WanaBdun

critical care, currently in anesthesia school. your type is [color=#d000a0] intj [color=#d000a0]introverted [color=#d000a0]intuitive [color=#d000a0]thinking[color=#d000a0] judging strength of the preferences % [color=#d000a0]56 [color=#d000a0]50 [color=#d000a0]88 [color=#d000a0]67

You can't and you can! You have to study on your own, read the material and attend classes, so if that is your definition of self-taught, then I guess it is. The reality is you have to put effort into reading, and memorizing no matter what school you go to. I could care less about self-taught vs. spoon fed as long as I understand the material so I can provide safe care. I don't want to be the cause of some patient loosing their life when they have no one to trust but me to put them to sleep. It is difficult and a lot of hard work, but it will pay off in the end.

during your one year experience, do that grad class. I still recommend Vanderbilt as that school is just top notch. Even though I did it through the web stream the instructor was very helpful. Not only that, the information in the Advanced Patho for ACNP applies to what you do in the ICU. As for your first nursing job, just be careful. I wouldn't put too much in your first job. Shoot for the ICU and don't accept anything less. Most people I know do not enjoy the first year of ICU as it is a lot to get used to and learn if you are going to do it right. Just take a job that will give you the best experience and references for school. If you like your job too much you might not consider moving on. I know that my SRNA classmates are not even considering turning back now that they have made it this far. I personally had a difficult time in the ICU as my co-workers took advantage of me until I knew what was going on (extreme heavy assignments). But, it only made me better. I passed them up after the first year and went on to be charge/code team/rapid response and rounder - and I was pretty young for all that. I am not bragging, just telling you that if you focus on the goal, you can withstand ANYTHING that happens to you in order to get there. I did stay in ICU for almost 7 years, but I did not have a bachelor's degree. Retake that GRE and take a grad class and just apply. Don't wait the full year to apply, do it ASAP. I know people that were accepted to Anesthesia school after only 3 months in ICU. You just might be one of them as well. Just be willing to move in order to get there. Just keep the goal in mind!

Just a word of caution, not all classes count towards your MSN in a particular school. Even though you take an advanced patho or bio class, it is just going to mean that you have to take it again in a particular program. Same goes for a research class. But if you are interested. Vanderbilt does offer an Advance Patho class that I took through a web-based streamline method that was AWESOME! Very intense and a lot of memorizing, but it was the best class I ever took! As I studied I applied it to the patients I took care of in ICU. Any state school is cheaper though, so look into them. I know a lot of schools, but it would depend on where you live in order to get the in state tuition. Otherwise you end up paying $3800 for the vanderbilt 3 credit class. The cheapest school according to the US News report - published in a magazine in the end of 2006 was CSUDH - and they had plenty of classes online that you never have to show up to take - meaning not in person not lack of work. I was in your shoes as well looking back in 2006 and I just stumbled across the answer while I took my dog to the vet and was reading one of their magazines.

Ranking, hmmmm! Who has time to compare the rankings of schools when they all are there to guide you to the certification exam? Good or bad, it is a school that is the train to your future. I would hop on whatever train will take you there, no matter the ranking. Besides, most of school is about the effort you put in, the non-stop reading and memorizing and applying and dedication and discipline. Read "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and then apply. You will need to be organized and disciplined to make it through! Back to the books...:typing

Most Anesthesia schools require the GRE. Look into other programs and you will see this is a requirement across the board and that UT was an outlier for not requiring it. Also look into the ACLS/PALS/BLS requirement as that is a standard also. You may as well get your CCRN while you are at it. The reality is that being a CRNA is not just about the job, but about the group that you are about to enter. CRNA's have the highest percent of non-required members in the AANA (94%) and these members are involved in what happens in the profession. You are not just going to school to get a 'job', you are going to enter a profession. The requirement for the GRE is new this year. It was not there last year. As for preparation, get one of those verbal flip page study aides and take it with you every where and study it. I raised my score 110 points just doing that. Also, take a college algebra and you will also raise the math score at least 70 points. I don't think you have enough time for it. If you are serious about school, hit the floor running on this, otherwise you might be waiting another year to re-apply and may not get in. The competition is going to get worse for you the longer you wait. The CCRN part was an added bonus. My previous employer did not require this, so I did it on my own as it was something I felt all ICU nurses should have. If you already have this, then know why it is important! There was a study that the AACN published in one of their magazines that compared patient outcomes of CCRN... really had changed my mind about why I wanted to do that. Again, you may not have enough time to do this before the deadline. It is August though, and I got my paperwork in at the last minute and still got in. The point is, do and be all that you think you should be to get into the profession. Then add some to it. Everyone is different that is accepted and has a different story to tell, but they are all top notch

I did not establish my residency until after I was accepted, but that was by chance. From my personal experience, do your research. Go on the school website, look at their policy for in-state residency classification and make a list of all the things you will need to fulfill in order to be classified as in state. Depending on your status, you can do a number of things: buy a house, get a job, get DL, pay bills such as phone, electricity or internet, PAY TAXES on your job, file taxes in that state... the list goes on. I had a special case. I bought a house in oct, got a DL in Nov but lived out of state until May. I then filed necessary documents in June with school according to their guidelines to get in state tuition. I did not tell them that I just moved in May, but showed them proof of documentation since the previous year. They in turn accepted me as in state. Others in my class moved in Feb and started working/paying bills and did not get approved. Do your research. Each school is different. Standard in state tuition requires you to prove residency by being in the state for at least a year, moving to the state for good reason NOT TO ATTEND SCHOOL (like spouse was relocated or military or weather or ailing parent or aunt). Good Luck!

UT - great school. Front loaded. A lot of schools will tell you that they are superior because they do things a certain way, but really it is going to be your preference in learning. All of these schools have requirements that all meet in the same place, certification! So don't listen to others when they get the superiority attitude. Then again, this profession is full of top notch nurses. I compared a LOT of schools and interviewed at a total of four. When making my decision on which school to attend I had to compare not only price, length of program, didactics, style, potential move, but also the way I felt I interacted with the person(s) interviewing me. Remember, if you are going to get into school you need to be confident in yourself. Some people will just accept the first school that picks them, but if you have the opportunity to be able to pick form a group of schools, make sure you do it wisely. Do your research ahead of time and make sure that once you make the commitment, don't back out. You will not regret this! Good luck!

I also went to the 12 lead EKG pre-con on sunday and :heartbeatLOVED:redbeathe it. I was kicked out of another class on another day and ended up in another class by the same person who taught the sunday class and loved that one as well.:bowingpur On my top is Barbara Mclean and her Anions class as well as oxygenation. I like her talks so much I went to the expo booth where she was speaking and listened in on that as well. Way too much information that I wish I was there again! Hey and I got a nice litmann for $70, talk about a deal!

So one post suggested looking for someone ahead of me in school, an upper classman/woman, hehe! Will be starting school soon and have a million questions. I've read the posts on preparation. Now I need to know if it even possible to work while I am in school. I'm not talking 40hr/wk, more like 24 hr/month, per diem 12 hr shift, anything. I will need some kind of gas money to make it through as I made too much money last year to get realistic money for school, but none of it was used to pay for school - more like pay off bills! Plus, I just need a friend ahead of me.

At least you recognize what it is that is bothering you. You are devloping that black humor that nurses have and you are no longer naive to what is done to people when they are ill and want everything done. Give yourself time, and more time. If you are particularly affected by something that happens, take time off to deal with it. I know you dont have months on end, but take a day or two to face yourself and your issues. You will prevent the slow burn from taking over if you deal with it. If you shove it and pretend nothing is wrong, you will end up burnt for sure. It does get worse. I could tell horror... HORROR... stories about things I have seen, and yet that will not make it any better. Use your experiences as chances talk about end of life issues with the living. And there is nothing wrong with feeling this way. You probably identified something that many have a hard time dealing with because they don't know what it is they are feeling.

Funny how others give suggestions of EAP and talking about it. Aren't you talking about it now by writing it out? I think I am in your shoes, and trust me the EAP thing doesn't work. All it did for me was remind me of all the stuff i am trying not to remember. That may sound dysfunctional but it gets me through the day. My dad died in the hospital where I work after almost 9 months of being in and out. My managers then hounded me and breathed down my neck about my schedule after not allowing me time off to grieve then made me feel like sub-human for even requesting time when their crappy nurses took such poor care of my dad. In fact they didn't take care of him most of the time as I ended up doing it because I was tired of getting a call that my dad had been waiting to use the bathroom for an hour or more, or that he had been unable to hold going to the bathroom and then nurse would have him sitting in it for more than an hour. I was thankful when the managers were asked to leave. The new management is even worse. I can't wait to leave that dysfunction unit, but my emotions, or lack thereof, will follow me to wherever I go. I cried the first two days after my dad died, and then that was it. I then turned to anger and that is far worse than crying and yet the anger can get one in trouble real quick. You can only deal with so many patients dying, so many people demanding your attention, so many co-workers complaining about stupid little things like their car payements or their house, before you feel like you are going crazy and run the risk of blowing. Don't take my suggestions as I am in the middle of it. If talking works for you, then make sure you are talking to someone who won't lead you astray. If blogging works for you, then blog here and wait for a real answer from someone on the other side. Just remember that eventually you will have to deal with the lack of emotions. We all have to. Just be careful you don't replace emotions with bad habbits like drinking, smoking, spending $$, anger... you name it. Because then you will have to undo all the habbits you pick up. Let the lack of emotion run it's course and evaluate the reason why you feel like you are not feeling. To tell you the truth, my dad has been gone for almost 2 years now, and I am just starting to regain my composure. I was watching a show on the internet... Eli Stone... this last week and it had an interaction between a father and son... and I lost it for about 5 tears. That was a first, but it is a start. There is, most of the time, a root to what causes us to shut down. Sure we can blame all the peripheral things such as work, co-workers, poor management, too many sick patients, traumatic deaths of our patients... but it is something we keep at a distance. Any loss close to us compound and makes our emotions larger because we have been showing others how to cope, so why can't we? We shut down, and that is how we cope. It is what our mind does to protect us, and sometimes our mind will not allow us to work through it until there is enough time or safe distance to do just that.

I have a third on this as well. Would appreciate any suggestions or wisdom from those ahead on the [banana]battlefield![/banana]

Although your post was interesting to a point that each person should be valued for their education, it takes away from the effort your put into your career. Based on what you wrote, I feel like you have a lack of confidence. That being said, I am not sure I would want you putting me to sleep! It takes prudent confidence in order to be good at anything. I am a firm believer that I can do anything I want. When it comes to patient care, we have to all work as a team to MANAGE the situation, even in ICU. I will be attending anesthesia school soon and will be starting at the bottom again. I have no fear of regaining confidence because I know the kind of person I am now, and that is someone who can do anything. If you had that much confidence in yourself maybe you wouldn't make it sound like you didn't work that hard for your degree. On a side note, I value the MD's and Anesthesiologists that care for the ICU patients, but they are not gods of knowledge, just people with special training... LIKE YOU! You were not trained to care for that ICU patient in ICU. I don't even think there is room to compare the two as they are two different jobs and functions. I value them separately, but please, don't make the value intelligence. P.S. I took chem, ochem, physics and biochem classes and got A's while working full time - so now you know another person that is capable of it!

Would like a copy sent. Tried to send email but for some reason unable to.

Congrats. I see there are a few of us on here. I too will be joining you and the other person that responded in July. Been also waiting for that email with contact info as I am wondering what you all are up to in preparation. I am moving from out of state so it is a big ordeal for me to relocate, but well worth it