brookalyn

Hi all! This map has been updated. Enjoy!

Yes. I was accepted before completing the chem requirement. The only caveat was that I needed to have the course completed prior to starting the program. When in doubt, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask the program.

So, you're GPA isn't the greatest. You've done some work, and that's awesome! Obviously, a school took interest and offered an interview. You do not need to give up. Especially if this is what you want to do! Did you ask what would have set you apart or sealed the deal? How many schools are you applying to? I recommend not applying to schools using nursingCAS if that is a hindrance to your GPA. Have you heard of the CMC, CSC, or TCRN? These are all certs that may be applicable to your clinical experience and may be worth pursuing as well. Hang in there, and don't give up. The hard work will be worth it. ❤️

Each school will calculate grades differently. If you retook a class, some replace the grades, some keep both grades, and others may average the grade (so if you got a C first, then made an A, they'll give you a B). Some focus on the last 60 hours or look at all of it from all degrees. The safest bet is to ask each school you're applying to which GPAs they look at if it doesn't say on their application requirements.

Hello! I love your enthusiasm. It is possible for you to get there. I don't think there is anything wrong with planning. ? Just be prepared to be flexible, you know? Life happens. 1. If I were you, I would pick out 3-5 schools you could see yourself applying to and know their requirements. Use those requirements to set the basis of your planning for the next few years. Don't be afraid to send an email to these programs asking if they prefer undergrad or grad courses to make up for those poor grades. You may find mixed answers. Figure out what works for you. 2. Take the GRE ASAP. The sooner you take it while you're still in the studying mindset after your BSN, I think the better. Looking back, I wish I had studied and taken it after passing my NCLEX. Some schools are no longer requiring the GRE. However, a great GRE score can sometimes balance out less than stellar grades. 3. Get into an ICU that has drips (titratable medications), ventilators, and SICK patients. Find a place that cultivates growth. 4. Get your CCRN after working for a year in the ICU. You can then get your CMC and CSC as "add-ons" depending on the ICU you end up in. You can get your TCRN too. These certifications demonstrate your competency and willingness to learn! 5. Volunteer somewhere that brings you joy! Your whole resume doesn't need to be nursing. This is a good leadership skill too. 6. Shadow CRNAs!! 7. I recommend joining "I.C.U. Dreaming About Anesthesia By: CRNA School Prep Academy" on facebook. It's a community of people wanting to get into CRNA school and can be very helpful. Hope this helped. Good luck!!

It depends on the program! There are definitely schools that accept non-BSN applicant. You just have to search for them.

Any ICU with a lot of ventilators and titratable meds is where you want to be! It is a myth that you must have CVICU to get into CRNA school. A medical, surgical, or trauma ICU can give you a lot of experience as well if you have those opportunities. I was accepted to multiple schools without CVICU experience. In medial ICU you deal with chronic and acute pathophysiologies. There are a lot of respiratory and medical cardiac issues there. At the level 1 MICU/SICU I was in, we did CRRT and I loved it! Night shift can present a lot of autonomy opportunity or learning how to run with less resources. Day vs night shift also doesn't make or break you getting into a program either. There are pros and cons to each specialty and shift. Go where you will grow the most!

I applied to four schools, accepted to two and offered an interview at another. I was considering applying to a fifth, but they straight up told me they did not consider my current travel experience as "real ICU" experience. Even though I was taking care of very sick patients as a traveler and had other ICU experience at a Level 1 trauma center teaching hospital, but oh well. I didn't let that one school out of five stop me from traveling and paying off debt/saving money. A lot of schools like travel experience and understand the financial benefit it can have for future students.

I can't get into nitty-gritty detail like I want because they have you sign a NDA, but I'll tell you how I prepped for my CRNA schools interviews (including TexWes) last cycle. I was accepted. -Know the type of patients you get (9/10 any committee will ask you this Q). Don't bring up any patient you are not willing to expand on. I love sepsis so I had studied the pathophys, treatments, pressors (all the way down to the cellular level--know this for your commonly used pressors, sedation, etc.), hemodynamics, labs... -I watched all of the Ninja Nerd cardio/pulm Youtube videos and I am VERY glad I did. It helped a lot. I also watched pharm Youtube videos and bought a used pharm book to really get a better understanding of the drugs. -After hearing about other people's experience at CRNA program interviews, I expected them to pressure/intimidate me. I told myself it is like a game, don't fall for the tricks ? . Helps make it less scary LOL Take a deep breath, don't rush yourself, be honest if you don't know the answer. I was grilled, but fairly prepared. When I didn't know something, I was honest and expressed that I would love to learn more about it. They do not expect you to know everything. -Trust your gut. Breathe. Remember they are trying to gauge how you critically think and carry yourself. Remember you are trying to see if they are a good fit for you too!! Good luck!! P.S. I recommend asking TCU what would have made the different for an acceptance for some constructive criticism. ? This is common to do. Learn what you can from that experience, and then move on! This is a new opportunity and it will be very different from TCU. Don't bring the baggage ❤️ Both schools liked what they saw on paper. You just have to seal the deal!!

I’d have to disagree, schools accept neonatal because they believe those applicants are up for the task. I would assume there is a learning curve on the adult patients though. No, not every school accepts ER/Cath lab, but that’s why I said some do ?

I think this is great advice. I’d piggy back to say, find some leadership opportunities. This could mean unit/hospital policy and involvement. Research. Precepting. Charge nurse. You may not have all of those opportunities as a baby nurse, but the committees like to see interest and effort in leadership roles. Find some organizations you can be passionate about to get involved with! They don’t necessarily need to be healthcare related either. Apply to more than one school—I applied to 4 and was accepted to 2. If you don’t get in the first year, don’t be discouraged! You’d be surprised what can happen for another year of experience. ?

Some schools will take “recent” ICU experience, as in you can get out of critical care and do something else, but every school is different on what they mean. I think your chances would be better staying in the ICU ?

They are looking for critical-care experience such as Cardiovascular ICU, Medical ICU, Surgical ICU, Trauma ICU, Neuro ICU, etc. Some take Neonatal ICU, Pediatric ICU, Cath lab, ER, or flight experience. I have not heard of a school accepting long term acute care experience.

Hi! I am starting next month as well. We have a savings that we are keeping for emergencies. We plan on living on my husband’s paycheck month to month. We decided to do the Discover Health Professionals Loan and forego federal loans. Advice given to me was to take out enough loans where you are not stressed because you will already have enough to stress about!

Hi! Valid concern. I’m starting school next month! My husband and I made it a personal goal to pay off all other debts. I did travel & local agency contracts, as well as a lot of overtime to accomplish this. Some people can pay for school doing this alone if they’ve planned in advance. We saved everything! Not splurging as much as we may have wanted to. We didn’t save enough to avoid loans altogether, but we have a good emergency fund. Consider a hospital education contract (they pay for your school and you owe them time) or joining the military (what I would have done if I were single). Students take out a lot of loans and it is normal. Some employers do sign-on bonuses, which can help, but there is always a caveat. The debt to income ratio is doable and can be paid off quickly with some discipline. Many say it is worth the dream! I sure think it will be worth it for my family ?

I did get the March one. I was thinking it probably has something to do with her family too. If you are looking for more resources for CRNA programs, I highly recommend joining the facebook group "ICU Dreaming About Anesthesia". It has a ton of resources on applying, interviews, schools, etc. It's a great place to ask questions too.

Having the same issue!! I emailed her back as well, and nothing... I thought it was just me. LOL

Are you trying to go back to school? If I were you, I would focus on the CCRN and then "add-ons" such as the CMC or CSC (if you do open hearts). You can also get your TCRN if you work with trauma ICU patients. If you are wanting to go to CRNA school, there are a lot of other things you could focus on instead (shadow, volunteering, grad classes, other certs, etc) of the CCRN-NIC since you no longer work there FT.

Hi all! I remember how helpful it would have been to have something like this when I was applying for schools. I've been in a great resource group on facebook, "I.C.U. Dreaming About Anesthesia", and I realized others could benefit from a nice visual like this too. So here it is! All of the accredited CRNA programs on one map. I used the current COA list of schools for 6/28/2020. This is not perfect, so if you notice a discrepancy, please let me know. ? HELPFUL TIPS TO USE MAP: -Click the arrow by "All Items" to see the full list. -If you click the name of the program on the list, it will take you directly to it on the map. -If you are looking for a specific school, you can also use the search feature at the top next to the map title. https://www.Google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=16kPpqefc1lznsNQoiiZcoBOVYvN0c6Y8&usp=sharing - Updated 10/2024 https://www.coacrna.org/programs-fellowships/CRNA-school-search/ - 2025

That makes sense to me. I obtained my experience in MICU/SICU mostly and it was awesome. Our patients' problems were almost always multi-system. I felt like this was important because so many patients will come into the OR with multiple co-morbidities. Every specialty has pros. Over three years, I feel like I learned how to care for the "the sickest of the sick". Get into a busy ICU with vents and drips, and learn as much as you can!

Generally, most people come from surgical, medical, or cardiac ICUs. There are others that qualify for schools, each CRNA program has a list of critical care experience they will accept. Some even take NICU experience.

No matter if you're a new RN grad, been away from the bedside, etc., you should probably start in an ICU under a preceptorship or new grad residency. This is where they will take you under their wings and teach you ICU RN skills while at the bedside. Every region in the country is different, some places are easier to get into the ICU without experience than others, and I know there have been a lot of hiring freezes recently. You won't really know until you apply to places and try! Good luck!

I think you’re off to a great start with CCRN material. I’ll list examples from my two interviews, which resulted in two acceptances. Most of all, be honest and explain what you do know. “I do not know the answer, but if I were to think about it, this is what I am thinking...” or “I do not know the answer, but I’d reference peers, reputable sites, textbooks, etc to find the answer”. Anything you mention is free game for them. So, don’t bring something up you cannot give an explanation or expand on. This is considered “leading your interview”. Some interviews are primarily behavioral or personality based questions to get to know you, and others can have quizzes. Mine were mostly clinical-bard Qs MICU is my specialty. When asked what patient population I see most, I said sepsis because I know I know sepsis like the back of my hand. I know the pathophys and the drugs we give (how they work in the body, why we use that specifically, and what to expect as a response from the pt or what adverse effects you could see), and labs we consider. Think of your specialty and what your answer may be, almost like your own case study of a patient. Be able to explain to show your critical thinking if asked, don’t just practice regurgitating. I studied cardiac a LOT. I was asked the formula for cardiac output and to calculate a MAP. What contributes to CO? I was also asked to explain the flow of blood in the heart and the components of a NSR (P-wave = atrial depol., etc...). Also was probed on critical thinking during or post-intubation: how to verify placement w/out X-ray (use your stetho scope, chest rise, pulse ox readings...). How does a pulse ox work (is it arterial, venous, or capillary?)? What kind of sedation do you commonly use in your icu? Tell me about that drug? What can you give to reverse it? What if your pt is too sedated or on too much analgesia, and your BP is too low? How do you fix that? I said I would stimulate them because I would not want to narcan them and take away all of their pain and make them stressed out. Then they asked about adverse effects of Narcan taking away ALL of their pain and also you can have flash pulmonary edema). They may ask you super weird or random Qs to see how you respond. Will you shut down? Will you get flustered or defensive? Will you say anything just to say something? They will try to push you intentionally to see how you will respond. What’s your support system like? Would you mind moving? Blah blah blah. Dress your best! If you’re wondering if you should wear a suit jacket or blazer, the answer is yes. Everyone I have seen at interviews did. I also printed out my certifications, resume, personal statement, and transcripts to have on hand just in case. Think of some questions you’d like to ask the interviewers too at the end (how do you support your students, can I come to lab on my own time to practice, how much is the deposit, etc). I shook everyone’s hand and sincerely thanked them for the opportunity. Hope this wasn’t too much. I wanted to share what was helpful to me or what I wish I had known in advance. Good luck!! ?

Thank you so much for your reply!! I think I need to relax a little bit and embrace the loans for now ha. I like how you said there is already too much stress without worrying about the $. You’ve been very helpful. ⭐️

I applied with 2 years ICU experience. I’ll have 3 years by my program start date, so I’m not sure if that helps your 1-2 year range. A run down of my stats... My experience has been 1.5 years Level 1 trauma MICU/SICU, Level 3 travel contract M/S/TICU, and Level 2 “everything but open-heart surgery” ICU. GRE 302, writing 3.5 I think. GPA 3.76. CCRN. Around 90 hrs shadowing. Lots of consistent volunteering. I revised my personal statement many times and had a lot of people read it. I think that helped a ton. It clearly conveys my experience, passion, and goals. My LORs were a CRNA I shadowed more than once, dean of my BSN, current manager, and a physician I had great rapport with. I also took online stats (NOT graduate level) to refresh, but that was intentional for my top choice program. The idea is to not only meet minimums, but excel as much as you can and set yourself apart. I would get as many certifications and be in the sickest ICU you can find to offset your GPA. Look into the CCRN, TCRN, CMC and CSC, if you haven’t already. I even got my PALS and compact license. I believe all of these things helped round me out and prepare me! My outlook on my preparation was that I wanted it to be clear that I was ready for the commitment, and it worked! I hope this helps. Don’t give up!