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!

I guess that depends on what you mean by alright and better. Is it that it just doesn't have the notoriety name appeal of the others, or is it truly inferior to the others in how they will teach you? I attended a smaller school, less well known, but with the highest NCLEX passing rates in the city. Also they were not stringent on their grading system so I ended up with a great GPA as well as a great education. If your not compromising on your actual nursing education, I would stay where you are. My 2 cents

Well, I am officially done taking tests and all that's left is the ceremony!!:balloons: Summitk2- The CVICU wasn't hiring anymore people, and the Neuro/Surgical unit just expanded the unit by 6 beds and had three nurses leave to go on to CRNA school. I like the way you think though, and I have been contemplating the same things. The day I shadowed there at option 2 I talked with a float nurse that only worked at that hospital and only between their three ICU's, she indicated that it wasn't uncommon to get crosstrained in all the ICU's if you indicated that you wanted to. Here's another question: Is there a big difference between the teaching hospital environment vs the nonteaching? If so, what would you consider the pros and cons to both? Just a couple more days left to make my decision, thanks for everyones input so far!

Brad Rn, I feel for you. I think that nursing programs should be universal in their grading systems. I am graduating in May as well and have a 4.0 but that is only because my school goes by 89.5=A 79.5-89.4=B etc. It is just not fair that when you and I both go before a potential CRNA program that I will have higher marks for that portion. Luckily there are many other ways that a candidate can make him or herself appealing. I have also heard that along with a great GRE score, experience, and CCRN, if you show leadership and act as a preceptor for other new grads it is looked highly upon. I am also in the midst of making a career decision, I am looking at two in particular but eliminated a third option based on how the newbies were treated(I shadowed a couple days at each facility) they were pretty honest about their experiences. I would rather be in a supportive environment than one that was trying to trip me up at every turn. What's with that anyway?

srna wannabe, I agree, you will always be learning which is part of what pulled me to nursing in the first place. I took your advice and called all six of the programs I have contemplated applying to and did get through to one right away. I am hailing from Missouri by the way if anyone here has gone to CRNA school in the midwest region and can recommend a school I would appreciate it. Anyway I digress, after telling the director about my two choices (he was familiar with the two hospitals) he felt that he would prefer that students get that cardiac component so he would go with the first choice. He also said that the second choice was an incredible hospital and that I could likely float over to the CVICU once I had gotten my bearings and felt comfortable on the neuro/surgical ICU. I guess that since my plan is to get about 3 years of experience I didn't want to be hopping all over the place. I want to build up a good reputation and get glowing references. By the way my six programs (based on geographical desireablility) are: 1.Truman Medical Center School of Nurse Anesthesia 2.University of Kansas Medical Center Program of Nurse Anesthesia 3.Newman University Nurse Anesthesia Program 4.Webster University Nurse Anesthesia Program 5.St. John's School of Nurse Anesthesia 6.Barnes-Jewish COllege at Washington University Medical Center Nurse Anesthesia Program Anyone have the skinny on these programs?

Thank you suzzane4 for your quick response, I have to make my decision in the next 7 days. The first choice does indeed do open heart surgeries, they put a big emphasis on their cardiac care. At the other facility the open hearts are sent to the CVICU. Can I just say that I am so excited to be graduating!! The first leg of my journey is complete, now for the experience and then to get into CRNA school.

Hi all, I am mostly a lurker here on this site and now am in need of some advice. I will be graduating from nursing school in 2 weeks and have been offered two different ICU positions. My goal is to get 3 years of experience and then go on to CRNA school so I would like to make myself the most attractive candidate possible. Choice 1. A 28 bed ICU which does medical,surgical,cardio and neuro. They are a level 2 trauma center and from my shadow days there, every other patient was on a vent and there was what looked to be very high levels of acuity. The orientation is 12 weeks long, but I have been told that extending that if needed is not a problem. I have been offered a day time position as well if that makes any difference. The unit is a brand new unit, meaning around two weeks old by my start date, and uses computer charting. The hospital does not have a great reputation as a whole, let me preface that I did do 1 year of clinicals on the telemetry floor and learned a ton but the nurses were pretty frazzled. My time in the ICU showed it to be so much different, the nurses worked as a team and were pretty upbeat and positive. Choice 2. An 18 bed Neuro/Surgical ICU at a level 1 trauma center, the manager says that they also recieve the majority of the traumas on their unit. So you just don't get the Medicals and the cardiovascular per say unless neuro is the main problem. The orientation is 16 weeks long and have also been told that extending that is not a problem. I have been offered a night position. The hospital uses paper charting, they are going to convert to computer charting in the next year to 18 months. The hospital has a great reputation and the nurses also worked as a team and were upbeat. There are other personal factors I am considering such as drive time, cna's,etc. but am mainly wondering which one looks the most appealing specifically for CRNA prep. Thanks in advance for any replies!

Wow! Thanks for all the encouraging words. In the end I took my final and and ended up with 448 pt.s out of 500 which put me at 89.6% and they informed me that 89.5% and higher = an A!!!! I have learned a lesson though about getting so wound up about it, I know I will still get a little stressed(it's nursing school after all) but I agree with other posts I have seen here, grades are not the total package after all, good experience in a challenging setting is priceless. I am shadowing a CRNA this next summer for a few days who also happens to be a professor at one of the schools I want to apply to. (bonus!) So how tough were the GRE's?

Thanks for the replies! In reality I do not think that a B is that devastating, but since becoming a CRNA is my ultimate goal, I have done some research on the schools that offer the program here in the Kansas City Metro area and they typically only allow 9 to 10 students in each year. By the looks of it, it is extremely competitive. I am not sure how other RN nursing programs are, but the one that I am in gives you 9 to 10 credits each semester for the actual nursing class so my B is going to be 9 credits worth of a B. I am also wondering if other RN programs are as difficult as mine feels like it is. There are 55 students and out of the 55 the lowest gpa is a 3.5. You would think that there would be a lot of people getting A's in this program, but only 3 of the 55 actually do have an A right now. The three that do have an A all have prior experience working in a health care setting. Is this typical?

Hello All! This is my first post and I am glad to have found this site. I am a first year nursing student who is two weeks away from finishing my first semester. I currently have 70 credits and have a 4.0 gpa. All of my nursing requirements are met and only have the core nursing classes to finish up. My plan is to work full time in an ICU for two years and finish up my BSN and apply to a CRNA program. Here is my question, and I hope it does not sound ridiculous. I currently have a 88.5% and am now facing my first B ever! I am wondering how this will affect my chances of getting accepted into CRNA school? Can you get into CRNA school if you get B's in your core nursing classes but A's in all your sciences and the rest of your associates/bachelors classes? I am feeling pretty bummed about this and would really appreciate any thoughts. thanks in advance!!