admit committee).

I'm an idiot and had to go look up BICU :D. Burn unit. Okay. I'm not sure what they think of burn units. You need to be where you work with a lot of intubated pts, pts on sedation, pts with vasoactive drips. If you get that in the burn unit, awesome. If not, consider surgical/trauma, medical, cardiovasc/cardiac ICUs. I work in a medical ICU and we see a lot of vents and pressors, but not all medical ICUs do. I'm at a level I trauma center so we get the REALLY sick ones. If you need to change units to get that experience, ask which ones have the most vents and drips in your area and try to get in there.

Get you ACLS for sure, and PALS if you can, maybe even neonatal rescus if you have time. I didn't have CCRN, but that was stupid of me because basically everybody else interviewing did and I was really nervous about that! Get a good GRE score. It (apparently!) can help make up for some not so awesome grades --and lack of CCRN! HA HA! all joking aside, good GRE can only help you. Get good grades. Take some extra science courses, chemistry, organic, biochem, things like that. A lot of people will have taken those extra to look good, or maybe they have other degrees besides nursing (as I did).

How long until you finish your BSN? do you know where you want to apply? Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, ICU, ER, Anesthesia.

yeah, apply. as long as your grades are good you'll do fine. you might need to take the GRE, shoot for a 1k score

the ccrn is an incredible plus. most applicants dont have it. go for it.

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