Pete495

Hi, I took my AANP in early January and passed! I am stoked and wanted to share with others what I did to pass. I took 2 review courses over the Fall semester from September to December I did the Hollier Live Course and the Fitzgerald Live course with Sally Miller. I highly recommend both Instructors. Sally Miller was a wiz when it came to physiology, so you are able to understand the reasoning behind a lot of the guidelines and decisions we make with patients. I took two weeks off prior to the exam to study. I used Hollier's syllabus as an outline for studying, and supplemented each category with the Fitzgerald review. Over the two weeks, I covered all the topics. I felt Hollier's review was more specific to the exam, and her exams, quizzes, and questions were spot on for the exam. I also had the Leik book and although the questions for valuable, there is some misinformation in some of them. I can recall a couple of questions right from Hollier and right from Leik however, so studying them definitely helped me in the end. The one thing that I did over the two weeks before was a ton of questions. Get used to thinking about each question, and eliminating answers. On the exam, I was generally able to eliminate at least two answers. I suggest if you are not a good test taker, do as many questions as you can, and review material through multiple avenues, and you will do well. Don't study the day before the exam. It won't help very much, and will probably just make you tired. Eat a healthy meal the night before with brain food, high protein like a big steak. most people's brains are best in the morning, but do what is best for you. Do your typical routine. I did my routine. I got up, ate a light breakfast and went to Starbucks for my coffee. Then I went to the exam and they got me in 30 minutes early. All in all, the exam was easier than I thought it would be. It is more straightforward than a lot of the questions I did. Hope this Helps, Pete495

My experience with online programs is that the coursework and content is quite rigorous. However, there is no research comparing online programs with traditional classroom programs, so we are all speaking strictly from our own experiences. Hopefully, somebody will start a study someday. The school I am currently studying at is an NP program that is 75% online (cept for clinicals of course). My wife is attending a different University as an NP student full time. I am part time. My course work is so much more rigorous than hers. She even says it seems that I have double the work. I would guess that every program is different, but I don't think all online programs are weak. In fact, some are highly respectable programs. Look at the Frontier School of Family practice and Midwifery. This is a very respectable online program. You have to be somewhat intelligent and independent to participate in such programs. When it comes to hiring, there is no difference. It's more about who you know, and how smart you are. What else is the medical profession going to say about our online programs? I would expect a lot of them to talk cheap from the bleachers. Do I believe it's hurting our credibility? No, I don't. Sooner or later medical schools will realize they too can charge people a bunch of money by offering classes online and being more flexible to the individual pursuing a medical degree. Technology is here to stay, and I think you will see an increase not a decrease in these types of programs, and it will become an accepted practice if it isn't already.

Med Surg doesn't matter. They don't care if you've had medsurg experience. You should look for a critical care fellowship if there are any available in your area. They train nurses out of graduate school in critical care. Not all hospitals offer them, but it is a good opportunity. I would only enter med surg if I absolutely couldn't get a critical care job. If they are willing to train you, then put forth the effort while you are there. Get your ACLS, CCRN, etc. Learning hemodynamics will be key for crna school, so do your best to get exposure to swans, vents, IABP's, etc.

We get patients all the time that come in for stupid ^&$$. We send them straight to Triage if possible. They figure if they call the ambulance they will get seen quicker, but in my hospital, we try to send their asses straight to triage, esp. if it is a hangnail or crap like that. We get people who want prescriptions all the time. We get people who want to check in to get band aids. We get people who want pregnancy tests, or the results of their STD panels. We get regulars who come in all the time for the same damn thing repeatedly. We get patients who were sent over from their doctors office, but they don't know what for. We get homeless people who want a meal and a cot. All this crap monopolizes and clogs the system, and we are required to treat these people. If we turn them away, we are just being mean.

Call your family doctor if you are having pain. don't let it get so bad that you need to come to ER. You need to be specific about your pain. If you're having pain in 3 different areas at the same time, it's hardly an acute condition unless it's related to recent trauma. You mentioned you had spinal stenosis, kidney stones, and neuropathy. These are all chronic conditions, and while I do believe they flare up at times, it is important that you be on the proper medicine to prevent the flare ups, and also do the appropriate things to make your life better, such as not drinking tea and eating all the Brewster's ice cream you can find. And for god's sake, stay away from the damn cupcakes and carboyhydrates if you are overweight or diabetic. It sounds as if you became addicted to pain killers. I probably would not give you pain medicine either to be honest. I would just be adding fuel to the fire, and you will just come back another time for the same thing.

In my ER, they are not as conspicuous with the Doritos. Usually you walk in on them eating. Then they want a turkey sandwich and some crackers not only for themselves, but for all 3 of their visitors as well.

Not true at all. Many hospitals pay their critical care floats, or "superfloats" between 37-50 dollars per hour. Look at it as leverage for Nurse Practitioners. Use the leverage to induce a higher rate of pay if possible. This is part of what is wrong with our profession which we need to fix. The disregard for higher level education and an accompanying rate of pay is partly why there is a lot of disatisfaction in the profession. What is the point of higher level education if you're going to be paid what you were before you recieved the education. It just doesn't seem worth it. Nurses need to be rewarded for their experience and background. Hospitals are just starting to see NP's as midlevels or independent practitioners, but we have more work to do to make others see it.

Don't be so discouraged! Health Care is moving in a new direction, and Advanced Practice Nurses will be a huge part of the movement. Family Nurse Practitioners are going to be some of the most utilized Practitioners. This is partly because the number of family practice doctors coming out of medical school is dying off. It is also because Nurses as professionals are pushing for more advanced practice. While there may not be many FNP's in Florida, I can tell you for sure they are needed in many other areas of the country. I am also surprised they are so brutally honest with you regarding the job market. They certainly are not doing themselves any favors by telling their prospective recruits that the job market around here sucks. Why would anyone even bother going to school there if the job market sucks. Instead of telling their recruits not to look for jobs in the area, they ought to be encouraging them to open up practices, and integrate themselves into the community. I guess that's a separate issue though. I don't think you should be discouraged by what one group is telling you. If you want to go for FNP, then I think that is what you should do, because there are jobs available in the country (if you are willing to move), and there will be more opening up in the future.

Nurses need a more independent role, report argues - Health - Health care - msnbc.com

My hospital is a Level III, and we are generally 3:1 in Williamsport, PA. The acuity level is medium. I couldn't begin to count my patients. A majority of them are not in and out though. Patient satisfaction at my hospital is terrible because of the long wait times. But I think when we see the patients, we treat them pretty well. 3:1 is pretty good, and I don't think you'll get better for a medium sized metropolitan hospital. Nurse satisfaction is variable as in any case, but I think they don't realize how good we have it. Our ED has an urgent care center, so we only see class I through III type patients in the ED. The class IV and V patients go to the urgent care center. When we get vented or 1:1 patients, we try to cover each other and help one another out. As other places, we're always short staffed, and there is never enough time to do it all. Cost cutting measures have hit our hospital as well. If someone calls in sick, we simply go short, and this can make for a long shift.

Well, I would pick a different school if at all possible. I doubt if you can argue their requirements. That sounds a little like overkill if you ask me. One has to wonder why they even offerred you an interview if you hadn't fulfilled all of their requirements on paper. Maybe apply elsewhere, or look around at different schools to see what their requirements are for students who have been out of school for a long time but have fulfilled the requirements listed. There is no doubt a better grade can make you more competitive as well as provide evidence to your motivation, but another school might differ with this view of preparation for crna education.

Spode, I sent you a pm Pete495

Bottom Line is you need a BSN and critical care experience (at least one year). I would take this seriously. It will be very difficult to get in without it. Not only do you need it for admission, but you need it for yourself to be competent as a student for CRNA.

I don't see how it wouldn't help clinically, but it is not the right way to get started on a path to CRNA. You need a bachelor of science in Nursing and some critical care experience before you can apply to CRNA school. Read the stickies on the site for information on what you need to get into CRNA school.