My stats that got me into anesthesia school

fmagarbage · Dec 24, 2008

Congratulations!

Your story is very inspiring. :smokin:

DrugReptoNurse · Dec 25, 2008

Thanks! I hope it does inspire others to get over the "fear factor" and just go for it. Yesterday I received my acceptance letter to the second school where I interviewed. At this rate I am guessing every school where I applied/interviewed will offer me a seat in their program. I feel fortunate and blessed. I also realize if I had listened to all of the other "naysayers" and more experienced nurses who told me that " You can't get into anesthesia school with your experience" or the old unit supervisor who told me" without my recommendation letter you won't even get an interview".....that I'd still be sitting on the sidelines wishing I was going to start anesthesia school instead of actually doing it.

sarahneeyah · Dec 26, 2008

Thanks! I hope it does inspire others to get over the "fear factor" and just go for it. Yesterday I received my acceptance letter to the second school where I interviewed. At this rate I am guessing every school where I applied/interviewed will offer me a seat in their program. I feel fortunate and blessed. I also realize if I had listened to all of the other "naysayers" and more experienced nurses who told me that " You can't get into anesthesia school with your experience" or the old unit supervisor who told me" without my recommendation letter you won't even get an interview".....that I'd still be sitting on the sidelines wishing I was going to start anesthesia school instead of actually doing it.

I was wondering. Did you break the news to your unit manager yet? What was his/her reaction? Congradulation. I am one of those people who believe that you can reach your goal if you really have the hunger. You motivated me. I am hoping to start MICU at Grady in Atlanta. I interviewed last friday in the toughest hospital in town, but the experience can't be beat. I will take a few dollars cut to gain the experience I need. I won't be done with my BSN until the spring of 2010, so I will be getting the necessary preparation needed to get in. You said you graduated in May 08, when did you apply? I wish you the best.

pharho · Dec 26, 2008

Hey

That's Awesome!! I'm going to be in your boat pretty much.. I will be graduating from a BN program in 2010 and then want to go right into the ICU and then apply to CRNA school after 1 year experience.. I will be 34 upon graduation from the BN program.. Where did you get your first ICU job? I'm from Canada and will be moving to the USA to work.. Would like to get a job where I can move right into a CRNA program without having to move again.. I also want to work 70-80hr per week, for the money and experience.. Great story! Very inspiring! Any info greatly appreciated!

serengeti · Dec 26, 2008

Thank you for taking the time to share your stats and encourage the rest of us. I know you will do great. Congratulations and all the best!!!

DrugReptoNurse · Dec 27, 2008

I haven't told my current manager about my acceptance into anesthesia school. My current manager is great and I like her. My first ICU job sucked and the manager on the unit was a dickhead. I've already told a few of my fellow nurses on the floor and I'm sure the news will spread like wildfire around the unit. I work for the University of Alabama Birmingham in the TBICU/Trauma Burn Intensive Care Unit. We have over 150 nurses in the 28 bed unit. My time spent there has been great. The training wonderful, the management great and my fellow coworkers have been wonderful. I would recommend working at UAB to any prospective ICU nurse. It is just a very cool place to work. They are a magnet hospital and a Level I trauma center. My first ICU job was working for the Mobile Infirmary in the SICU. I applied for anesthesia school after working for only 3 months. I wasn't even through orientation when I submitted my first application. I only went to nursing school to become a CRNA. I knew my goal before I took my first nursing prerequisite. It took a lot of planning but I'm slowly but surely getting to my end goal.

Any more questions let me know.

Burnenup · Dec 28, 2008

Wow! That is pretty frickin' awesome. I was in a smaller ICU for about 10 months, then transferred and took a BCC class, finished orientation and have been there for about 4 months. Unfortunately, everyone knows you just finished this class and end up being treated like a new grad! and I really want to move forward with my CCRN, but they wont pay for the test until youve been there for about a year. I am feeling like this transfer may actually be holding me back now. I have always had my sights on CRNA, but am getting burned out in "the unit".......

point is, Thanks! I know that no one can stop me from my dreams, so time to find my CRNA book and plan on applying by next August if that is what I really want. and good luck! :yeah:

sarahneeyah · Dec 29, 2008

I haven't told my current manager about my acceptance into anesthesia school. My current manager is great and I like her. My first ICU job sucked and the manager on the unit was a dickhead. I've already told a few of my fellow nurses on the floor and I'm sure the news will spread like wildfire around the unit. I work for the University of Alabama Birmingham in the TBICU/Trauma Burn Intensive Care Unit. We have over 150 nurses in the 28 bed unit. My time spent there has been great. The training wonderful, the management great and my fellow coworkers have been wonderful. I would recommend working at UAB to any prospective ICU nurse. It is just a very cool place to work. They are a magnet hospital and a Level I trauma center. My first ICU job was working for the Mobile Infirmary in the SICU. I applied for anesthesia school after working for only 3 months. I wasn't even through orientation when I submitted my first application. I only went to nursing school to become a CRNA. I knew my goal before I took my first nursing prerequisite. It took a lot of planning but I'm slowly but surely getting to my end goal.
Any more questions let me know.

That is so cool. I am about to start my first ICU position at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. I don't know if you've ever heard of Grady. Probably the toughest hospital to work for in the state of Ga. It is a level I trauma center with the only burn unit. The hospital is located in the heart of downtown, so the area is not of the best neighborhood, but the saying around here is, " If something very serious happens to me, take me to grady." So, it's not the hospital people would choose if they are just under the weather or for minor surgery, but for traumatic injury, grady is your place. The manager who interviewed me told me that it is the most intense job I will ever have, but she told me once I work there, I can work anywhere. I will be train from because they are a teaching hospital. The only thing is that I have to give them two years on paper. I don't mind since I will complete my BSN by the spring of 2010. By the time I apply and get accepted, the two years will be up. The manager didn't say this, but I think that she knew why I would want to come into ICU at this time of my career. I was an LPN for 13 years, and I've been a RN for 2.5 years. I think 90% of the nurses there are future CRNA's. She told me that most nurses move on after the two years commitment because the hospital is a teaching hospital. Emory Medical School, and Morehouse Medical School trains there. I have a feeling they are going to work my butt off though, but I think it is worth it. I will be working in MICU.

Best Wishes,

Lannie

CRNA1906 · Dec 30, 2008

As a frequent visitor of allnurses.com, I always found myself checking out what grades, gre, experience got people into anesthesia school. I was recently accepted and thought I would share my stats for those of you who are new nurses.
I am a relatively new nurse. Graduated in May 2008. Will have 1 year and four months of experience before school starts in August. I work lots of hours, probably 70 or 80 a week because I enjoy the overtime pay. 3.66 BSN GPA, 4.0 in the sciences with a B in statistics, 1200 on the GRE. I also took and passed the CCRN after I had accumulated 1800 hours on the floor. I worked in a SICU right out of school for 5 months that did mostly cardiovascular procedures CABG, AAA and a variety of other surgical cases. For the past three months I have been working in a TBICU/trauma/burn intensive care unit handling a variety of trauma and burn patients. No day is ever the same. The hospital is a Level I trauma center. I am older than most students as I will be 40 when I start the program. My first college degree was obtained in 1990. I partied as a frat boy more than I studied and ended up with 2.48 GPA with a degree in marketing. That was almost 20 years ago and I believe the admissions board looked past that stat. I spent the majority of my post BSBA degree working in the pharmaceutical industry doing sales, product management and brand management.
Bottom line.....if you are a new nurse and you want to be a CRNA...go apply. You may get in just like I did. Don't let anybody tell you that you need 2 to 5 years experience before you apply. If you do....you'll just be waiting longer to get into school. I applied to 6 CRNA programs and was invited to all of them to interview. I completed 3 interviews last week and received my first acceptance letter today. I'm sure more will follow.
My recomendation letters came from 2 of my nursing professors, one from a practicing nurse midwife, one from a practicing CRNA and two from my peers in the ICU. I never submitted a letter from my supervisor as he wouldn't write a letter for me until I had spent 2 years on the unit. Screw him! :) Follow your dreams and go for it. I am living mine out.

What CRNA schools did you apply to?

NHGN · Jan 22, 2009

I am so amazed by this - I keep re-reading the OP to make sure I got it right. You graduated May 2008.....that's also when I graduated (I'm still double checking!). I'm in a SICU, started mid-July. I'm barely on the threshold of getting off orientation.

How have you switched units already and how can you feel that confident in your practice (don't read this as an insult -- there's just no way I have that much confidence!). I can't believe you've already taken (and passed) the CCRN. I've barely finished the unit's education! I can't even start taking overtime shifts for a couple more months (I think) - I think it'd be too overwhelming for the majority of new grads anyways.

Most of all, there's no way I'm ready to even start thinking about managing an airway. Do you spend all of your free time studying (it sounds like that's possible)? Do you feel on par with the nurses on your units who've been there for 3+ years? You're not constantly asking for their advice?

Again: please, please, I hope none of this comes off indignant or what have you; I'm just floored that you did this!!

DrugReptoNurse · Jan 22, 2009

I'll try to answer your questions. Do I ask for advice all the time, sure I do. I don't ever think I will ever know everything about ICU nursing. If I am unsure of something I'll ask somebody who has been there longer for advice. I think it is the safe thing to do. Do I feel as comfortable managing patients as some of the nurses who have been there 3 or more years?? It depends, some of the nurses who have been there a long time scare the hell out of me with their nursing. Most of the others who are long timers are very good nurses. I feel they are better at ICU nursing than me. They are lifers. I only wanted to go to CRNA school so I feel comfortable with my level of practice in the icu. Do I feel comfortable managing airways? Yes and no. I feel comfortable managing an established airway and I feel comfortable extubating. I do not intubate on my unit and don't plan on doing that until CRNA school. It is currently out of my scope of practice. Do I study all the time? No, I can usually read something one time and comprehend it. I don't know how I do that but I do. How did I pass the CCRN in less than a year? I read the AACN study guide and worked every over time shift that I could. At the hospital where I work I can work overtime in the SICU, Neuro ICU, Trauma ICU, MICU, PICU and ER. I think floating to all of the other units helped with my understanding of CCRN questions as I was exposed to a variety of patient types. I have already accumulated 56 hours of time on the clock this week which started on Sunday for me. I have two more days to go before I have a day off. Like I said earlier, I like to work overtime. I also now teach ACLS which helped me with the cardiovascular section testing portion of the CCRN.

Since my original posting I have received an additional 3 letters of acceptance to other CRNA programs and one denial letter. I am still waiting on the last letter to arrive. I am still planning on attending the first CRNA program that accepted me. I was not offended by your posting as I have been asked often by the other nurses on my unit how I did what I did. Hope this helps :)