CRNAs... Were you at the top of your class? Am this for me? Your personality type?

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So far, every family member of a CRNA I've met or everything I've associated with CRNAs has sounded like something I want to do. I'm still in school to get my BSN/RN, and I saw my first epidural today in my L&D clinical. It was utterly fascinasting! I can't wait to do them myself someday :). Also, (and I hope this doesn't sound bad) but I tend to be more task oriented than people oriented, and actually like solitude... does that sound about like you all? My personality type is INTJ.

In addition to this, I've been struggling with feelings of inferiority in nursing school. I go to one of the best nursing schools in the nation (our 1st-try NCLEX passing rate is 99-100% every year) and it is INCREDIBLY HARD. To make an A our average has to be 93+ in any given class. I'm someone who's always had a variety of interests. I write and play music on the piano... I build, modify, and overclock computers... I am an avid photographer and artist... I love the outdoors and love biking and playing sports... I love gymnastics and write poetry sometimes, and have been blessed with expertise in all of these areas.

My interests go on and on... but I've found that for some students, their primary focus and main skill is "nursing". Their whole lives are dedicated to nursing. They eat, drink, and breate it. They read articles about nursing news and procedures in their spare time. One girl like this consistently makes 98s and 100s, as I struggle to make Bs (and possibly an A in pharm). I honestly don't even understand how that is possible. ...and nursing is just **part** of my life... it is a career... not a life mission to which I dedicate my all. Like I said, I'm diverse... I love it, but not like they love it (and frankly can't fully comprehend how one can be so consumed by a single subject matter). Also, I'm someone that is used to being at the top of my class, and now I'm in a class with people who were all in the top of their class.... and I feel like crap.

If I'm not "best of the best of the best" will I still get into CRNA school okay? I have yet to make a C in any of my college courses, including nursing school, and have a decent GPA (3.45), but I'm just not used to being average or below average in so many courses, and am concerned about my entrance into CRNA school after I get a year of experience in an ICU.

Encouragement? Same story for you? I'd love to hear it... I'm kind of in the dark as to what to expect in the future. I've heard it's a lot harder than nursing school... Which sounds.... impossible.... But I'm determined to become a CRNA.

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I can't tell you if CRNA is right for you, but I can tell you that nurse anesthesia isn't "task oriented". Every day, case, and patient is different and we use critical thinking every minute. There are not nursing protocols to be followed, we make the decisions.

We don't sit in solitude on the stool playing with dials. I feel like I have to deal with more people than ever. We have to interact with the surgeons, circulators, scrub techs, surgical assistants, orderlys, other anesthetists and MDA's, the folks in other deparments like MRI, specials, and patients and families every day. Somedays there are many cases and you may work with many different surgeons and OR crews. And in our role we need to be assertive in order to protect our patient, even if it ticks someone off, like the surgeon.

I suggest spending some time in the OR shadowing a CRNA to get a better idea of what it is we do. ;)

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Unfortunately, while in nursing school, you will have to eat, live, and breath it. That's just the way it is. It's all consuming. If you want to make A's you will need to repriortize and figure out which of your extracurriculars you can sideline during the semesters. I am an avid traveler, reader, rock climber, and ex-party animal! During nursing school I had to make a rule for myself: I couldn't read any books that didn't pertain to school except during spring break or between semester, I limited my rock climbing to just one weekend a month (I worked part-time during school as a nurse intern so I worked the other 3 weekends), and only went out on Friday night, keeping Saturday nights to study. It's all about sacrifice. Now that I've been an RN for 15 years I've decided to go for CRNA. So now, once again, I find myself in discipline mode. I'm currently doing my RN-BSN (graduate in August :jester: ), am studying to retake my GRE (DON'T ask), and my CCRN. So once again, I find myself limiting personal time, only now I'm married with a child so it's even harder. But if you really want to make those A's you are going to have to do the same my friend.

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Specializes in MICU & SICU.

Your first issue here is feeling inferior to your classmates that get higher test scores. My suggestion to you is take a look at those that are getting higher scores in the classroom and compare how they perform in clinicals. I remember the person that was at the top of my nursing class was not at the top of the class when it came to applying the information in the real world. Unfortunately it is difficult to prove your outstanding clincial smarts to a get into grad school. Your second issue, shadow a CRNA and see if this is something for you. If you decide to go to school make sure that you are willing to part with your many outside interests. This is a solid commitment and you are owned by the program for that period of time. If you can't forsee yourself to in this position I would suggest another program.

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I'm like you Mesomorph. I would rather make high "B"s and have a life than make "A's" and have no life. Not to mention, the few two people in my nursing class do not make great grades for the time they study. If you give me 20 hours to study like they do, I'll definately get all "A's" while they'll study +20 hours and barely get A's; I study for 7 hours and get a high "B". I think a 3.45 GPA is good enough to get in to anesthetist school, IMO. Go to LSU's CRNA homepage and look at the class statistics and see that the average GPA of Class 2009 is only a 3.29!!!!!! And the three classes before them had an average of 3.31 GPA!!!!!! So, don't believe everbody's GPA that they tell you. Have you looked at the New's Week Graduate School Special? You will see some interesting facts on DO and MD GPA's and how they are far from 3.8 to 4.0 for MD's like we think (more like 3.4 to 3.7 for the average Med School) and 3.2-3.4 for DO's!!! I could have gone to DO school easier than I can get in to CRNA school!

One more thing, schools inflate their GPA for national recognition. My former college math professor worked for Tulane and her job was to make the School's statistics look the best they can be. Not to mention, a lot of how she made some statistics look wasn't always ethical. And she say's every college does that for grants, money, and recognition so don't believe the some stats like GPA or GRE's right off the bat.

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Specializes in ER.

I need help writing an admissions essay for CRNA school, can anyone helpppppppp please

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I need help writing an admissions essay for CRNA school, can anyone helpppppppp please

What do they want you to include in your essay?

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Specializes in MICU & SICU.

I think that the essay is an essential part of the application process because it should support all other pieces of information that you have provided. There are books that you can buy to assist your admission essay, I didn't find them all that helpful but they are out there.

Use the letter as an oppurtunity to sell; yourself, your experience, your passion for nursing and your desire to further your education. Hope this helps.

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