I just graduated with my BSN and passed boards this month. I have already been accepted into the graduate school in my hometown (to get core classes done) and plan to do the nurse anesthesia concentration. What I need is anyone's oppinion on whether or not you think one year of experience is enough if I apply and get accepted. I am working in a Burn ICU at a level 1 trauma center, which gets overflow Medical and trauma ICU patients. I will also float to other ICUs- SICU, CCU, NNICU, etc. I am planning on getting my CCRN as soon as I have enough hours and can study enough to pass it.
I know that anesthesia school is more and more competitive, so that is why I am thinking about going ahead and applying after a year. I figure if I don't get in the first year, I will know even more the second year and be better prepared. What concerns me though is whether I will be struggling with my anesthesia classes if I do get in. Let me know if any of you have any suggestions about the pros/cons of applying as a new nurse.
P.S.- Since I know many of you are going to ask, yes I had OR in clinicals, and I have gotten the opportunity to shadow CRNAs so I really am interested in the job and not just the pay. I knew I wanted to get my MSN, it was just the question of FNP or CRNA. Since I like the hospital environment and not the office setting of healthcare I think anesthesia will be better for me.
Those requirement include graduation from an accredited program of nursing, hold an RN license, and have a minimum of one year experience as an RN.
The above quote is why I asked the question. Is the NATIONAL standard a year of critical care, or just the year of experience? I'm not doubting you, just wanting to clarify.
For some reason, the AANA keeps their accreditation standards behind a password-protected link on their website and refuses to release a copy of the standards to individuals who request them. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind that? Why would accreditation standards be secret?
In response to CRNAWannbe- The schools are absolutely telling you the truth. THe Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs mandates that a program accept only those applicants that meet minimum requirements. Those requirement include graduation from an accredited program of nursing, hold an RN license, and have a minimum of one year experience as an RN. THe program may set more rigorous requirements such as the type of experience or length, GRE or MAT scores, GPAs etc but may not set lesser requirement under risk of losing accreditation. If the program is not accredited it's graduates may not take the certifiying exam or earn the credential CRNA. :)
CRNA, DNSc, I realize you serve on the decision making committee of one of the schools, I just wanted to clarify. Do you mean that they cannot accept "applications" until the requirements are met or simply a school could not admit anyone who had not met the criteria. I have know of students who graduated in May 2003 and will enter CRNA school Sept. 2004. They applied (to accredited schools) in the fall before they had even as much as 6 months experience. However, they will have 1 year 3 months experience upon their entry into the program. If the standards were "application" then the overall standard would be essentially 2 years experience since most schools start the application process for the following year in the fall. Thank you for your help.
CRNA DNSc, I too have questions. When I visited MTSA, one of their students told me that she had been accepted after only having worked for three months in the ICU (she had just graduated and began her nursing work in the ICU). She had her full year in critical care prior to starting the program, but NOT prior to her interview.
Just like CRNAwannabe, I graduate May 2005, and will probably take my boards in early June. If we assume that I am an RN at that time, and I will have three months prior to my interview, could I possibly be accepted for the class beginning in August 2006? Thanks.
CRNA DNSc, I too have questions. When I visited MTSA, one of their students told me that she had been accepted after only having worked for three months in the ICU (she had just graduated and began her nursing work in the ICU). She had her full year in critical care prior to starting the program, but NOT prior to her interview.
Just like CRNAwannabe, I graduate May 2005, and will probably take my boards in early June. If we assume that I am an RN at that time, and I will have three months prior to my interview, could I possibly be accepted for the class beginning in August 2006? Thanks.
That is a real possibility - depending on which school you are dealing with. In my school (which still remains unnamed for good reasons) they allowed people to apply early and be accepted just like you stated. I believe 1 or 2 of my classmates actually had LESS than 1 year by the time CRNA school started so... it IS possible to do such a thing.
Sleeepy
PS Please don't ask me which school I attended - I might expose myself to a libel lawsuit with some of the statements I could make - even though they would all be true.
Please don't ask me which school I attended - I might expose myself to a libel lawsuit with some of the statements I could make - even though they would all be true.
THe Council on Accreditation is only concerned that the applicant have a minimum of 1 year experience as an RN prior to starting the program. School may have policies that indicate greater minimums or that the 1 yr requirement be met prior to application- thats up to the program. A program may have stricter or stronger minimum requirement but not less than the COA. The COA guidelines do not use the word critical care in the requirement and leave the definition of acceptable types of critical care experience/units to the individual schools. That is why some schools accept ER, PICU, or NICU and others do not (or rank them lower).
I know I have also heard some school will accept ER experience, but my school strictly accepts ICU experience only. I have talked a lot to one of my faculty that is on the anesthesia board for the acceptance committee and have been told it is not even necessarily the specific ICU (some people think you have to have SICU to get or another ICU with surgery patients) but rather the critial thinking and clinical judgement you get in dealing with acutely ill patients. This is the type of knowledge you need to be prepared for anesthesia school.
As far as applying the first year, I thought about it, but I will be in orientation for 16 weeks at my ICU. I would be off orientation for a month whenever I applied! I decided because of how competitive it is to get in that I would be a better candidate after more experience. I think what is all comes down to though is narrowing down which schools you are interested in and talking to those schools specifically to find out their requirements, rules on applying, etc. I know for example the school I am looking at does not require organic chem but many schools do. It just all depends on the school.
THe Council on Accreditation is only concerned that the applicant have a minimum of 1 year experience as an RN prior to starting the program. School may have policies that indicate greater minimums or that the 1 yr requirement be met prior to application- thats up to the program. A program may have stricter or stronger minimum requirement but not less than the COA. The COA guidelines do not use the word critical care in the requirement and leave the definition of acceptable types of critical care experience/units to the individual schools. That is why some schools accept ER, PICU, or NICU and others do not (or rank them lower).
So the requirement from a NATIONAL standpoint is one year as an RN with no NATIONAL requirement for critical care experience?
CougRN
422 Posts
The national requirement is at least one year of critical care experience as an RN.