Qwiigley BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA

I've been a RN for 25 years and a CRNA for 20 of those. There are so many different kinds of opportunities with a RN license. If one doesn't fit you, try another. LVN/LPN jobs are the low man on the assignment schedule and jobs. You will have many mo...

I took the exam and now I have to complete the Core Modules. They are soooo tedious! I first purchased the AANA set. They were beyond horrible. So now I bought the APEX. They are better but still ridiculous. Does anyone have any experience with these...

Don't bother getting your MSN. Your school will incorporate that portion of you schooling. I would do things as a critical care nurse to make me a better candidate. Do leadership and skills and committees.

I bet you are glad you don't have the huge student loans you would have had! Now you can have a life, too!

Perfect anesthesia, in my opinion, is when the last stitch is put in, the patient is breathing on SIMV with good Vt, ETCO2, and RR and ready to pull the ett/lma. Drapes come down as the dressing is placed and the gurney is brought in. The team moves ...

There is a big push this season to move to a 21 minute turnover time in the OR. (Wheels out to wheels in) My question is what is your average turnover time in your institution, (letting us know how many OR suites you have). How do you acheive this...

Zebra F301 fine point in black all the way. I've had the same pen for 7 years now (refilling as necessary). I love it !

Seems like if you have 5 cases scheduled and you cut off 10 min from your turn over time, you only gained 50 min. Right? Not enough time to add another case. Where is the money saving? Yes, there are sometimes more cases, but not in every room and n...

Remi; That's pretty harsh and completely untrue. My class had 800 applicants, they accepted 30. (and that was 7 years ago) The "old timers" are retiring at a pretty clipped pace; therefore they need for CRNAs will be EXPANDING, not shrinking. Along ...

No way to know at this point. Don't be discouraged. Try us again when you have completed your BSN. You will be able to kow if you can handle the stress of critical care and response with quick critical thinking skills and not panic. Good Luck!

Depending on the location of the patient and the surgeon/doctor it can be done under conscience sedation (I'd go really heavy propofol gtt) or under general. I doubt it would be under a spinal except for special circumstances. Anesthesia is an ar...

Personally I hated the nursing part of my MSN degree. The anesthesia portion was much more interesting and relevant to what I wanted/needed to learn.

I liked nursing, but then I think it was because I immediately went into a Level One Trauma Center for pediatrics in the PICU. I could have never gone to a floor or (gasp) a community hospital. Anesthesia is wonderful and I love the challenge. I woul...

Good questions, though. Many people can learn from questions like this, especially students. Ask away. There are so many CRNAs who are very experienced on this site. Remember, there are no stupid questions when people's lives are at risk.

Most schools (I've heard) will listen to their student requests, but mostly assign their students to many different clinical sites. One of the interview questions at Cal St Fullerton is what you feel about traveling/commuting. The clinical sites out ...

What is your institutions policy on ANESTHESIA personnel wearing their own hats and bonnets? (instead of disposable) Can you wear warmup jackets? Are you allowed to wear shirts under your scrubs? What about reading material? Is your policy bas...

I've contacted our hospital librarian and asked him to look for research on this issue. If I get anything worth posting, I will.

I've been out for over 5 years, but when I was at Cal State Fullerton/Kaiser School of Anesthesia we obtained OVER TWICE the required amount of cases. There was specialty clinicals at the Navy in San Diego for Regionals (great opportunity) as well a...

It is not possible to get your clinical hours for the requirement to take the boards. Actually many of the current 2 year programs are seriously considering adding a year or so to their program. Gone are the days when you just have to learn "tasks" ...

Honestly, it seems like you need to spend some time working as a critical care nurse before deciding. You may love being an education focused nurse. If you "thrive" on traumas and critical patients, you may be a good CRNA. If you like spending a lo...

We will be changing our policy soon, so the more information I can get the better. What do you all have??

Correction: The company we are using is Epic. The actual program we are using is called Health Connect. Just wondering: Do other hospital's EMR communicate with each other? Is there a master design in all this?

Is your institution using computerized hospital charts? Are they connected to all of your associated clinics, sites and local pharmacies? What is the name of your system? Do you see the patient benefits? My institution is using Health Connect. We...

I agree with Stanman1968. We are not in much patient contact (generally). Of course you have the isolated bad intubations during a code, but if you've done lap chole s all day with 21 min turnovers, you are not getting too dirty. Some people in th...

UCLA does not currently have a nurse anesthesia school. They do however use CRNAs. USC and Cal State Fullerton/Kaiser have very good programs. Texas Weslyan uses some clinical sites in So Cal. Check out those schools. See the SRNA section on this...