ICUdropout

It is a State to State thing. In California NPs are liscensed as a RN and are required to maintain that liscense. Once you get endorsement as a NP it is there to stay. National certification is a whole different story and depends on who certifies you and their rules. The program I'm graduating from is the only one left that awards PA and FNP certificates simutaneously. In california to work as a PA I will take the PANCE, be nationally certified for 6 years, and have to take the PANRE to renew my certification, but certification isn't required in California. PA once they are liscensed can renew by paying the fees and not even do CMEs, so I may never practice as a PA, but I will always have the license if I pay to renew. CRNAs have to practice a certain number of hour to maintain certification. I don't believe you can practice in any state without current certification

I am Finishing FNP school this next month and start CRNA school in the Fall. It was my back up when I didn't get into CRNA school initially. I noticed that 6 of the 8 people I knew, that had gotten into CRNA school had their Masters degree prior, so I did this. To my knowledge there is no requirement to practice a certain number of hours to maintain your certification as a FNP. At least in California. You will know what is right for you by the time you finish your MSN and have shadowed a CRNA for a few shifts. I was pondering what I could do as a FNP to get me into CRNA school if I hadn't gotten in this time. I was offered jobs in pulmonary/critical care, neurosurgery, trauma, emergency medicine, and cardiology. I decided I was just going work as a staff nurse full time and FNP part time, because the training period would be awhile and I wouldn't want to ditch a group of intensivists that spend a year training me before I gave them a return on their investment. Luckly I got into CRNA shool and I may never practice as a FNP and I am ok with it.

The rankings are kind of like the Coaches Poll in college football, everyone voting has their own agenda.

"Nursing specialty rankings are based solely on ratings by educators at peer schools. Nursing educators nominated up to 10 schools for excellence in each area." These surveys were issues in 2006, prior to Westminster having a program. or at least in full operation. One of the reasons I am excited to attend Westminster is to be one of the first and have the ability to shape tradition and blaze trails in establishing a new program. This can be a good or bad thing, just depends on how you look at it. different strokes for different folks. I am happy to be doign what i am doing. I wish you all the best at UC

Thanks for your opinion. You are right about taking the US News & World Report rankings with a grain of salt. Westminster isn't on the list, because it hasn't graduated any CRNAs yet. (most of the rankings come from evaluating new grad performance) I wish you the best of luck, it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into you decision. I bet the alternate that just got in because you dropped out is very glad you did.

I am not sure about the Prereqs, they are listed on the website. You will not be able to apply until you have some experience as a RN. It is a good idea to get all of the prereqs done with your BSN. And when you graduate concentrate on becoming a nurse who takes care of the highest acuity patients available.

Thanks. i was looking at the Dept of Anesthesia at the U and those look like some awesome learning opportunities, but my guess not for us. I am from out of state, I am thinking of taking a travel assignment up there this summer to settle in a little bit. are most of the sites out of Salt Lake County? Utah and Davis Counties? it cant be too bad of a commute

I start the Westminster program in Aug. On another forum saw some postings about challenges that might be encountered in the Salt Lake area by SRNAs as far as clincal sites. I am curious if there is anyone out there that knows first hand how things are going for the first class. those other posts suggested there might be hostility from a MDA dominated market and oversupply of CRNAs locally, but they were old posts and only speculations. just curious. its just the kind of thing that keeps me up late at night. (21 months before I ever hit clinicals)