Focused&Determined

hey guys, any updates? @zvcampbell how was the interview? what types of questions did they ask you? i also applied to jhh's peds program mid-march, and received a primary interest email about a week or so later. i told the recruiter my areas of interest, and a few days later she said she forwarded my application to the picu. i hope they contact me for an interview! i'm so anxious!

So my application status changed to "Thank you for your interest in Georgetown University Hospital. We are currently reviewing your resume. Those candidates whose qualifications most closely match the needs of the department will be contacted directly for an interview. Thank you once again for your interest in Georgetown University Hospital." So I'm thinking we'll probably hear something by the end of this week??

Peds and ED are my perferred choices. As far as the battery test, I knew what to expect from reading these boards, but there really isn't a way to prepare for it. I may have over analyzed on some questions lol. Either way I'll keep u both updated as well!

I did too. I applied 11/22 and took the battery test later that day. Haven't heard any response as of yet though. I also didn't get to finish the battery test (2 questions from the end!!) but I talked to one of the recruiters and she said that you're not penalized for not completing it....they just go based off your score of what you completed. Fingers crossed! What units are u guys interested in?

Hi all, So I thought I was absolutely sure that I wanted to become nurse anesthetist. However, I had this great research program this summer and the professor I worked with said to me one day "why don't you become a nurse practitioner? you're so much more of a people person." She expressed that there really isn't much patient interaction as a nurse anesthetist and advised that maybe I should reconsider my choice. I have shadowed two nurse anesthetist so far and I really enjoyed it, but now I am starting to question my original choice and look at other options in advanced practice nursing. So I want to ask, do you guys ever get bored with what you do? Before becoming an CRNA did you at one time consider the NP route or any other specialty? What type of person is more suited to become a CRNA as opposed to a NP? Thanks for any responses!

i looked today and my credit was checked july 17th under an "inquiry"! i looked on here to see if anyone had the same thing happen to them. i hope that means i'm in good standing to get this scholarship!! lord knows i need it!

has anyone heard anything or gotten an email from them? :anbd:

hey! i am in nursing school too but i start my clinical phase this fall. this is what i've learned from research, shadowing, and talking with srnas/crnas: 1. you need at least 1 year of critical care experience in an icu before starting school. i always hear an adult sicu (surgical) or cvicu (cardiovascular) unit provides the best experience. 2. a good cgpa of 3.5 or higher is good, especially in the sciences so do your best while you're still taking pre-reqs! if your cgpa is not up to par don't lose hope. by taking graduate coursework and doing well, you can redeem yourself and prove to the admissions board you are capable of doing work on a grad level. 3. some schools require that you submit gre scores. when i spoke to an srna she told me try and shoot for above a 1200 to make yourself competitive. she also told me if you're not strong in one area you definitely need to make up for it in another. so if you know your cgpa wasn't great you gre scores need to be out of this world! 4. when you are picking a school you either want to chose one that is front-loaded or integrated. front-loaded is when all your didactic coursework (pre-reqs) is done first before any clinicals. an integrated program may have just didactic work for the first semester, but then you are put in a clinical setting right away while you're still doing some coursework. picking depends on how you feel you learn the best. i plan on applying to integrated programs because i feel i learn better hands-on and it reinforces what i read. on the other hand some people rather have the coursework out of the way so they can just focus on clinical. 5. it will help for you to shadow a nurse anesthetist just so you can see what one does on a day-to-day basis. i shadowed one last year for 2 days and he was so great and i learned a lot! shadowing definitely confirmed that becoming an crna is what i really want to do. 6. nurse anesthesia curriculum for the most park focuses on pharmacology, biochem, anatomy & physiology, pathophysiology, and some physics. also coursework depends on the program you're in as well. from what i've gathered, in a program that offers a masters of science in nursing (msn) you have some "fluff" nursing classes you're required to take (e.g. principles of nursing ethics). if you're in a program in which you will receive a masters of science in nurse anesthesia (msna) all the coursework is strictly what you need to know as a nurse anesthetist.... not a lot of schools offer this degree though. 7. also look through these threads for more info. i learned a ton of stuff from just reading these boards! the internet is always a good source too. as far as financial support i haven't fully figured that part out yet lol. but i have noticed that a lot of people tend to go to nurse anesthetist school when they're a little older... meaning that they may already have a spouse who is willing to support them while in school. or you have some people who go the military route and have them pay for school. that's all i can think of right now. sorry for the essay lol but hopefully this helps! :wink2:

virginia commonwealth university (vcu) offers a dnap track in its program.

hey everyone, i recently spoke with an crna and she advised me to do some graduate coursework before i apply to a nurse anesthetist program. even though my gpa is pretty good she said it would help make my application stronger. what grad courses do you think will look the best on an application?

did someone say the quota for this fiscal year has been met??? i hope not because i have been working on my ncp application since november and it's just now getting to the boards. that would suck because if that's the case i might as well try my chances with the hrsa scholarship. this has been such a long process to be told that i would have wait even longer. does anyone know when the next board meeting is?

Thanks for the inquiry! So maybe the best thing to do would maybe work full-time in an Adult ICU to gain enough hours and just take the Adult CCRN... then try to work a shift from time to time in Peds? Can you do that???

hello all! i'm new and this is my first post! i am currently an undergrad nursing student and really interested in becoming a crna upon completion of my bsn. i'm pretty sure that once i become a crna, i want to work in pediactrics exclusively. from what i've gathered from other posts, it's recommended to gain your critical care experience preferably in the icu or cvicu--so i was thinking about working in a children's hospital after graduation and then taking the pediatric ccrn. but my question is, do schools prefer adult critical care experience? do you have to work in the adult icu or cvicu, despite the fact that this may not be who you want to work with as a crna? any comments would be greatly appreciated!