AcceptableRisk

Base pay is only $21 per hour? Is this for an RN? Parkland start new RNs out at $25 an hour! The Baylor plan has always been 24hrs work for 36 hours pay. It's now called the TDA plan (Two day alternative).

The good thing is that you can always dress for cold temps...just dress in layers...If it's hot (like it is in my ICU...always about 75-78 degrees) there's not much you can do...so hot natured people (like me) just have to suffer. I sweat like I'm in a sauna, every day that I work. I have observed a few surgeries done by burn docs, and they keep the temp of the Burn OR suites at about 90 degrees (because burn victims cannot regulate their temp, without their skin)...so, you could consider doing anesthesia for surgeries on burn patients. Also, I know that you were just kidding, but you can't catch a cold from being subjected to cold temperatures...colds are caused by bacteria or viruses.

I have lived in Oklahoma most of my life (i.e. 31 years. And, I've been in Wisconsin for the past year and in Texas for 5 years prior to that.) I just earned my BSN and was hoping to move back closer to my family and friends in Oklahoma, but with such poor nursing wages in Oklahoma, I can't afford to move back. And, Oklahoma's cost of living is NOT that low. In the following article, which compares salary with cost of living, "Which pasture is really greener?", Oklahoma is ranked 22nd (out of 50) when you adjust salary with the cost of living. Texas came out on top, so I'll probably be moving back there. And, when you look at LanaBanana's article, "Not enough nurses", Oklahoma has the 4th worst (i.e. lowest) nurse salary in the U.S. and the 5th worst nurse supply (i.e. 5th lowest nurse to resident ratio) in the U.S. I'm definitely disappointed, to say the least. -- AcceptableRisk

I am a new grad and I live in central Wisconsin, too. I have not been able to get anything but a med-surg job...and there aren't that many of them available up here, either. I wanted an ICU job and have read quite a few articles about how easy it is, these days, for new grads to get them. So, when I started my job search, I was very surprised to see how few ICU jobs were available up here, and at each one I applied to, I was told "we need you to have a year of med-surg experience". Bottom line: I'm moving out of this area of the country as soon as possible. Does anyone know of any areas of the country I could move to, where a new grad can get an ICU job? Thanks!

RE: My point was not that being in an accelerated BSN program would make you a shoo-in to CRNA school...everyone knows that it is the total package (gpa, gre, application, application letter, interview, personality, etc.) that gets you in. My point was that anyone who completes "53 credits in 12 months, including 2 graduate nursing classes, and all clinicals", while commuting 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day, and maintaining a 3.5 GPA, will stand out a bit against other students who completed 53 credits in 24 months, with a 3.5 GPA. And, I wasn't trying to compare an accelerated program to CRNA school; I was trying to compare an accelerated BSN program to traditional BSN programs...that is what the admissions committee members are going to be doing. Anything (positive), that helps you stand apart from the crowd, can give you an advantage when applying to any program or job.

I'm sure accelerated programs vary, like any type of program (e.g. compare Harvard Medical School to a medical school in the Caribbean islands), and your background before going into the program could have had a huge impact in how difficult the program was for you. All I can say is that I have a strong science background, and the program that I am in is still VERY intense, stressful, and time consuming. I spend 8 to 10 hours studying every day, and when I'm in my clinicals I hardly see my spouse and child (and that includes the weekends). I expect CRNA school to be more difficult, but "100 times" more difficult is a slight bit of an exaggeration, I would say.

That's pretty funny! But, I agree with your point. And, if there did exist a listing that ranked the easiest schools to get into, the easiest schools would obviously very quickly become the most difficult schools to get into, due to the dramatic increase in applications that would ensue. About a year ago, I e-mailed many of the CRNA schools in which I am interested and asked them several questions about their programs, and most of them either ignored my questions about GPA and GRE scores or they would say something general, like avg GPA is above a 3.0 and avg GRE is above 1000, but a couple of them told me that GPA and GRE do not matter too much to them, as long as GPA is above a 3.0 and GRE is above 1000. I understand what you are after, krzysiu, but it looks like this kind of information is something we have to figure out (guess) on our own. My suggestion is to learn as much as possible about the CRNA profession, by talking to and shadowing CRNAs, learn what it is that you are wanting from your CRNA education, find out which schools offer what you want, and apply to them. For example, it is well known that the Mayo CRNA school doesn't teach Swan-Ganz catheter placement, so if you are wanting to learn that skill, don't apply to the Mayo's CRNA school. Apply to as many schools as you can afford (i.e. app fees, travel costs, time, etc) and hopefully someone will take you. The more schools you apply to, the higher your chance of getting accepted somewhere.

Similarly, I am interested in finding a listing or database of all CRNA schools that lists the number of positions available, number of applicants, avg GPA of applicants, avg GPA of matriculants, avg GRE of applicants, avg GRE of matriculants, types of procedures that are taught (i.e. Swan placement, central line placement, etc.), positive aspects of the school, negative aspects of the school, etc. A listing like this may not exist, so I may just have to create my own.

I am also in an accelerated BSN program, somewhere near krzysiu's part of the country. And, if krzysiu's program is anything like mine, I think that krzysiu will be at an advantage by going through this program, because in my program, we take all of the same classes (at twice the speed) and exams as students in the traditional program, and we have to put in over 110 hours more clinical time than students in our traditional program. And, in our clinicals, we are one-on-one with our preceptor, unlike most traditional programs where a preceptor usually has 4 or 5 or more students. I consistently hear nurses, that I work with in my clinicals, say that the nurses that come out of my accelerated program are much better prepared than nurses from the traditional program, and this is mainly because they get the one-on-one attention from their preceptor. So, if your program is like mine and you do very well, krzysiu, I think you may be at a distinct advantage, because you will have shown that you can handle a high intensity and high stress academic program, and getting your degree from an accelerated program will make you more unique among applicants to CRNA schools. (my 2 cents) AcceptableRisk