EmeraldNYL BSN, RN

8 months at time of acceptance, 2 years before my program actually started. My experience was MICU at a huge urban trauma center.

OMG, that is really impressive!! Where do you go to school?? Not the Northeast I am sure..... :bowingpur

I currently work about 2 12 hr. shifts a month in the ICU. I am one of 3 people in my program currently working and it is REALLY discouraged by our program director. I work because my ICU paid for some of my general MSN classes so I owe them a year...

Just when one person tells you one thing and another person tells you the exact opposite. See my thread on mixing meds!!!

I flunked o-chem when I went to school for my first degree (biology). I still got accepted.

Has anyone tried a Bullard laryngoscope? We had an airway seminar yesterday and Dr. Bullard himself was there, it seemed freaking awesome. Although I'm sure intubation would probably be more difficult on a real person than the mannequin was. It lo...

The students in my program seem to get tons of spinal and epidural experience, but experience with other blocks is kinda hard to come by. They don't seem to do them all that often, and when they are indicated, the docs will do them in the preop area...

One of the old-timer CRNAs I work with routinely likes to mix Etomidate and Profofol 50/50 in the same syringe for induction or sedation for colonoscopies. I really like doing this as well, but got a lecture from one of the docs today about how I sh...

According to my didactic instructors, you shouldn't mix Lido and Propofol because of the potential to form micro lipid emboli. Technically you can just give a little IV lido before the Prop to stop burning, but everyone mixes it to save time. And if...

Haha, that cracks me up, White Lightning? I never heard it called that before. Really, what is the difference between mixing Prop and Ketamine or Prop and Alfentanil vs. Prop and Etomidate?? Either way you are mixing meds. And it's not like you j...

Actually the reason this one CRNA likes to mix them is because you can lessen the disadvantages of both. If you use half the dose of Propofol, you minimize the CV depressant effects as well as the possible adrenocortical supression from Etomidate. ...

First of all, versed hangs around forever, so if you want your patient to wake up in a resonable time frame to be extubated when the surgery is over, this is a really bad idea. Especially in older patients, it takes forever to clear. I don't routin...

Desflurane flows from a fountain where I am doing my clinicals and I have come to love the stuff. A lot of our cases are shorter so the patients always wake up faster and you seem to have faster room turnover because of it. For a longer case I try ...

I have the same question. I assume you want to work for a place that will let you do everything, lines, regionals, etc. but is it better to work for an anesthesia group or be a hospital employee?

Me too heartICU. I'm now 25, and there is a girl in my class who is 24. Most people in my class are in their early to mid 30's though. My age didn't even phase me until I started clinicals, and I got a few comments about how I'm still a "baby". O...

I miss it sometimes..... I still work part-time every now and then. I worked with a great group of people who were really fun and interesting, and there was always drama to be had, either with co-workers or patient situations. I also learned a lot....

Hey peeps, I'm in my second semester at Villanova/Crozer-Chester, grad Nov. 2007. I love school but still feel like I'm really task-oriented and all thumbs when it comes to putting the big picture together. It will come in time, I guess. I still f...

I'm looking to move to Arizona when I finish CRNA school, but I know the job opportunities are scarce there. I have heard that the Mayo Clinic hires CRNAs. Does anyone know anything about the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, specifically the anesthesia g...

Aaahhh, so are there any decent places in AZ to work??! The boyfriend's family is in Scottsdale and he desperately wants to move back; I would also like a change of pace and warmer weather!!

Thanks for the input guys. As a student I'm always interested in how different people do things. I used both Zofran and Decadron on a patient today, she was adequately hydrated, etc. and she still got sick!

How many of you routinely give Decadron for PONV prophylaxis? Two of the CRNAs I work with always give 8 mg of Decadron and 4 mg Zofran, while one of the MDAs I work with says never give Decadron unless it is a last ditch effort and the patient has h...

I work as an SRNA but only part-time, a few shifts a month for some extra spending money. If you want to do CRNA school bad enough, you just take out the loans to cover tuition and living expenses. If you worked every weekend you would surely lose ...

I know as an SRNA in Philly this is something that I am definitely worried about. Not sure if I am staying in PA or not after graduation, but it would be nice to have that option. Honestly I am suprised Jefferson even managed to get a program appro...

Today we were doing a repair of a popliteal aneurysm on an elderly gentleman with a cardiac history. He needed to be placed prone for the procedure, and we were having trouble keeping an adequate BP. Pre-op his BP was in the 130's/90's, and intraop...

Yes you can go straight to the ICU as a new grad. But don't tell the nurse manager about your CRNA aspirations in the interview. As for pre-reqs, most places will accept science classes no older than 10 years. Most CRNA programs do not require org...