IF I work part time, is "1 year ICU exp" still 1 year?

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 11, 2005

The school I will be transfering to requires an AS in nursing as a prereq to their BSN program, so I'll have some time to work in ICU while I'm getting my BSN. Thing is since I hear nurses commonly work 12 hour shifts I can probably do only 2 shifts a week (maybe 3). Is this enough to satisfy the 1 year ICU requirement or are the programs going to consider it less because I'm working part time?
Thanks

Don't see why not. 3 - 12 hour shifts each week is almost a 40 hour work week, anyway. Besides, they want you to have a year of experience, not 365 consecutive days of work.

Focker, CRNA · Jul 11, 2005

I dont know if the schools get really particular about getting that year of experience, but one full time equivalent is 2080 hours. All it is is 40 hours a week

multiplied by 52 weeks. But three days a week with 12 hours per shift is considered full time for nurses which only comes to 1872 hours in a year. If your time in the unit is somewhere around there before you would start school, I would think you would be in good shape.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 11, 2005

Three days per week is considered full-time, two shifts per week is not. Most are going to want you to have at least one year of full-time experience. I do not know of any nurses who have been accepted only working part-time after one year of work.

duckboy20 · Jul 12, 2005

I agree, I think there is a minimum of hours also so going full time would benefit you the best, also, if you are only working part time and only for 1 year before you apply that is probably too little experience.

jhowirn · Jul 12, 2005

I'm doing Baylor weekends while I'm working on my MSN and work only 2 shifts per week. In my humble opinion, 24 hours per week is still enough to learn while you work, so it should be enough. It's not like working light prn, and only seeing a shift or 2 a month!

jhowirn · Jul 12, 2005

Besides, you can't work full time and go to school full time. Believe me, I tried that once, and my mental and physical health suffered much as a result! After all, you gotta study sometime!! And(if you really manage your time wisely) eat and sleep:)

duckboy20 · Jul 12, 2005

I was not referring to working while working on your BSN from your ASN. I am not working at all finishing up my CRNA degree. However, Only part time ICU experience for only 1 year is probably too little experience entering CRNA school. And I imagine most schools would agree with me. I am no expert though

murph · Jul 12, 2005

The school I will be transfering to requires an AS in nursing as a prereq to their BSN program, so I'll have some time to work in ICU while I'm getting my BSN. Thing is since I hear nurses commonly work 12 hour shifts I can probably do only 2 shifts a week (maybe 3). Is this enough to satisfy the 1 year ICU requirement or are the programs going to consider it less because I'm working part time?
Thanks

Experience is hard to quantify so we have converted it to years. Let me ask you a question, have you had as many ICU experiences as someone who is available for these experiences 40 hours a week? No, I would not consider part time for 1 year equal to the experience that a full time employee would have after a year but that is just my oppinion.

Alpha13 · Jul 12, 2005

Experience is hard to quantify so we have converted it to years. Let me ask you a question, have you had as many ICU experiences as someone who is available for these experiences 40 hours a week? No, I would not consider part time for 1 year equal to the experience that a full time employee would have after a year but that is just my oppinion.

You're right I would have less experience, thats reminds me of another question I had - What exactly do you gain from working in the ICU thats carries over to your job as a CRNA? I'm not a nurse yet so forgive my ignorance. The only thing I could think of is the experience of working with sick patients in high stress situations. Otherwise they seem like completely unrelated jobs.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 12, 2005

You learn how to titrate drips, hemodynamic monitoring, use of a intra-aortic balloon pump, etc. I highly recommend that you try to shadow a CRNA for a couple of days and see what they do on a daily basis. It may not be what you think.

heartICU · Jul 12, 2005

You're right I would have less experience, thats reminds me of another question I had - What exactly do you gain from working in the ICU thats carries over to your job as a CRNA? I'm not a nurse yet so forgive my ignorance. The only thing I could think of is the experience of working with sick patients in high stress situations. Otherwise they seem like completely unrelated jobs.

Working with extremely sick patients, learning to prioritize patient problems, learning how to resuscitate a patient (not just CPR - fluid wise, blood wise, drug wise), learning to glance at a monitor and within a few seconds, see a rhythm, HR, BP, CVP, or PA and come to a conclusion to what the problem is. You need intense experience with ventilated patients, patients on pressors, septic patients, patients with bad hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, brains, (though hopefully not all in the same patient!).

You are right - working in an ICU is very different from being a CRNA. But the value of the ICU experience is not learning how to recover a fresh postop CABG - it is learning to critically think beyond the obvious, understand the physiology behind a disease process, rapidly make decisions to remedy patient problems, and anticipate future problems and head them off.

I only worked in the ICU for a little over a year before anesthesia school started, much less than some of my colleagues, but I can tell you that when I am reasoning my way through a patient problem, I frequently refer back to my ICU experience with regards to the various pathologies I saw there. Not only that, you will find that in the ICU, you will not always have a physician at your bedside or in the unit. ICU nurses are routinely expected to make rapid interventions when needed without a physician present - you will often give dangerous drugs to a patient or resuscitate a patient without a physician there, and you must be constantly on top of your game.

Sorry to sound so rushed - I am on my way to bed and I am pooped! Got a test on Monday and I'm in the OR the rest of the week....gonna be a long one. I will write more when I am not so tired.