janecristensen

wow, I can't believe this is the guy who is representing our field. I know of things Dr. Zwerling was involved in years ago. Does anyone else know anything about his history?? He was a (drug) user when i heard of him. I thought it was impossible to be head of anything with that in your past, especially since morphine has an 80% lifetime relapse rate.. meaning there's an 80% chance he could still be using. I would hate for that congressman to find out that information. When we elect one of our own to represent us, we need to make sure its someone with a clean past and better interviewing skills.. i mean if you ask me, its almost as if the congressman was mocking him at times. anyone else get that impression??... oh well, whatever you do, don't forward the following link to the congressman... or to any anesthesiologist. hate for one of them to get a hold of this information. Peace. Go CRNAs !!!!...

Let me first say thank you all for the supporting comments. For those of you who doubt my job title, I could care less. Not worth my time to discuss here. One of my colleagues referred me to this site last week. She said to watch out for some of the postings. She said she was often turned off by what some of you say. However, I was doubtful. I was going to try to prove her wrong. Like I said earlier, I was hoping this would be a forum to discuss these issues... to open the lines of communication and education regarding our roles. But, it was bitter sweet, and only because of a FEW bad seeds. The bitterness can be cut with a knife its so thick. I mean how long to you have to keep repeating the same ol' "we know as much as them" stuff. YOU DONT! you never will. ACCEPT IT! Be proud to be a crna. We're different, we're special. As soon as we accept this, we all become winners. It really is pathetic. It makes us, the majority of CRNAs, look weak, bitter, pathetic and jealous. I mean give me a break!! I thought this was a dead issue, and for most of you it seems to be so. But there are still a few like 'kmm' that stick out like a sore thumb. I'm sorry you feel that way, but go back and read your post again, carefully. Don't you see it?? PLEASE refrain from writing those types of comments in public places where people can read it. You are bringing our profession down. You're not in the top tier.. accept it. be proud to be a crna! We love our job. We're special. dont forget that! you seem to always forget that. Again, thank you for all those encouraging posts and emails I've received over the past few days. It's nice to know the majority still has their heads on straight. However, I think I'll visit this site 'thread' less often. Keeping my distance from those types always makes me look good and respectable, and I hope the rest of you will do the same. My department is gearing up for a crna seminar this fall in arizona. Our department will be giving 3 presentations. I will be giving one of them, specifically talking about these very issues, mainly what I brought up earlier in my first posting. We need to continue to spread this knowledge, communicate and close those information gaps. The support here in the metro for this 'progressive' talk is outstanding amongst colleagues.. as opposed to the 'kmm' regression rhetoric which we would all like to see disappear. I will not be discouraged, and I hope you aren't either! Anyways, good luck to all in your careers!! Hope to see you soon!

this is in response to 'bioncokie's' post under 'Doctor's Frustrations' , Let me first say that I think being a crna is a great job. I've been doing it for 5 years now, working in the anesthesia care team model. I work with MDAs daily and I'm glad that they are there. Although some of your comments may be seen as offensive by some of my fellow crnas, you DO have some valid comments. That's what this forum is about. Talking about issues, educating everyone on the experience of crna's and mda's. It's true that we are NOT as smart as MDs. It's true that we DON'T know the 'medical knowledge' that you do. You're right about our board exams. We aren't nearly tested on our knowledge to the extent physicians are. My crna board exam was only like 80 questions and I had around 3 hours to complete it. I understand your board exams (USMLEs) and Anesthesia boards are way more difficult and time-pressured. You're tested not only on paper, but also in clinical scenarios (like you said in Step 2) and during anesthesia oral boards. It must be very difficult. I did not feel pressured during either of my board exams (nursing school and anes). We had plenty of time to answer questions. But YOU have to make decisions quickly and those exams prepare you for that. Maybe we should have to take more tests, have more questions, and be 'pressured' by having less time. If 'we' wan't to sit here and try to say we 'do the same things, know the same things' as MDAs do, then we should have to prove it. I calculated all my board exams together. My NCLEX was around 75 questions.. and my CRNA National Cert. Exam (boards) was like 70-100 questions (dont recall exact number). So, I was essentially asked to answer 175 questions to prove myself, not only as a nurse, but also as a CRNA. 175 questions for my entire career. Once I stepped back from this and looked at it.. I was really shocked. MDAs are tested on a completely different level. On behalf of all crnas, i feel we should be tested harder. Maybe we should take the board exam for MDAs and they should take our Nat.Cert.Exam. I think that would answer alot of questions brought up in this forum. But, unfortunately I don't think that would be the best idea. I have two close friends who went to medical school. I had the unpleasant priviledge to see some of their study materials for their board exams. It really does blow my mind.. how much they had to learn. The shear amount of information that they learn.. it's in a different league. Then they have to show proficiency on numerous USMLEs and Anes boards. There is no way I could learn all that information and answer those board style questions, especially in the short amount of time they have for each question. I graduated number 2 in my CRNA class of 36 students, and I can sure tell you that my classmates would have little or no chance at passing those exams. But that's why I didn't go to medical school. I know my limitations. That's not to say nurses aren't intelligent. But doctors are in a different league, whether you like it or not. They're essentially the top tier students that our nation's universities pump out. That's why society rightfully holds them to a different standard. The're the brightest minds our nation produces. My friend in medschool got his BS degree in chemistry. He graduated summa cum laude. I don't know one nurse who could sit through a physical chemistry/ quantum physics course and pull an 'A'. let alone pull an 'A' in all chemistry courses. I also found out that 4 of the ICU docs here at my hospital were (are) Anesthesiologist. I asked them how they got where they were. They basically do an extra year in residency in the ICU. They then are qualified to treat patients in the ICU, and in the case here.. our ICU director is an Anesthesiologist. They said there are many MDAs that don't even do the extra year of training but can moonlight in ICUs on the side... I think I speak for all crnas when I say.. there is no way I could step foot in the ICU, take complete control of treating the sickest and most critical patients in the hospital, and feel like I was doing something right. (even with 12 months of ICU experience after crna residency) I spent 4 years as an ICU nurse. When things went bad, I didn't look to my left and right.. I looked to the phone. I paged the doctor !! I don't know why crnas get so upset with this issue. Maybe they don't know exactly what MDAs go through, how much they know, the ICU stuff, etc. Maybe crnas don't know how much they really don't know. Well I do. But I'm proud of what I do. We ARE NOT the same as them. We should be proud of who we are. What makes us different makes us unique!! We are UNIQUE. We are SPECIAL !! Rejoice in the fact that we're special !! I love being a crna.