Multitasking and holiday breaks during CRNA training

[rafa8194]

I'll be starting an accelerated BSN program soon and I'm glad to find that there's so much information on this site to help people prepare for nursing school and nursing specialties. I'm very interested in preparing myself for a CRNA track and I have a couple of questions about life as an SRNA.

The first one is about multitasking. In another thread someone wrote that one of the panel members at her interview told her that CRNA programs looked for people who have some skill at multitasking, among other things. I'm from a liberal arts background and have developed a strong academic work ethic and good recall for tests, so I don't think I have a reason to worry about grades, at least not a reason to worry any more than any other student. One thing I don't have, however, is experience at multitasking. Is there a way to learn to do it well? Are there techniques people can learn to get better at it? Is it something that I'll have plenty of opportunities to do as an RN? Or, in your opinion, is it something that you can either do or you can't?

I'm also wondering about holidays and academic breaks during CRNA training. I know that I'll have to make my family aware that they won't see much of me for the duration of the program, and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The programs that I've looked at run continuously for 36 months, but I figure that at a minimum there have to be a few days off at Christmastime and a few other holiday periods scattered throughout the year. For those who are current or former SRNAs, how often did you have breaks during your program? Many thanks for your responses.