Looking to get into critical care nursing

[Tamaree]

Hello Everyone,

I have been a nurse going on 2 years now, working on a MS/Pulmonary unit. Im trying to transition into critical care, but my facility has not had any positions available in critical care for years now. I have also been looking into internship programs, but i have been unsuccessful as well. I'm really hoping to become a Nurse Anesthetist, and I know this is my next step..... What can I do to gain that experience that I need?

So please, any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

This is so obvious it's a wonder you haven't thought about it yourself. Apply to other hospitals.

[Probably, BSN]

In the meantime, purchase or borrow a CCRN book and read. Not for preparation of the test. Read it to ready yourself for the ICU. Some people have a difficult time transitioning from the floor to the ICU. The ICU is a very busy place and a person can get caught up in tasks. Reading a CCRN book will introduce you to the "why" you are performing certain tasks.

Have a talk with one of the ICU directors. You might be surprised at what they have available.

And for heaven sake, keep the "I'm really hoping to become a Nurse Anesthetist, and I know this is my next step" to yourself.

Nobody wants to be used as a stepping stone.

[SRNA4U, BSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I'm currently in my first year as a nurse anesthesia student and as the previous posters have said, don't tell future managers you are thinking about applying to nurse anesthesia school. That will definitely get doors closed in your face as management wants nurses who will stay with them for a while as they are investing in your training and education. Apply to another hospital ICU internship program and keep your mouth quiet about your true ambitions. My background is OR and ICU and one of my OR colleagues wanted to become a CRNA so he applied for the ICU internship within the hospital and he made the mistake of telling the manager he wanted to become a CRNA and ultimately he was not given the internship. After going through all that, he then had to apply to an outside hospital to get into the ICU. One of the upperclassmen in my anesthesia program also kept it from her boss and actually had someone else write her recommendation letter for CRNA school and it worked for her. When she got in the program, she quit her ICU job and took up traveling nursing until the program started.

Best of luck to you. Anesthesia school is exciting and a humbling experience as you realize the responsibilities you will assume in this field. The volume of information can be overwhelming for some but you'll get through it. Our first class had 500 PPT slides and we covered it in 3 days with our first test covering that info coming up this week. Our anesthesia machine lecture had over 1000 PPT slides divided into 3 parts with one exam covering all 3 parts. Quite a few of my classmates have only been nurses for 3 or 4 years with that time in the ICU and already this week some are saying they are behind, some are really overwhelmed, and some haven't even started studying yet and we've been in school for over 2 weeks now. Don't give up on applying for an ICU position. You'll get one eventually.