CRNA Questions

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Hi---

I'm new here and am looking into finding out more about the CRNA profession. I am Neonatal ICU RN with 4 years of experience.

***Does Neonatal ICU experience meet the ICU requirements of most programs?

***Are CRNA students able to work part-time while in the program?

***What is the job outlook like for CRNAs?

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Specializes in ICU, currently in Anesthesia School.

GA- please look in the stickies and do a search for requirements of individual programs at aana.com.

to answer your questions- some programs will accept levelIII NICU experience. ALL programs will accept adult ICU experience. ( I switched from ELBW to adult nursing to make sure I could apply to multiple programs.)

Very few people can work parttime and do well in the didactic portion, almost nobody can work while in clinical phase. (the programs I applied to stopped short of forbiding work while in any part of the program.)

The job outlook is excellent for CRNA's, but really research this career to to make sure it is what you want to do.(Shadow a CRNA, ask questions, talk to others on this board.)

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Hi and welcome,

Your neonatal experience should be fine. I think it's really the basics that all ICU's use that they look at, i.e. vasoactive drips, vents, ACLS, PALS, CCRN. I know a lot of people come from CICU's, I worked in a Burn ICU and they had no problem with my experience. The best advice I think I can give is to contact the programs you are interested in and speak with the admission people about your experience. I know of 2 CRNA students now who come from PICU's and are doing fine.

I have a friend in a CRNA program now that worked a little at first, but said the little bit of time he did put in wasn't worth it, but as a majority most do not work and I think all programs discourage it.

The job outlook.........AWESOME!!! I think the last stats I saw showed that the largest CRNA age group has them retiring in the next 5-10 years, so yeah, positions are plentiful.

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Specializes in NICU, CVICU.
***Does Neonatal ICU experience meet the ICU requirements of most programs?

It will meet the requirements of *some* schools, but not all. Check out the AANA website and you can research the schools you are interested in to see their requirements for the critical care experience.

***Are CRNA students able to work part-time while in the program?

In most cases, no. Some say you *may* be able to work occasionally during the didactic portion of the program, but not during clinicals.

***What is the job outlook like for CRNAs?

Excellent!

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Hi---

I'm new here and am looking into finding out more about the CRNA profession. I am Neonatal ICU RN with 4 years of experience.

***Does Neonatal ICU experience meet the ICU requirements of most programs?

***Are CRNA students able to work part-time while in the program?

***What is the job outlook like for CRNAs?

1. Depends on your program... ask them before applying. Generally speaking, adult ICU is preferred.

2. Not usually.

3. Blue skies.

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I just started CRNA school. I do not see how anyone will be able to workduring school. My day consists of class, studying, eating, and sleeping. That is it! It takes alot of time studying for hese classes. The large amounts of material are overwhelming! It is hard to explain to someone who is not in school HOW time consuming it is!

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I am also looking in to CRNA. Does anyone have advise on which test to take....GRE or MAT???

Plus, Is their part time work available once you are a CRNA?

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Specializes in Nursery, L&D, PICU, SICU.

I took the MAT and did really well. It just required reviewing some lit info. Never took the GRE so I can't really compare from personal experience. I have a few co-workers who took both and said the MAT was a lot less stressful but that if you studied hard you could really improve a GRE score.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Not 100% sure, but I think all CRNA programs require the GRE not the MAT.

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As far as the GRE vs MAT, look at each schools requirements. Several schools in Pa like Drexel and Villanova accept either one. Good luck!

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Specializes in PICU, CVICU, IR Radiology, PICC.
Not 100% sure, but I think all CRNA programs require the GRE not the MAT.

UAB takes either or and Erlanger in Chattanooga takes just the MAT. I took the MAT. My mind was just geared towards the way it was testing and I knew I could do well on it. I did, I'm in ;) I recommend the MAT. Downside is, many places DO want a GRE score instead.

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Thanks for the feedback. Actually, the CRNA program I will apply to accepts both GRE and MAT. So I just made a decision and bought the MAT study book and am going to see what happens.

Can anyone give insight to my next question which is, are there any part-time gigs out there for a CRNA's?

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