Opinions on best courses to take now for CRNA way down the road (maybe)?

[juliaann]

Hi friends!

I'm still very early in my healthcare career, but very driven to get where I want to go. I have an honors Bachelor of Arts in history and am currently planning on an accelerated BSN course starting in summer 2011 (assuming I'm accepted, of course). I will complete all my pre-requisites for the ABSN program this semester, which leaves me with summer, fall, and spring "free." I'm not sure I could manage to take the time off even if I wanted to - I get bored easily and have really enjoyed the challenge of being a full-time student while working 60-70 hours a week. While I don't want to throw money away at classes I don't need, I do see these semesters as an opportunity to invest in my future, post-BSN.

My long term goal is CRNA school. It seems a little early to be saying that, since I don't even have any real nursing experience yet (who knows, I may suck at it!), but I've been trying diligently to see if it would be a good fit for me. I've spent time in OR observing, and lots of time in the ICU. I'm 99% confident in my dysrhythmia identification and EKG analysis (nurses often page me when they want a second opinion). As part of my job I get paged to every code blue and every rapid response. I pay close attention in codes. I jump in and take rotation doing CPR. I feel comfortable in ICU and take every opportunity to learn and observe. I really feel ICU nursing will be a good fit for me after I complete my BSN.

All that to say, I feel like it would be worth taking the risk of CRNA not being right for me, and taking the classes that would make me a better candidate in the future right now, when I have the time, even though I'm not a nurse yet.

Which brings me to a dilemma: how do I know what to take with my 3 free semesters? I'm not sure which specific school(s) I would want to apply to for CRNA, since there are none in my state, and I don't feel strongly drawn to any program. I'd like to stay in the midwest, though. Based on looking at admissions requirements, it seems that the non-nursing coursework required varies greatly from program to program! I'm planning to definitely take a few more levels of chemistry, since I've only had 1 chem class - should I go through organic? Biochem? What about physics? One semester or two? Anything else? Statistics? Graduate-level or undergrad (a very basic undergrad statistics course is required for my BSN program, but I doubt it will fulfill CRNA application requirements)? On that note, take the GRE now or after my BSN? I noticed one CRNA program even required a speech class! How do I know what's worth my time and money when the programs have such varying requirements? And part of me worries about taking these classes and them negatively impacting my GPA - and what if I didn't even need them!? I have an awesome GPA right now (3.8 from my BA, 4.0 in nursing pre-reqs), and I don't want to screw that up! I know an accelerated BSN program will be hard enough on the numbers! :)

Do I run the risk of taking these classes too early? It'll be at least 5 years until I have my BSN and two years of ICU experience if everything goes according to plan. I noticed a few CRNA programs wanted chemistry and physiology within 5 years of application. I know I'll have some time after my BSN before applying to CRNA programs, but I want to be able to devote that time to CCRN and GRE study, as well as fully immersing myself in learning in the ICU.

What would you do if you were me?

Are these even the right questions to be asking right now? I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone has for me (even if it is to just chill out and come back in a few years!) Haha, I'm a wreck. Would someone like to plan my life for me? :)

[MB37]

What do you do now? That sounds like a job that provides great experience for someone who isn't even a nurse yet (I'm just curious).

As for classes, you're on the right track. Some schools don't require anything beyond your BSN courses and standard nursing prereqs. Others have a long list. The ones that don't require additional classes may give you bonus points for taking extra sciences - with the caveat that you'd better get As. I would be careful about taking anything too early - I keep seeing "within the last 5 years" on websites of schools I'm applying to. You may want to spend some of this free time doing in depth research on several of the midwestern schools, to get a better idea of what most require and recommend. I definitely would NOT take the GRE yet, because at least where I'm applying it also has to be less than five years old.

The most common requirement I've seen where I'm applying is for a lab chem within the last 5 years. Some schools specify that it should be organic or biochem. If schools in your region are similar, why don't you get yourself into a place where you can take one semester of one of those two after you get your BSN? Make sure you have all of the prereqs out of the way for organic, at least, and go ahead and take it if you haven't found anything else that you need. Then you can always go back and take biochem after you're an RN, if you find that too much time has passed and you still need a recent science. I don't see many schools that require physics, but that may be regional as well. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you're bored and looking for classes. Your basic undergrad stats will probably fulfill the requirement, as many CRNA schools require a graduate level version as part of their program.

Whatever you do, don't sign up for multiple challenging science courses and do poorly in them. If they aren't strictly required and you wind up with a B or C (or worse), schools will question you about why you even took them. I'm all for filling up empty semester with classes - doing the same right now post-BSN - but just be careful not to put too much on your plate.

Anyways, good luck! Once NS starts, focus on that and make sure you keep your grades up - that's not the time to be taking extra classes or working outlandish hours. Fit in some time to shadow CRNAs after you graduate and make sure this is really what you want to do!

[juliaann]

Thank you for your response! I suppose it would be the best course of action to try to narrow down a few programs I'm especially interested in and work to fulfilling their admissions requirements. If only I had any idea what programs I would want to attend over any others. Anyone have any advice in what to look for, when my only idea of what I want is "midwest," so far? Any personal advice or recommendations?

As to my job - I'm a cardiovascular tech; I assist in cath lab and stress lab when needed (until the cases end around 3-4 pm - I work 3p-11p which often is more like 12p-12a since we're having staffing issues), and do all the routine and STAT EKGs, holters, event recorders, and paperwork associated with all of that for the hospital. It's a small-ish hospital (total daily census is usually around 150, we have a 34 bed ICU), so we only really need 1 person doing EKG each shift. I'm on the rapid response and code blue team, but they usually aren't worried about an EKG at least for a while, so I just try to do whatever I can to help, or get out of the way and watch and learn. I usually have 3-5 codes a week on my shift and 10 or so rapid responses.

I also watch monitors on our med/surg/tele floor on Saturdays most weekends 7a-7p. I was a monitor tech for about 9 months before getting the CV job. Before that I was a CNA. I started as a CNA in this hospital about 2 years ago, prior to which I had no healthcare experience. I absolutely love my job. I look forward to going to work every day. I'm so sad I'm going to have to give it up when I start my aBSN program. While I can balance my crazy work hours and being a full-time student now with no problem, I'm not going to take that chance with nursing school; it's too important to me to do well.

Once again, thanks for your reply and advice!