ICU experience for CRNA school

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 31, 2016

Telemetry isn't ICU.

If you haven't even been offered the position yet, you may be counting your chickens before they're hatched anyway.

If you mean that in the course of your employment in the telemetry unit, you will "be trained" to float to their ICU, that will not be ICU experience because you would be assigned to patients who are ready to transfer to the telemetry unit but haven't been because they're waiting for a telemetry bed to open up.

The best experience you can get for anesthesia school is in a large, teaching hospital in a CTICU. I hesitate to offer this because as a CTICU nurse, I hate, hate HATE training new grads to be ICU nurses when I know they're planning to leave just as soon as they can possibly get into anesthesia school.

alli. · Nov 1, 2016

You must have misunderstood. I didnt say id be floating to icu I said id be trained there as in move to their icu permanently. I know tele isnt icu. I did most of my research. And I know you that those large teaching hospitals are usually the best option but I want to know if its possible and if I have some chance comong from an 8 bed icu. anyone coming from that particular background?

jj224 · Nov 1, 2016

There's no way we can tell you anything about your chances of being accepted by just knowing it is an 8-bed ICU. What is the acuity of the patients, how are your grades, etc. Ultimately, don't work there just to check off the box that you have ICU experience if these are low acuity patients that would be step down patients at a larger hospital. The reason you have to have ICU experience isn't just a hoop to jump through - it's to make you knowledgeable enough about caring for SICK patients when you start school. You build on this knowledge in school.

saveitICU, CRNA · Nov 1, 2016

Hi alli,

Like the other comments have stated, there is a lot more that goes into being accepted to a program, although your work experience does play a very large part. From personal experience, I was recently accepted to a program after applying for a second time. My first year I was rejected largely due to my lack of experience from working in an 8 bed ICU in a small hospital that had very few specialty services available. I then moved to a large city and began working in a 24 bed Surgical ICU that also functioned as the Neuro ICU as the facility had yet to create one. At the time of my second application, I had just over 2 years of ICU experience. Like Ruby said, most if not all schools like to see that you have experience in ICUs that admit medically and surgically complex patients to prepare you for the rigors of their program and the profession at large. So coming from a similar background as you, working in a smaller ICU may be a good thing as it exposes you to the ICU environment and patient population and then subsequently moving on to a larger ICU you can hit the ground running. Hope this helps!

alli. · Nov 1, 2016

saveitICU Thanks for your comment. It was the most helpful out of everyone. I think I will end up doing that. I wanted to hear someone else's similar experience. :) For everyone else, no need to bicker or get in a frenzy about a simple question. If you have nothing helpful to say then just be quiet and look elsewhere. You should know better. I have done a lot of research over the past 3 years for this and I simply wanted to see someone else with similar experience. Be a professional about your communication or don't comment at all.

anotheroneofmany · Nov 2, 2016

Definitely go for a large teaching hospital with complex patients and high acuity. Trauma icu, neurosurgical icu, surgical icu, cardiothorascic surgery icu, etc.... places with lots of vasoactive drip titration, ventilator management, and quick critical thinking. The interview committee wants to know you've taken care of the sickest of the sick. A small med-surg icu had patients that would literally be on the floor at a large teaching hospital (I know because I work at an 8-bed small hospital icu prn, in addition to my level 1 trauma/surgical icu full time job. It's laughable what ends up in the "icu" at the small hospital). Get the best experience you can so you can be the most prepared for school.

srna0126 · Nov 2, 2016

Think of it this way:

If there IS an anesthesia school that would accept a small, largely non-acute ICU as adequate experience, would you want to attend there, or graduate from such a program?

You want to be in the most successful environment you can place yourself in, to get into a successful program so that you in turn are a successful CRNA.

Get into the largest, most acute ICU setting you can. Spend at a minimum one year in that ICU. CT, Trauma, Medical, makes little difference. Those with more cardiac experience need to learn more medical complications and treatments during school, and vice versa.

FlorenceNtheMachine · Nov 3, 2016

Ruby is giving sound advice. Get looootts of experience in a bigger icu. The 8 bed icu seems nice to get your feet wet. If you get into crna school you want to be well prepared for any type of patient they throw at you.

I still get butterflies when certain patients roll through that door. I've got 3.5 years in a high acuity icu and I still feel uncomfortable with certain situations and need my ICU vets to help me through.

Find a nice SICU or CvSICU. That's where I am and I love it.

guest769224 · Nov 3, 2016

The best experience you can get for anesthesia school is in a large, teaching hospital in a CTICU. QUOTE]
Subjective. CTICU doesn't necessarily trump other high acuity settings.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 3, 2016

saveitICU Thanks for your comment. It was the most helpful out of everyone. I think I will end up doing that. I wanted to hear someone else's similar experience. :) For everyone else, no need to bicker or get in a frenzy about a simple question. If you have nothing helpful to say then just be quiet and look elsewhere. You should know better. I have done a lot of research over the past 3 years for this and I simply wanted to see someone else with similar experience. Be a professional about your communication or don't comment at all.

My goodness gracious. I took the time and used the bandwidth to answer your question in a helpful manner. I was the first person to bother to do so. But you didn't like my answer so you scold me. Someone's communication here isn't particularly professional, and it's the person whos's posting in the little BLUE box.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 3, 2016

The best experience you can get for anesthesia school is in a large, teaching hospital in a CTICU. QUOTE]
Subjective. CTICU doesn't necessarily trump other high acuity settings.
Possibly subjective, but my friends who teach tell me that CTICU give the best mix of acuity and devices. Plus all that experience with art lines, central lines, PA lines . . . .