bucknangler

Who cares about what other people think. A few years ago I stood in front of my nursing class and told the class I was going to be a crna. The haters were among the group, same response within my ICU family, and from this board a time or two. They all got silenced real quick when I passed my CCRN with 89% with only one year working and got accepted to a great school (will be starting this august). Remember, there can only be one person to live your dream :).

I wouldn't appeal it only because CRNA schools are very stubborn. You don't want to make a bad name for yourself next year. Believe it or not, you might be surprised to know the references one uses could be the very reason you don't get in...people can be cruel. I have a buddy who got into a very competitive crna program with a 920 GRE and GPA of 3.1, but he is well rounded regarding the other parameters.... I'm pretty sure other applicants were rejected with higher scores for his class; they only look at the scores to make sure you can do a master's level program and use your references, experience, etc...to value your worth regarding the other characteristics needed in a program. Your husband will get there, he is closer than he thinks :)

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My Stats: 3.56 GPA, CCRN, 2 years of ICU experience, 1,000 GRE, 4.5 Writing, 24 hours towards my MSN with a 4.0 Graduate GPA. A CRNA school I previously interviewed (and told during the initial interview,I was one of their top picks for the incoming class) called today and informed me the process is now being done to select the class and they have their top 40 applicants (I being one of them) 32 will be admitted with 8 alternates. They told me I had outstanding grades but they questioned my ability to commit to them being married and with a young daughter (less than a year old). It was like a second interview! They asked what my wife does, family support..., financial support, "can you live with seeing your wife and child 2 Times a month?"...I was like, HOLY ***** when they asked me that. They finished the conversation by saying, "So if we grant you a spot, "ARE YOU SURE" you can commit?"............I hope I sold them, but after I hung up the phone, I sat back and kinda took offense to the whole conversation. I felt discriminated against, IDK. Anyways, to make a long story short, the same program called 2 colleagues of mine and asked if they would like a spot in the program! They are both older, single, and with no children..... on paper, I have the edge academically and the only one with CCRN. In comparison, one of the two has a 3.2 GPA, 920 GRE, 2.5 years of ICU experience.. However, both are smart and I'm extremely happy they got into the program. They will certainly make great CRNA's! I just feel like a failure, especially when I look at my 8 month old daughter...becoming a CRNA has been a goal since I entered college. Bottom line, do programs actually consider "Family vs Single" as a means to choose their students? Would having a "Family with CCRN" look worse to a review board than "Single with No CCRN" if both applicants are very similar? Has anyone else experienced similar circumstances? Sincerely, A Discouraged, but Proud and Happy Husband and DADDY!

UAB is a no for me....The Mobile Component only accepted 2 students! Ouch! And may not even take students next year out of Mobile. The interview was poorly set up and they scheduled all 6 interviewees at the same time, 1515. However, the interviews didn't start till about 1600 and I was the 5th person to interview....and my interview started at 1830! And on top of that, they put us in a small room with no A/C and no water! I was bored and exhausted and somewhat mad because I had to pick up my daughter over an hour and half away for a set time... It was an all male panel comprising of 4 individuals. They only asked me 5 questions and I felt in my interview they couldn't have cared what answer I gave them. They made little to no eye contact with me and immediately gave me the wrong impression. They looked half asleep and literally were breathing hard every time they spoke..all but one of the individuals were slacking in their chairs. They first started out the interview by telling me, "Do not give us BS answers and just make it short and to the point. I don't wanna hear (example). just give me a short and very brief answer"... Then they gave me a clinical question with no scenario and with only hemodynamics written out and asked one question on that. One of the CRNA's stated I was a little off and he gave me his answer (I later asked a cardiologist the same question and turns out I was right and he and another Intensivist explained why the CRNA was wrong). However, I saw where the CRNA was coming from and of course I didn't argue back.... The 5 questions they asked where all based on something I did wrong in a clinical situation (here are examples and not what was said:) with a colleague, with a MD, with a medication....and basically what I did to fix it and what I could have done better. I was really surprised by the categories of questions asked. I probably made myself sound horrible! Lol! And that was it! By Mid-Interview, I really felt one of the two CRNA's (whom I would be primarily working with outside of UAB) was very full of himself while the other one was like a lump on a log and looked half a sleep. The two teachers were okay, however shared the a similar personalities. I thought it was rude that they kept looking at the clock on the wall and their watches every 5 minutes. When I got out the interview, I was only 25 minutes! Which was by far the shortest one! It turns out, (by way of a source) one of the interviewees has a sibling who is a CRNA in mobile and works and hangs out with them on a regular basis...However, I don't think that was an influence in their decision. I was holding on to a little hope for an acceptance, and was a little upset I didn't get in. I hope the rest of you get in and have a much better experience. If I don't get into OLOL, I will be reapplying next year to UAB, but not to the Mobile Component (If Mobile still takes students). Good luck guys!

May I asked when did you find out about OLOL? I interviewed there as well and from what I was told, this is there last week of interviews and letters will be mailed out in the weeks to follow (Mid February). Congrats!

where did you take the grad level statistics course?

msrn25, are you from Mississippi? If so, where? I did not apply yet to LSU because I am still in a statistics class and have not received my final transcript from them. I also have an interview with Our Lady of the Lake next month. How was your interview at LSU? Did you apply to any where else?

My letter came this past Thursday. I interview January 25, 2010 in the afternoon at the Spring Hill Hospital in Mobile....in the letter, it says they will notify me within 24 hours of their decision. Very nerve-racking. I will post a follow-up of what questions were asked, etc...

Received this email today: "The UAB Nurse Anesthesia Program has sent out letters to all but the Mobile, Pensacola and Tuscaloosa Applicants. If you have any questions regarding your letter please call the program office at xxx-xxx-xxxxx" So ya'll keep your fingers cross and good luck!

That is correct, I wish I remembered the program in more depth. Basically, they will pay up to 4500 a year for two years. Then you are obligated to work in Mississippi for two years. ANY WHERE IN THE STATE! For every year they pay, you work a year in the State. It is under the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant website. I would post a link, but it appars their website is down for repairs. Good luck!

I agree with all the above plus: The bacteria blocks the neurotransmitter sites in your cardiovascular system that control blood pressure; Levophed (norepi) infused is like throwing a handful of darts at a dartboard and hope at least one molecule of norepi will stick to a neurotransmitter site not in use by the bacteria. Which will hopefully improve BP.

"I've been told that I'm not a team player, and that people in general do not like me because I'm aggressive and independant, too focused on the details, and have 'an authoratative tone' when discussing concepts." Sounds like my first Peer eval in the ICU!! And guess what? If you are a male, female nurses take extra offense! My first yearly peer eval in the ICU was 50% awesome person to work with/eager to learn/smiles a lot and 50% arrogant/cocky/there is no "I" in team type responses. And in my first year, I did exactly what you planned on doing: ask questions and voiced an honest opinion to better my nursing skills. And trust me, they WILL take offense! I feel your frustration, but believe me. I started an orientation program with 3 other new nurses and have yet to completely taken a fresh heart by myself. However, the other 3 nurses have...and guess what? I am only one of 5 CCRN nurses within an ICU of 80 RN's! I've only been a ICU nurse for 18 months. It does make me upset because I feel like I actually know what PA pressures mean, while these other nurses just interpret them as either High or Low. But patience is a virtue. Also, there is a popularity contest in my ICU and it seems a nurses skill level is based on her relationship with her peers. If a nurse has a great personality...then she's a great nurse. Or, If she has a bad personality...she must be a bad nurse. My advice, stick to your textbook to get answers, drop the "why" questions, speak softly, say "really? I didn't know that?" to your elder nurses....and you'll be fine!

Sounds like you did one hell of a job. What did the monitor show rhythm wise? Obviously you are on heparin for an acute coronary syndrome? I wonder what his EF was? Systolic or Diastolic Dysfunction? Since the cardiologist signed off, I amusing he reviewed the EKG and felt that he coded for a different reason unrelated to the heart? Sounds like a hemorrhage somewhere. H&H level? Interesting case. I wouldn't be afraid of raising the dopamine because of an Increase in HR in this scenario. MAX THAT gtt OUT GIRL! After all, you are already maxed on levophed and it seems his HR is racing fast because of the actual cause and not the dopamine. FLUIDS! FLUIDS! FLUIDS! I am very shocked by the behavior of the MD. He would be written up in a heartbeat at my facility.

A routine use of Levophed is 40-100 mcg/min in some patients? WOW! Where are ya'll getting this information to validate it as policy? And if you use 150 mcg/min of norepi, what is ya'lls concentration? Our policy states a max of 30 mcg/min and if any nurse would come in my room and titrate the levo to 150 mcg/min, I would slap them silly . I have seen nurses titrate vasopressin to 0.4 instead of our policy of 0.04 units/min for vasodilatory shock...I guess they get confused with the GI hemorrhage dosing. It is interesting to see the different dosing. I am in the South at a level II trauma center