Eiano

Definitely.

Would your boyfriend give up his residency spot of choice so you could be happy where you are? This question is not to push you one way or the other, but is an honest one to make you step back and look at the situation if it were reversed.

It definitely didn't become harder. I mean really: Who would invest 2+ years of their lives only to bow out at failure of the board exam? I can think of about 0 of my fellow SRNAs who'd say, "Hmm... you know what? I've come this far, left my family and job, am in debt up to my ears and have been getting pimped daily... pretty much embarrassed. I think I'll go back to nursing since I failed my boards. Yeah, that sounds like a plan!"

I work Per Diem in a Level I Trauma Hospital's PACU so we are staffed 24/7 . I work an off-shift and by the time I get there in the afternoon, most of the cases are coming out. I'd say the beginning of the shift is pretty hectic! I'm managing my pt, and at time calling the doc for orders or waiting for anesthesia to sign my patient out (basically saying they're ok to go home/tx. to the floor), charting, charting and more charting or I'm transferring them. By around 9/10PM things do start to die down but that's the time you never know what you're going to get! Obviously after this time, the cases are unscheduled emergencies, usually a stabbing or shooting... I've also had nights where it's 9/10PM and I'm sitting around doing nothing for the rest of the night (rare). I like it!

Something had to have made you decide that being an RN wasn't enough to make you pursue anesthesia, right? Go back to that time and decide if $$$ was the only factor. If it was, then maybe you do need to step back for a while, work locums and travel! Are you the breadwinner in your family? Single? Personally, if my spouse earned a good living and was happy in his career and I were in your position, I'd think about working per diem only.

I'm ready to go wherever. Although I do have a few "top choices" they, unfortunately, are the nation's CRNA top choices and they rarely have openings.

To answer your original question, it's totally manageable. Otherwise there'd be no CRNAs in the world =) I am in my 4th month and am passing all of my tests (they are weekly) and am about to start up on clinicals, (my program is a mixed front-loaded integrated program, we go to clinicals more and more as the program goes on and drop off on classes until we are only in clinicals in the end). I know I'm a "newbie" in the anesthesia schooling world but so far so good. I definitely am a believer in regret the things you didn't do rather than the things you did do. Follow your heart, apply again and see where you end up. Good thing is you love your job so you're not really losing out. Good luck!

You'd do best to shadow a CRNA to see if *you* feel its a good choice for you. What if you take a position in ICU and hate it, but stick with it, only to 2 years later find out you HATE the idea of being a CRNA? I was encouraged by my parents to be a pharmacist. Didn't mean I was going to go through with it. Do what makes you happy. Find a nursing career you love and stick with it.

Hmm.. I disagree. I would personally take the level 1. Chances are you would spend sometime in the SICU even though you'd also be taking care of Step-Down pts. I'd ask the manager how often you are required to go to step down. The smaller community hospital can only help a *sick* pt. so much before they transfer them to a level one. In the end though, if the community uses gtts, CVVHD, does complex procedures and it's patients are brought back from the OR sedated and intubated, you're golden there.

Guys I wish you the best. What have you been working as in the down-time? Or has family been work? My nurse manager asked me (3 months after graduating and 2 days before I was scheduled to take the NCLEX) "Why did you wait so long to take the NCLEX?

It's true, there are positions in ICUs all over. Just where do you think Anesthesia and some Acute Care NP programs get their students? Anyway, I also did my final rotation in an ICU. I applied to about 6 places (3 were ICU), interviewed at 4 (3 were ICU) and eventually got into the one I did my final rotation in.

Yeah, find a new job fast. This nurses is established in her position. You, as a new nurse, should go back to school, like they expect us to do and earn more $$. Come back and smile all big in her face

I would think EMT experience would help land a job in ER more easily than ICU... You have a way to go, 2 years. Grades are just as important... as is passing that little test that actually let's you get a license to work. If anything, get a job as a aide on an ICU you'd like to work on, this way you can boast about having experience drawing off lines, transducing, documenting... :)

Usually for someone to be on Lanuts, it has to be established that their BG are generally elevated. Where I work, there is an order for "notify prescriber for BG

It's probably too late to get your GPA up to a 3.5, all you can do now is take grad level patho, pharm, bio, chem and get ALL As. Take the GREs, shadow and have a good reason as to why your GPA was so low