goinforit

I couldn't agree more, especially in regards to the continual push toward nursing theory and paper writing. I graduated from an ADN program and we were very clinical skill oriented, we managed a full med/surg load for our entire last semester and I had started over 40 IV's by graduation(as well as several other skills). I have some friends that just graduated from school this month and one of them hasn't even spiked and IV bag and only started 1 IV. Nursing theory has it's place but not at the cost of clinical skills. I have enjoyed studying nursing theory in my RN to BSN classes now that I have had actual hands on experience to apply it to.

It only took me about 5 minutes as well. :)

A nurse practitioner will have a Maters degree in Nursing so you will have to have a Bachelors degree in nursing. There are many program options out there for ADN's to further their degrees, you can simply get your BSN once you finsh your ADN, or if you want to pursue becoming a nurse practitioner there are several programs you can enroll in right after graduating from you ADN program that offer a bridge to an MSN. You will be earning your Bachelors degree as well as your MSN but take some time to really check all these options out to see which is right for you, there are a lot of pros and cons to both.

jordan- You will need to have a minimum of an RN license so a two year ADN program is fine but to enter into CRNA program you will have to have a Bachelors degree as well. The Bachelors degree can be in nursing or in a science related field such as biology or chemistry. If you get your bachelors degree in nursing then you can apply to any CRNA program, if you get another science related bachelors degree then you cannot apply to a CRNA program that grants an MSN degree since it requires a bachelors in nursing first. Good luck!

Michelle- I cannot speak to what a PA does and the pros/cons of that route, but since you are posting in the pre-crna forum I will offer some suggestions as if you were to pursue that route. First of all, you have some amazing classes already under your belt that would make you very appealing for CRNA school. You mentioned money is tight, so one option could be for you to get your Associates degree in Nursing, I went this route because my entire ADN degree ended up costing me 550.00 bucks after all the scholarships I recieved for academic performance. (gpa 4.0) It would have cost me less than 5,000 without scholarships. Also you could start immediately with what you have and work on the micro/soc/comm/psych during the 2 year program or if there is a lag time between application and start of program you could knock those classes out. I wouldn't worry about the difficulty of nursing theory type classes, they will teach you what you need to know. So after I graduated I started working in a large, high acuity ICU and worked on getting my BSN at the same time as I was building up my experience. Since the hospital I work at pays 10,000 towards education, I will have my BSN paid for in full. The hospital has also paid for me to become CCRN certified and for my ACLS and PALS certifications. (All things you will need if you pursue CRNA) I think most of the things I have mentioned such as scholarships and hospital tuition reimbursements are offered all over so I'm sure you could get this for yourself as well. As far as what types of things you can expect to be doing as a nurse, well, the choices are endless. I happen to like high pressure situations and having as much control over my environment as possible so the complexity of the ICU suits me perfectly. I'll let others go into job descriptions since this post is getting long. This was just what worked for me since I had zero money and 100% determination. I will be applying to several CRNA programs this year so wish me luck!

Well, just saw this thread I started three years ago and i want to say now that I look back at all of your words of wisdom,.... Thank You! It is odd to remember how I felt reading all of your comments. One word, Scared! Now I read all of your comments and it is the types of things I would suggest to someome myself! What a great feeling! I have to say that the neuro patients can be some of the trickiest patients you will ever have, they turn on a dime! We have been working with the Lycox monitor/catheter and Bis monitor as well as using a pupilometer for our sickest SAH/TBI patients and this technology has been invaluable to us. It is amazng to see the Pbto2 and ICP react so quickly to any tiny little thing. I am truly constantly amazed! Anyway, thanks again for your help years ago. :)

Hi there! I haven't posted for awhile, in fact the last time I posted was in May of 07 when I graduated from my nursing program. I was bent on working three years in a high acuity ICU before applying to CRNA school and now here it is three years later! I am ready to apply and have poured over every programs information that I have considered attending and St. Johns is at the top of my list. It checks all of my proverbial boxes and now i am hoping to get some feedback from those who know some info that cannot be found on the website. 1. Is the school supportive of the students? (Did it feel kinda like a second family environment) 2. What do you consider the programs biggest strengths/drawbacks? 3. During the didactic portion are you taught by faculty in a class with just your fellow SRNA's or are you mixed in with all the other students in various other fields (premed/dentistry/pharmacy etc.) 4. Based on the answer to the above question, how did you feel that learning environment was for you? I have worked very hard the last few years to make myself the best dang nurse I could be and I have to say, I am glad that I waited to apply.:) I feel like I was competent after the first year and could have applied however for me personally, the additional two years has fine tuned my critical thinking skills. I have worked my way up to charge nurse position and am part of the rapid response team for the hospital on my charge days. This experience has been invaluable! I feel great about applying this year! I am also interested in Newman University in Whichita, so if anyone can speak to that program as well that would be great. Thank you!

Well, I am glad to say that 5 of my friends are starting school this summer and fall at their respective programs. I hope to be joining the SRNA ranks next year! 4 out of the 5 got in right away and one was an alternate and just got the call that she could attend as well. It seems like just getting yourself to the point of applying is the hardest part. You want to make yourself the most attractive candidate possible and jump through all the required hoops to just apply, but so far for those I know here in the midwest it hasn't been to difficult to get in once you finish all the hoop jumping. The ranges of stats for my friends were gpa: 3.4-3.9 gre: 940-1150 experience:2.5-7 years, most of them have their CCRN. We all work in a 20 bed level 1 Neuro Surgical ICU in Kansas city. Also, we have several schools around here to choose from so that makes a difference as well. It seemed like the odds of those interviewed versus those accepted wasn't too bad either, I believe it was something like 30 interviewed and 12 accepted at one school and similar stats for the other schools. One final note, the person with the highest gpa/experience was the alternate who later got in, so they weighed the interview heavily.

I have no idea what the pay rates are, but would like to throw out my two cents about the value of the eicu. I work in a large teaching hospital on a 22 bed neuro surgical trauma icu and we LOVE the EICU!! First of all the camera is not on 24/7, they rank the patients in order of how seriously ill they are and that will reflect on how often they camera in on the patient. Also why would it ever be considered a bad thing to have another nurse and intensivist looking in on a patient. Me personally, if it were my family member I would appreciate the extra eyes. Also we love the fact that when we need someone quick, like in 30 seconds we can count on them to help us out. Once I got an admit who was an upper and lower gi bleeder, homeless guy who was going through some major ETOH withdrawal and the camera zoomed in as we were struggling with this guy who was about to extubate himself even though there were two of us holding him down and he was restrained. The Intensivist called the unit and ordered some sedation/antianxiety meds and told the nurse on the phone to quickly draw it up and bring it to me, then he miked into the room to let me know what he had ordered and that it was on the way. I could give you so many more stories of how they have assissted in code situations and of how thankful the night nurses are to have them there because there are tons of examples. This has increased nursing satisfaction at our hospital and the families of our patients have seen it as an incredible resource rather than a waste of resources. As far as costs go, the cost was higher when we were one of the only hospitals footing the bill, but now other hospitals have joined in to share both the benefit of EICU and the cost of it with our hospital. I thank the EICU!

Thanks for the info nrsang97! You have given me a good list of things to study up on.

Are there many neuro nurses on this board? Hoping to get inspired, and to get lots of ideas here. C'mon fellow nurses!

Hello all. I just graduated on May 16th and took the NCLEX on the 30th, and drum roll.............. I just found out that I passed!!! I am so excited, I will begin my career as a nurse on a neuro/surgical/trauma floor at a level one trauma teaching hospital. I really feel like I have gotten the dream job. To be honest, I have been so consumed with school and taking boards, and now that I am done with all that reality is hitting me, I will be taking care of some of the most critically ill patients possible. I would love some advice, really a top 10 list of things that would be good to research prior to starting. I have five weeks before I start so I have some time. I greatly appreciate it!

well, I have given it a lot of thought and I have made my decision. I am going to go with option 2. I thought long and hard and I really appreciate everyones advice, but in the first post I had mentioned that option 1 had a not so good reputation, and that option 2 had a great reputation, and to be honest I just feel safer being a newbie and working for this hospital. Also I feel good about option 2 because I told them in the interview that my intention was to get into CRNA school in about 3 years and the manager was very encouraging about it. For some reason I didn't get the feeling that I should tell the first manager about my goals. Anyway, I plan on getting my bearings and soakin up all I can in a year and if I need to I will look into moving over to the CVICU, the HR lady said it was pretty easy to move over to another ICU or to even do PRN shifts. Neuro surgical trauma ICU here I come!!!!

noggin_wise, congrats on that! Let us know how it goes. versatile_kat, Its good to hear that your experience is such a positive one. I was wondering what are the major differences between working directly for a hospital and being part of a group? It must feel great to finally be done and enjoying life!

I second that request!