nilepoc

All of the CRNAs where I work are on forty hour weeks. We self schedule and work any combo of shifts. though no one works a 24 and a 16, I personally do a 16 and two 12s. 40 hours is a possibillty as is any other amount you wish to work.

Hello, This is a quick note to announce my departure as a moderator of the CRNA forum. I have not bee spending enough time here to justify continuing to hold a moderator position at allnurses. As a result i have chosen to step down. Many thanks go out to all of the members of allnurses. I plan to remain a member here and will post occasionally. Good luck to you all, Craig Copelin

Here is a link to a full text PDF on the revised Aldrete scoring system. (note spelling) google is your friend. Aldrete JA: The post-anesthesia recovery score revisited. J Clin Anesth 1995;7:89 - 91

Whats up, is that some states are more desirable to live in than others. For example, Colorado. In colorado the Anesthesiologists have a huge presence and are very influential. So much so that they bullied the governor into withdrawing a request to grant independant practice to CRNAs. I looked into jobs in Reno Nevada and found a similar situation to Colorado. Anesthesiologist only practices dominated the landscape. Federal jobs exist, but are few and far between. If you are willing to move to a less desirable local, you will find jobs a plenty.

400 bed hospital, 24 OR's I work three days a week, one 16 and two 12's. week one Monday 1500 - 0700, Tuesday 1900 - 0700, Wednsday 1900 - 0700 week two Wednsday 1100 - 2300, Thursday 1500 - 0700, Friday 1900 - 0700 week three sunday 0700 - 2300, monday 1100 - 2300, tuesday 1100 - 2300 repeat, This gives me two six day weekends a month, and I do not do call or overtime. I'd have to say its a pretty sweet gig.

It gets easier when you graduate. I won't forget the first novel I read after getting certified.

This is a note to explain my need to edit out the identifying information in the first post of this thread. quailoh it is not a good idea to identify yourself in a public forum if you are trying to work with your progam to get back in. It is however a smart idea to seek advice from others, just try and do it more discretely in the future. As far as your situation goes, you need to be humble as you aproach the apeals process. I was in a very similar situation and am now a CRNA. I worked with the system, and did not lash out at them. There is usually more to the story than can be conveyed in a public forum. You should tread lightly with your program and see if they can work with you. As far as getting into other programs goes, you may find it incredibly difficult to get into another program, especially if you are seen as a loose cannon. As of now, you have been pretty reasonable, I am just trying to prevent you from damaging yourself in the eyes of the anesthesia programs. All members of this and other forums need to remember that this site is public and that the schools read it as well. It is not hard to figure out who is who when you give yourself away with specifics of your program. Good luck in your quest to remain an SRNA. It is possible to get around a momentary stumble, but you need to be careful how you aproach it. Craig

That site looks a little dead to me. The last update was in December of 2004, and there is only one page of information there. I hope they came to their senses and backed off on the training.

ditto of the above experiences. I made it through my entire program with a mac and had no problems.

What Pete said. I have heard that the MAP should be maintained altleast greater than 60, and preferably greater than 70. Personally, I use goggles, and a foam head block on all of my prone patients. Craig

Without knowing specifics, here are a couple of reasons. Physiologic narrowing of the spinal canal, causing an upward spread of anesthetic. Patient positioning post injection causing cephalad spread of anesthetic. Too large a volume of anesthetic injected, again causing cephalad spread. Hypobaric solution rising. Any one of these, and possibly many more. I am glad to hear that the outcome was without lasting problems for the patient.

Read this thread old thread on how many applications to send. good luck.

I agree Deepz, it probably was a troll. Unfortunately I let it get away from me. Thank you Yoga for your well stated views. I agree with you whole heartedly. Craig

When I first saw this thread, I almost took the bait and responded. I thought about it long and hard, but could not bring myself to rehash this arguement again. So I let it go to see what would transpire. It started well, but has lately become a personal attack thread. I am going to let this thread continue for a bit longer, but will be watching to make sure it does not digress any further. If it does, it will be locked. This is an issue that is worth discussing, and needs to be kept alive. Unfortunatley it is an issue which does not have an easy answer and tends to cause people to argue rather than discuss. I would like to suggest that interested readers look up this topic in the old threads via the search function. Craig

I would have to say that there is no one reason why CRNA school is so difficult. I skated through most of my education until I attended CRNA school. The reasons Kevin stated above are good ones. I especially agree with the stress one. I came very close to failing out, and it was all because of a B- incurred while taking 18 hourss of classes in a summer semester. I got A's in all of the other classes. From that point on, the program had me in their sights as someone to watch. Life was never easy again. Like I said, you will find your own reason why it is difficult, There was not one person in my class who did not struggle at some point. The smartest person in my class almost quit when clinicals kicked in. Good luck.

Thats Glacier National park. Taken in June.

The week that I received confirmation of my licensure, I rewarded myself with this. You may be able to see my wife behind the passenger door. After acquiring the truck, I built up my ultimate bicycle. A 1980's schwinn road bike converted to a fixed gear by my own hands. Its amazing what you can do when you have the time. :-) Anyway, I thought you would like the bike, since several of you mentioned your desire to have a nice bike. By the way, do yourselves a favor and wait for licensure before going to crazy with rewards. Craig

I have read the book, and also visited the Ether Dome. Both activities are recommended by me. I enjoyed the book a great deal, and was entertained by the story. The ether dome is great, because of its history, and the simple fact that it is open at all. Just go to the door, call security, and you are buzzed in. I guess they figure if you know where it is, you should be allowed in to see it. Good luck. Craig

Thanks guys, I am currently in Hawaii taking advantage of my first real vacation. I should be back on the forums real soon. Have a good day. Craig

That totally depends on the BON for the states you are interested in (you should probably contact them). In MD you cannot work once you have failed the exam. I beleive that in NY you can work for a period of time post failure. I really am hoping to not find out the reprecussions of failure.

Nope, I became a nurse with the express purpose of becomming a CRNA. Its worked out well so far. craig

Thats it, I want to thank you all for putting up with me and helping me to get into school in the first place. My final exam just finished, and all indicators point to me successfully passing it. Which means I will be graduating on the 18th after 27 long months of hell. Now I have about six weeks to study for boards and start my new job. Anyway, I thought I would share my elation, and make this post to explain my absence from the board for the last couple of months. Again, Thanks Craig Copelin, GRNA

Hey Vinny sorry to hear about your story. Like everyone has said, it will get better. But then, just when you think you are doing so well, something very humbling will occur. Like this. Today I am performing the anesthesia for a whipple procedure. We talk to the patient and obtain consent for a thoracic epidural, a central line and the anesthesia for the case. All is good, we get into the room, and I get an epidural in (first ever thoracic for me) Do the induction without difficulty, and place a right IJ double lumen line in just under a half hour. As I am setting up an IV to run into the central line, what do I do but pop the cap from the IV tubing right into the newly created sterile field. Man was I pissed with myself. I have seven clinical days to go, and all I could think about was what if I had done that stunt after the incision had been made? Fortunately the incision had not been made, and everyone in the roome was very nice about the breach in sterility. A new prep and drape were applied and the surgery started without a hitch. Its amazing how humbling a simple incident can be. Good luck to you all. Craig

I recently did a case report on anesthesia in the first trimester. Currently the drugs you mention are not proven to cause teratogenicity (except nitrous which is a known teratogen). Including midazolam (versed) see this article (Goodman S. Anesthesia for nonobstetric surgery in the pregnant patient. Seminars in Perinatology. 26(2):136-45, 2002 Apr.). The evidence is just not there according to what I have read. I would still advise her to seek the advice of an OBGYN as she would for her pregnancy anyway. Please let us know what you find out. Craig

One of the recommendations I used was from a resident (third year ortho). I graduate from the program he wrote to this December, so I say go for it. Craig