Does it take a certain personality type to become a CRNA?

I don't think he sounds like someone who would make it through CRNA school at all. They will eat him alive. Clinicals are rough and with that attitude they would eat him up.

As for personality, I think it takes someone who is driven, knows what they want, and are willing to put their heart and soul into it. That goes for school and practice. It's a huge committment. You have to want it and be willing to sacrifice a lot. I have almost finished my first semester, am just a baby SRNA, but have had to bite my tongue many times in clinicals. Stuff I never would have put up with as a RN. But, it's what I have wanted to for years. I worked hard to get here and I am going to succeed.

I don't think you need to be anal retentive or anything else. Thorough, vigilent, knowledgable are important traits.

That's my take on it.

Here's a prediction, I predict that you will become a CRNA and your classmate will not.

You absolutely need to be able to get along with people, while not being afraid to make people unhappy if it's a patient care issue. It can be a delicate balance in some situations. Good 'people skills' make you a better CRNA. Also you need to be able to give yourself your own 'pats on the back'. Often you will handle a difficult situation well, and no one else in the room will have a clue. You can't be too much of a worry wart, or another way of saying it is you must have some degree of thrill seeker in you. Every time you induce someone you really don't know exactly what's going to happen. Need to be able to make decisions quickly and calmly. If you thrive on a people contact, then it can be lonely but clinical teaching can be a great way to overcome that. Working with most students is rewarding. Keep working hard!

I would certainly say that this guy you're talking about is not representative of the "typical" CRNA type. Yes, you will always find a strong personality out there. However, a personality like the one you describe is more likely to get you out of a program or prevent you from getting in than it is to get you ahead.

Type A is a pretty good description of most of us in programs. You have to be or you really won't survive the brutal demands time, energy, and emotion - wise.

You need to not worry about what you would be up against with your classmates in a program. Once you're in, it doesn't work like that...you're in and you just need to continue to prove you deserve to be there. You aren't in competition with your classmates. My guess is if this guy you're talking about has that strong of a personality, the admission committees would smell it a mile away and not like it. Experienced, driven, intelligent, humble, sure, and strong are the descriptors I would use to paint a verbal picture of those generally chosen for nurse anesthesia programs.

Good luck and just do everything to show ad-coms that this is what you are meant to be doing!

SS

Well, some questions for you...have you met any CRNAs? Or only wanna-bes like this guy you described? Have any of these CRNAs been decent people? Do you know of anyone else in your nursing class (who wants to be a CRNA) with determination and brains but doesn't act like this guy?

Have you met any successful people in any walk of life that is not a jerk??? Well then, you have your answer. There are successful people with drive and determination, who are smart, who are decent, nice people, who do not brag about accomplishments, who do not try to make you feel inferior. Model your path after them.

It's one thing to talk a lot about being a CRNA, it's another to shadow some real CRNAs, study for the GRE like your life depends on it, get great experience in a high acuity ICU for at least two years (to be competitive and get a good knowledge base), fill out all the applications, pay all the fees, pray like hell for an interview, fly all over the country attending interviews, selling yourself, praying like hell for an acceptance letter....and then...working like hell for two-three years and then....taking the certification exam...then being a CRNA!

A word about this guy...INSECURE. Stay away from him. Know yourself. Don't talk. Do.