PICU RN TO crna? anyone?

nurseflip26, CRNA · Jun 15, 2020

I was not a PICU/NICU RN prior to becoming a CRNA, but according to the NBCRNA a little less than 5% of people (123 out of 2,548) getting ready to take NCE listed NICU/PICU as their background. It's not the majority of applicants but certainly can be done and they have very similar pass rates to other applicants.

Might have to put in some extra work figuring out/remembering the adult drips rates etc, but will likely have much easier time figuring pediatric drips and doses on the fly since you have experience with it.

TRVL.RN, MSN, RN · Jun 16, 2020

4 hours ago, nurseflip26 said:
I was not a PICU/NICU RN prior to becoming a CRNA, but according to the NBCRNA a little less than 5% of people (123 out of 2,548) getting ready to take NCE listed NICU/PICU as their background. It's not the majority of applicants but certainly can be done and they have very similar pass rates to other applicants.
Might have to put in some extra work figuring out/remembering the adult drips rates etc, but will likely have much easier time figuring pediatric drips and doses on the fly since you have experience with it.

thank you for your reply, I hope to make it into the program ? thanks for the stats.

PICU-Murse · Jun 23, 2020

I am a senior SRNA with 7 years of high acuity PICU experience. We did trauma, hearts, etc.

I personally feel as though I was prepared as well, if not, better than the rest of my class for anesthesia.

Good luck with interviews/applications

..and remember, for your interviews, do not approach your PICU experience as a weakness. Use it as a point of strength (I.e. attention to detail, calculating dosages/fluids/etc, quick decompensation, etc, etc.).

If you had NICU experience, I would tell you otherwise (because IMO that is not good experience in preparation for anesthesia), but if you have good, solid PICU experience I think you will do very well in this field.

TRVL.RN, MSN, RN · Jun 23, 2020

3 hours ago, PICU-Murse said:
I am a senior SRNA with 7 years of high acuity PICU experience. We did trauma, hearts, etc.
I personally feel as though I was prepared as well, if not, better than the rest of my class for anesthesia.
Good luck with interviews/applications
..and remember, for your interviews, do not approach your PICU experience as a weakness. Use it as a point of strength (I.e. attention to detail, calculating dosages/fluids/etc, quick decompensation, etc, etc.).
If you had NICU experience, I would tell you otherwise (because IMO that is not good experience in preparation for anesthesia), but if you have good, solid PICU experience I think you will do very well in this field.

WOW!, thank you Lord for this answer. I feel like our specialty gets underestimated very often just because it sais "pediatric" everyone automatically assumes we only work with babies. But I do feel that PICU is a grey area between peds and adults and that's why I always loved it! And even better I am now in a pediatric cardiac ICU and I'm learning so much more that I wasn't used to seeing in the PICU along with drips that we don't commonly use in the PICU. I'm so happy I got to experience this unit since it's acuity is massive and I've only been part of big trauma 1 picus without the CV component because they were such busy units as it was. Thank you so much! I have so much more hope! ?

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Jun 24, 2020

11 hours ago, TRVL.RN said:
WOW!, thank you Lord for this answer. I feel like our specialty gets underestimated very often just because it sais "pediatric" everyone automatically assumes we only work with babies. But I do feel that PICU is a grey area between peds and adults and that's why I always loved it! And even better I am now in a pediatric cardiac ICU and I'm learning so much more that I wasn't used to seeing in the PICU along with drips that we don't commonly use in the PICU. I'm so happy I got to experience this unit since it's acuity is massive and I've only been part of big trauma 1 picus without the CV component because they were such busy units as it was. Thank you so much! I have so much more hope! ?

I do know a nurse who got into a top program with only a few years of NICU and 7 months of Pediatric Cardiac ICU at the time of application (which seems a little concerning...) Granted, the CRNA program was at the same hospital where she did peds cardiac ICU; they knew that her experience was extremely high-volume and high-acuity because they were familiar with the unit.

I think that the reason PICU gets the side-eye is because there's such a vast difference in acuity between different PICUs. In the one I just described, nearly all of the kids were on drips, we had several fresh post-ops with complex defects every day, and we did bedside open-chest surgery at least weekly. Meanwhile, I've worked at smaller community hospitals where the "PICU" was really more like a combined PICU/step-down/floor, where the majority of kids were on a high flow cannula. The problem is, there's no way for the CRNA schools to know the acuity level in your PICU unless they're familiar with the unit/hospital.

Granted, there's also a variety of different acuity levels between ICUs in the adult world, but it tends to be less of an issue than with peds.

I'd imagine that working in the peds cardiac ICU (or at least a PICU that does heart surgery) would be more advantageous than PICU, simply because nearly all of the kids are surgical cases, and on the adult side CRNA schools prefer CVICU over most other specialties.

All that to say, there are some programs that would accept you. However, there are probably a bunch where adult ICU experience is required, no exceptions. In your applications, I'd thoroughly describe the types of surgeries, procedures, and therapies you provide.

TRVL.RN, MSN, RN · Jun 24, 2020

Thank you for your input! ? I have a few friends/coworkers that worked at my home unit PICU which was a trauma 1. My home PICU didn't have much of a cardiac component since we had a whole separate cardiac unit. But my PICU is well known in the area for being in the only stand alone children's hospital, with that being said we did have alot of crazy acuity and we are known for that instead of the open chest at bedside we were more of the ecmo code/ hely-pad codes/ emergency bedside EVDs type of place. So I do hope it counts heavy.

TRVL.RN, MSN, RN · Jun 24, 2020

4 hours ago, adventure_rn said:
I do know a nurse who got into a top program with only a few years of NICU and 7 months of Pediatric Cardiac ICU at the time of application (which seems a little concerning...) Granted, the CRNA program was at the same hospital where she did peds cardiac ICU; they knew that her experience was extremely high-volume and high-acuity because they were familiar with the unit.
I think that the reason PICU gets the side-eye is because there's such a vast difference in acuity between different PICUs. In the one I just described, nearly all of the kids were on drips, we had several fresh post-ops with complex defects every day, and we did bedside open-chest surgery at least weekly. Meanwhile, I've worked at smaller community hospitals where the "PICU" was really more like a combined PICU/step-down/floor, where the majority of kids were on a high flow cannula. The problem is, there's no way for the CRNA schools to know the acuity level in your PICU unless they're familiar with the unit/hospital.
Granted, there's also a variety of different acuity levels between ICUs in the adult world, but it tends to be less of an issue than with peds.
I'd imagine that working in the peds cardiac ICU (or at least a PICU that does heart surgery) would be more advantageous than PICU, simply because nearly all of the kids are surgical cases, and on the adult side CRNA schools prefer CVICU over most other specialties.
All that to say, there are some programs that would accept you. However, there are probably a bunch where adult ICU experience is required, no exceptions. In your applications, I'd thoroughly describe the types of surgeries, procedures, and therapies you provide.

by the way what I mean to say in my previous reply is that I have friends you made it into the crna program whom I worked with in the same PICU.