Reno1978

Decisions went out today, I heard.

Thanks for all of the advice - sorry for my late reply. Things worked out for the best and he was offered a hospital based position before we moved and he only had 8-9 mos of experience at the time, so I feel that was very forunate. I'm shocked at how well nurses are treated here. He's making as a new nurse (1 year exp on the pay scale) as much working a .75 FTE as I was back home working a .9 FTE with 6 years experience. So cool!

Cool! Best of luck to you. nurse-anesthesia.org has a nice interview prep guide somewhere on their forums - check that out! It has many common questions so you can practice and other information you may be challenged to know during an interview.

Well, I'm relocating this fall, too, so the only info I can provide you with is the time to process your license by endorsement. I submit my online application and license verification (I was able to use Nursys) on 4/28. They require a "Confirmation of Nursing Employment" form to be filled out by your current employer, so I did that on 4/29 and mailed the form to the board of nursing on 4/30. My license was issued on 5/5. If your original state of licensure and current state of licensure doesn't utilize Nursys for license verification services, there will probably be further delay as you have to submit a physical form to the board(s) of nursing to verify your license via snail mail. I'm curious if you've had any luck, or even started, with finding employment. My husband is a RN and is looking into the possibility to using a agency to find a job. I'll be enrolled in grad school and won't be working.

I'll be 36 when I start my nurse anesthesia program this fall. 39 when I graduate in fall of 2017.

I'm relocating to Minneapolis for grad school in August and will not be working. My husband is a working RN who will have a year of experience this fall. We were thinking it might be a good idea for him to utilize a travel agency to get his foot in the door at some Twin Cities hospitals. I've heard there is a demand for travel nurses in Minneapolis in the wintertime. This way, we'd get some help with living expenses, and he'd get to check out some facilities and can either move along or pursue a permanent position at a hospital he likes. It almost seems like an easier way to explore job opportunities than trying to secure permanent positions while living/working out of state. Thoughts?

When I was researching how to become a nurse, I learned about the CRNA role. It helped solidify my decision to become a RN. Once I was in nursing school and did my OR rotation, I ended up with a surgeon doing spinal surgeries through a microscope and a 1" incision, so since I couldn't see anything, I hung out with anesthesia all day and watched what he did. After that, I knew I wanted to become a CRNA. I've also shadowed CRNAs on OB floors, outpatient eye surgery centers and regular hospital OR, and it was really nice to see some of the practice settings CRNAs work in. I start my schooling to become a CRNA this fall and I'm excited about my future profession.

1 year is the bare minimum. No programs will accept less than 1 year. Some programs require more.

Get your BSN. Work at least one year in a busy ICU. Apply. SMU interviews in March and classes start in August so that gives you plenty of time to get your CA nursing license, if you're accepted.

I left Renown in 2009 and was making 27.xx/hr as a new grad. 10% night diff, no weekend diff. It's probably higher now.

I think you should pick the job that you'll enjoy more. CRNA programs will want you to be proficient in critical care pharmacology, vasoactive drips, mechanical ventilation, hemodynamic monitoring, and resuscitation. If you can get exposure to this in the neuro ICU, which you enjoy, go for it. I work in a mixed ICU that has an open heart program, a healthy neurosurgery service and your typical MICU/SICU type patients. I would say if I took neuro patients exclusively, I'd still have a solid understanding of the characteristics of ICU experience that's looked for in a nurse anesthesia program. Good luck!

I'd say so! I got 153, 153 and 5.0 and start a competitive program with a small class size this fall. If your GPA is a concern, think about how you'll address a question like this: "Why should we select you over a candidate with a better GPA and GRE scores?"

During my admissions interview I was asked something along the lines of, "Why should we choose you over applicants that have better GPA and GRE scores?" Think about how you would answer this question, keeping in mind they probably don't want to hear excuses, if the topic comes up during your admissions interview someday. If your GPA is a concern, they'll ask about it.

I wouldn't change jobs. As long as you get the big picture and can critically think about what is going on with your patients, you're in good shape. Get comfortable with vents, critical care pharmacology, hemodynamics monitoring, and rescussitation, shadow a CRNA and apply! Good luck!

I've never been exposed to it and I'm starting this fall. My best advice on things to be proficient in would be to focus on vents, hemodynamics monitoring, vasoactive medications/critical care pharmacology, and rescussitation. Best of luck to you!

I applied and was accepted to the DNP program for nurse anesthesia. Thankfully they didn't require the in person essay for that program. Anyone else starting this fall?

I got my BSN in 2007 and worked in the ICU since a new grad. I've lived very frugally and saved money. By the time I start nurse anesthesia school this fall, I plan on having around 100k saved. My husband is a RN so he'll be able to pay household expenses while I'm in school for 36 months. I think I'm still going to take full advantage of financial aid to cover tuition and do my best to let my nest egg grow, and if I end up as a CRNA with most of my savings intact, I'll get out of debt pretty dang fast.

WA State (Tri-Cities) $33.88/hr ICU RN BSN, CCRN, BLS, ACLS, PALS, TNCC 6 years experience Full Time Night Shift Nights $3.75/hr, Weekend $3.5/hr, Charge $2.75/hr, Preceptor $2/hr Not a manager In 2013, I made $86,200.

Letters went out today, I hear.

Best of luck to you! I'm also (im)patiently waiting to hear if I got in or not!

You're still eligible if you consolidate, but you need to have your originating loan paperwork to establish that they were loans that were for nursing education that were consolidated.

Be honest about anything in your criminal background and explain it thoroughly. Nursing, as a profession, doesn't require everyone to have a clean background, but there is concern when criminal charges point towards poor judgement - especially if that poor judgement can affect patient care. Driving a vehicle without registration, while illegal, probably wouldn't be deemed something that would impact your practice as a nurse or a threat to patient safety, unless your responsibilities included driving a patient somewhere. Of course, this is just my opinion. I would call the Board of Nursing and tell them what happened and ask for advice.

We have no mandatory low census for RNs where I work, so the hospital never calls RNs off that are PT or FT FTE. We typically have nurses who request low census, since we're rarely entirely full. It usually works out that there's already a volunteer or someone will volunteer when staffing calls to ask. However, we have the right to work if we're scheduled. If we accept low census, we're paid $3.50/hr while we're on call for the remainder of our scheduled shift. If called in, we get call back pay of 1.5x pay. In the rare case that there are no volunteers and there are more RNs than needed for a patient assignment, the hospital may call off a non-RN position and assign an extra RN to perform those tasks (telemetry clerk, unit secretary, etc). That pretty much sums it up!

Personally, I'm quite content in my little area of the world. I made $72k last year working full-time on nightshift in southeast WA state. On occasion, I pick up an extra shift if I feel like it, but I do not work a lot of overtime. Cost of living is low where I live. I don't make the "big bucks" in comparison to some others, but I'm definitely much more fortunate than plenty of people in the workforce.

Here's a list of all school's in MO and their pass rates. Board of Nursing One thing to evaluate when you're selecting a school is the pass rate. What good is going to school if you have trouble passing the licensing exam, right? You'll notice on the school list there are schools that offer practical nursing - this means they're LPN programs. Then there are school that offer professional nursing - this means they're RN programs - they're further broken down into ADN or BSN programs. There are a lot of options in your state - I would suggest going through this list and finding schools near your area and visiting their websites to look into what they require to get into their programs. Nursing school admissions can be greatly competitive and some schools may base their admission criteria around GPA, some may do a lottery, some may require other entrance exams, etc. Although most prerequisite classes are similar, some schools may require class(es) another school may not. It's all up to the school. After you find a few schools that interest you, make appointments to go see an academic advisor there. They'll get you on your path to start taking general education classes and satisfying your prerequisites. Nursing school isn't easy. It's doable. I didn't go back to college until I was in the workforce as a high school graduate for about 8 years. When it's your future at stake, you do what it takes to make sure you get good grades. I was able to work FT while I finished my prerequisites. After that, I had to quit my job and do the nursing program full time without working. There is financial aid and loans available to help with living expenses. Associate's degree or BSN...personal preference. If your goal is to be a RN, it doesn't matter. If you can imagine yourself continuing your education someday to become an educator or nurse practitioner, a BSN may benefit you. In my case, I realized it was going to take me two years to do my prerequisites and two years for the nursing program no matter if I got my ASN or BSN, so I went ahead and pursued a BSN. I'm glad I did now that I plan on applying to graduate school this fall. My best advice is to just go for it - get organized, have a plan, get good grades, and make your academic success your priority while you're in school. Good luck!