Is it true that CRNA programs want at least 5 years of experience?.....

Nursing Students SRNA

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Hey everyone!,

I just got out of a small meeting with a dean of a large med/nursing university here in the Northeast. She told me that she has only 18 seats each year for her CRNA program and around 200 RN applicants each year for the 18 seats. She then said that they want from 5 to 10 to 15 of RN/ICU experience to be able to get a seat...and not just ANY ICU, but something in like a cardiothoracic ICU, or a burn ICU, etc.....Hey, personally, I find this just a bit much in overkill for entrance into a CRNA program. Does anyone have any insight into what's going on in the CRNA scenes in their part of the country regarding entrance requirements, etc? Maybe it's just this local area that creates such a quasi-ridiculous overkill entrance requirement environment for the program. What do you think?....Thanks for the input!! Please feel free to comment.

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I do not know what is reguired for the CRNA program at this time. But, in 2002 it was required that you have one year of critical care experience. Entrance is very competitive and slots are few. My son I am proud to say had the opportunity to choose between 3 schools, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Middle Tennessee and UT at Chattanooga. He interviewed and was offered a slot by all 3. He chose Chattanooga. His class was 20 at the beginning and graduated 18.

He had one year in Neonatal ICU, but was told he would have a better chance if he had adult critical care. This entire family works in healthcare. My husband worked in CCU, he went into the float pool so that our son could have his position in the unit to meet the requirement. He also was certified in all the advance life saving courses, ACLS, PALS, Truama and some others. He had a position before he completed half of the school. He graduated 2004 and went to work 2 weeks after graduation.

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that's news to me!! :yawn:

i've been investigating crna programs on the east coast and in new mexico/texas area for the past 6-9 months. the minimum requirement is one (1) icu or critical care area prior to the start of programs; however many do not allow you to work the 2-3 years while you attend the program. i have yet to hear 5+ years experience.

check into other schools. you're sure to find other minimum requirements -- and a school that best fits your current needs.

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5 years is definately not a requirement, but schools may prefer it and the more competitive ones may insist. I looked at some fairly selective programs in the Northeast and heard different things from committee members. One said they don't pay much attention to applicants with just one year experience. Another said that while they sometimes admit people with only one year experience, they will be questioned more during the interview. One interviewer didn't ask me any clinical questions saying it was clear from my background that I had good experience--4+ yrs med/surg ICU

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Specializes in NICU, CVICU.

I am sure the minimum REQUIREMENT isn't 5 years, however, perhaps the quality of the applicants is such that 5 years happens to be the least amount of experience of the applicants that get in.

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No 5 years is not a nationwide requirment, but with such a high number of apps to low numbber of positions that would be an average of most applicants, gotta be better in some big ways to beat that average.

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You have to round out your application. If you are weak on academics, you need more experience. You have great transcripts and test scores? You will find programs that will interview you even if you will only have the minimum 1 year ICU experience (COA accreditation requirement - NO program will let you in with less than this) at the time you enter the program.

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I'm currently in a CRNA program. I only had less than 2.5 years of ICU/RN experience before starting my program. I was accepted to 3 schools in 2 different states. Five years is NOT the minimum requirement for CRNA school, but like stanman1968 said, it makes sense that that particular school may have different requirements due to the differential between applicants and spaces available. Also, the longer you're out of school, the tougher the academics can be (this is not an absolute statement). In other words, if you haven't taken a chemistry class in 10 years, your understanding of pKas, and reactions like a sodium salt in a basic environment and what it does to the pH of the solution may be more difficult to recall, versus if you had chemistry or other courses more recently. I was only out of school for less than 2.5 years and even still, the rigor of academics, answering CRNA school test questions and sitting on my tush over 8 hours a day took a fair amount of adjustment. But hey, if you have 10-15 years of experience, I'm not saying don't apply, it's very possible to do well. However, I don't think that you're at a disadvantage if you have a few years of experience but with a more recent academic background.

Basically, my personal opinion from what I've seen the past semester was that the academic portion for students with less than 5 years of experience is perhaps a bit easier, however, once you get into the clinical period, I imagine those with 10-15 years of experience may have more intrinsic knowledge, if you're in a didactic-type program. In any case, I know of one person who graduated who had only started one IV before going to CRNA school (ie, short experience time), and this person was one of the top students, in both academics and clinicals. Anything is possible.

The mandated minimum time with critical care experience by the Council of Accreditation is one year. If that particular school told you they want 5-15 years of experience and you want to be a practicing CRNA well before then, then I recommend you broaden your horizons on schools to where you are willing to apply.

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Specializes in Neuro, Anesthesia, CRNA.

I had 6 years before I started CRNA school. But I know many people that were accepted with 1-2 years.

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obviously this is a blanket statement but i have heard (hearsay) that it is better to only have like max. 5 years' experience. the longer you wait after your BSN the harder studying becomes (with age). i know that many people of various ages do CRNA programs all the time and do them successfully. but as a general rule of thumb academics become more difficult with age.

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"as a general rule of thumb academics become more difficult with age"

Don't be so sure. School is different, but not necessarily more difficult. I have no intention of pulling all nighters, but don't feel a need to either. School is much less stressful today. I am more confidant about who I am, what I know, and what I don't know. And life experiences have made me a better critical thinker. Overall, I think I am both a better student today and school is easier.

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a few points. Programs in large metro areas like NYC, Boston, etc. have a larger applicant pool. thus more applicants per spot. for example columbia university has around 30 slots and 800 applications. i got into that program with 1 yr and 5 days in the icu. i was admitted while i was still in icu orientation in 2005. other programs like case western and cleveland clinic are in smaller areas but still have 30 slots. they have less than 100 applications per year. the best way to be admitted to a crna program is to have a well rounded application. write a killer essay and i mean killer. i must have written 40 drafts. get great recommendation letters. kill the gre. i highly recommend the princeton review class (not book). their attitude is "this is not an IQ test. it is an exam that you just must learn to take." and believe me, they will definately help you. it is worth the investment. another note, schools are very intersted in science GPA as it has a high correlation with doing well in the program and passing boards. so hopefully you went to good schools and have very good grades. once that is all complete, hopefully all the strengths will greatly outweigh the weaknesses and you'll get an interview. once you get an interview, you know the paper stuff is ok, so you just have to sell yourself. everyone has weaknesses on their application and i believe it is best to not try to hide them. if you have limited icu experience, tell them it is not a problem as you have been working extra hard to accelerate the learning curve by seeking difficult patients, that the learning curve is not 10 years, i.e. they plateau much earlir than that, etc. ask people to write in your recommendation letters that you are "above average and better than nurses with 10 years of ICU experience, and that they recommend you without reservation." if you explain a percieved weakness in this way, it is more likely to be interpreted the way you prefer. if you leave it for them to interpret, well, then, you probably will not be given the benefit of the doubt. hope that is helpful. h

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