Help with differences in CRNA education

DPSGraduateNurse · Feb 11, 2011

I plan on applying to CRNA in the future (few years out) but based on the research I've seen, some schools (I live in FL) REQUIRE GRE, and a science class no longer than 3 years old at date of application in either chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, or calculus! Plus at least one year adult acute care experience. One school even stated, PICU does NOT count! So do your homework. The thing is to identify what school you want to attend, and research the admission's requirements for that school.

Good luck!

Class2011 · Feb 12, 2011

There is a very wide variety of program types and structure. It will serve you well to research thoroughly, but far and away the most important factor is the quality of the clinical experience both in terms of the cases you will do (number and kind) and the quality of instruction (or lack thereof). This is the hardest information to get at. You basically need to speak to program directors, current and former students and hope that they will be honest with you. You may also need to read between the lines carefully

Some are relatively cheap, others are quite expensive, and the difference has little to do with the quality of the program, rather with their structure. Some are looking for cheap labor for a specific hospital, some are looking for potential employees, others are looking for cash cows for a university

Masters in Nursing will be within a nursing department at a university and will require some nursing theory courses. Masters in Anesthesia may be in who knows what science department or even an education department and may require some bogus education course. Or you could go to a religious school and have to take a bible course. Point is, you are unlikely to fully escape courses that are a waste of time.

Some schools are offering a PhD now. At some point all will grant a PhD. All currently offer a master's degree in something. So I can't imagine it being a barrier to a doctorate anywhere, but may require an extra course or two depending on program specifics. If you're sure you want a PhD for some reason, go that route now. Otherwise worry about it later.

Some programs are front loaded meaning the didactics are all done in the first year and clinical starts the second year. This is usually because the clinical sites are removed from the didactic site. Other programs have the didactic and clinical portions integrated. For true hands on learners, an integrated program may be best. Others may prefer being able to focus 100% on didactics and test taking without the added stress of clinicals.

One down side of a front loaded program is that you wont see clinicals until a year into the program after you have invested all kinds of time and money and you may feel there is no turning back even if you dislike the work. So be sure to shadow as much as you can before you commit and get as realistic a picture of what anesthesia is like before the big dip. Try googling nurse anesthetist for more perspective, the third link currently has lots of information.

If you still want to pursue this, be as flexible as you can in your personal life so that you can go to the best school possible. E.g. plenty of people relocate, move the kids in with their parents, whatever. This can be a big sacrifice, but again, the best school is the one that offers the overall best clinical experience (period).

allnurses Guide · Feb 13, 2011

Nurse anesthesia schools aren't moving to PhDs they are going to go to a DNP/DNAP. There is quite a bit a difference between the two degrees.