gwapo

Some schools do accept ER. Not sure about PACU."critical care" experience is required. Personally, i think pts in PACU are not critical. If pts were seriously critical, they would not have done the surgery or if they absolutely had to and did the surgery, they go straight from the OR table to ICU paralyzed, on the vent, with 10 drips going, chest tubes, drainage tubes, and all lines /cables tangled. Now an ICU NURSE will have to take cAre of that pt for 12 hrs. In some places where there are no doctors or residents available and it happened at night, the nurse will have to make tough decisions .. To me, that is what a critical pt is. A critical care nurse should be able to manage that kind of pt for an extended period of time at any time of the day.. It is this kind of experience i think that will train you to be a good crna or any aprn for that matter. ive worked at 3 hospitals in 7 yrs, no offense to the ER nurses here, but in my experience they are always in a hurry to send the pt to ICU. Sometimes we had to go down to ER not necessarily to help take care of pts but to ... Guess what??.... To set up a CVP, arterial line or hook up a newly placed Ventriculostomy to the monitor :) Do whatever pleases you coz if you are not happy with what you are doing, it will not be worth it. Good luck..

Are you titrating these drips? but regardless, i would think That it is not safe with 4 patients. And why would ketamine be on a cardiac floor? Maybe i am missing something... Would be great if somebody could answer it. But what i know about ketamine is here http://anesthesiageneral.com/ketamine-cardiovascular-effects/

Chitoseal is the magic dust :) there is also called a surgiseal. Not sure of the spelling. Just call ER, they should have it. And surgiseal is usually in a wound cart (if u have that).

they just changed it to one year critical care experience.

That sounds close enough to ICU. that experience may not satisfy the requirement for CRNA school, but there is no doubt that it is one step closer to ICU. it will be easier to get an ICU job later coming from that unit than from med-surg. IMO, you should take it. getting straight to ICU nowadays is tough. good luck.

know at least Sinus Rhythm, Sinus tach, sinus brady, VTach, VFib, AFib, SVT, 1st 2nd 3rd degree blocks. in real life,you will have to look at the patient. but in simulation, i find it hard to do so i go with the monitor because whatever is shown on the monitor, i know it's gotta be right since it is controlled by the instructor. you won't know the treatment if you don't know the rhythm. but keep in mind that realistically, you are not by yourself during a code. it is team work. good luck.

If CCU is some kind of an ICU, then is definitely better than ER. Wih ER experience, you will be linited on school choices.

I commend you for your attitude. The more experience you have, the better clinician you will be, and that's pretty obvious. Well my deciding factor was my skill level. I thought, i have taken care of thw sickest patients in the hospital, been doing charge about 2 years and felt confident at what i did. I asked myself how can i improve myself? I thought about moving to a different kind of ICU but it will most likely teach me just technical skills as i already had the critical thinking under my belt. So instead, i applied to crna school with alnost 7 yrs of ICU experience. This was my way of improving myself. Now i am not telling you to wait that long, what i'm trying to suggest is when you feel comfortable of your skills, and you feel like you can handle anything thrown at you in ICU, and people in your unit always goes to you for advice, it maybe the right time. Good luck.

CRNA Stands for Certified REGISTERED NURSE Anesthetist. Not Certified BIOLOGIST Anesthetist. You need to be a nurse first. Like the poster above said, you might want to consider AA. Or just go to med school. You biology degree will be heplful.

Good luck. I was blindsided with that. I'm sorry but i could not remember exactly what it was. Maybe because i did not know most of them. They said it is not considered in the admission criteria.

I wonder where the OP is now... Ya'll scared him. Haha. I don't think being impatient will work in CRNA School. Just got back from the library after a 14-hr studying. I don't know how somebody impatient will handle that.

3.45 is not horrible. Mine is even lower. What do you mean non cert hospital job? Like a job before you get an RN license? I don't think a job other than being an RN in ICU (or ER for some) would help you get in CRNA School. Don't just talk to a CRNA. You can shadow a CRNA one. that will help. But sometimes it's hard to do it unless you are already an employee of the facility. But that's not impossible at all. I suggest you get an ICU job right after grduation, work on your ACLS &PALS in the firt year. Get the CCRN as soon as you are eligible, take leadership roles when possible. Take the the sickest pt all the time. You can apply even before your 1 year required experience is done. Good luck.

Ummm. You may get better responses at http://www.alldoctors.com but i'm not saying nobody will have input here though.

I would say take it in november. 1 extra studying will not make much of a difference unless ypu study everyday on that whole month. Try to google it. I have read somewhere that your score will not improve significantly unless you put in a significant amount of time. From personal experience, 1 month did not make a difference when i took it for the 2nd time. The only difference was my essay score, it improved. But not because i studied much for it. It improve because this time around, i actually know how to write the way they wanted it. Basically, i had little clue on how to write the essay during my first take. Good luck.

Did you get an interview at TWU?

If your end goal is to be a CRNA, you should know by now that the only experience schools will take is critical care exprience -ICU, sometimes ER. That's it, regardless if what others say.. So if you really want it, get an icu job asap. I heard it is not easy nowadays so good luck. Congrts on d new job!!

If your nursing school does not offer med-surg and paychiatric nursing, you are totally screwed. It looks like they are just after your money!! That's not legit, even though they are approved by the dept of educ or whatever. What do they offer in exchange for those courses, web page design?

Do med/surge icu. You will learn a lot. You will be busy, but not because you have so many pts but because you need to manage a sick pt that could instantly die if you slack off. You will learn more about management of diseases which will be helpful in your NP role.

I think working in sicu will help you clinically.. So if it will be easy for you to move, go for it.. Staying in neuro icu will not keep you from being accepted into a program.

so technically you had 1 year experience. which is what's required. the "few months over" was your preceptorship. that's how i look at it. :)

so you mean you won't graduate until 4 years from now? then I don't think it would make sense to look for an ICU job as early as now. The job market changes over time. One hospital may offer residency now and stop it a year later.. concentrate on your studies for now. worry about the job later. you will find a job. make sure you get good grades. good luck.

look around southwest florida. hospitals from port charlotte, punta gorda, cape coral, fort myers, naples. most are community hospitals, not trauma centers. but icu patients are a mix of med surd, high acuity. there are CVICU as well. do not be surprised with how much you will be paid.

are you willing to move?

Move on. Be excited for the next interview. After 2 interviews and 2 rejection letters, i got better at handling interviews. Next thing i know, i had a dilemma. 2 schools wanted me and i had to decide that same day. Good luck. It's not the end of it.