SIGMACHIGUY

why I wanted to work at UCLA, what I'll bring to the unit, where I've worked before, where I went to school, etc. Very normal stuff so just be yourself, smile, and show that you're enthusiastic and happy to be there and you'll be fine! :)

Hi chiklet, As for tips for your interview, I'm not sure what Liver/Tx asks but for my MICU interview they asked for normal/expected questions. Nothing crazy or grilling occurred. Just why I wanted to work at UCLA, what I'll bring to the unit, where I've worked before, where I went to school, etc. Very normal stuff so just be yourself, smile, and show that you're enthusiastic and happy to be there and you'll be fine! :)

I absolutely agree with all of these responses! It was more of a general question...I NEVER had the intent or slightest inclination to have that "I'm here for a 1 and am off to CRNA school after that year" attitude. Just as some have said, you never know what is going to happen. One might love ICU so much that they'd want to stay for several years before pursuing some other specialty and I'm all for that. I am a hard worker and while some others are laughing and reading magazines during our shift while others are continually working, I believe there's a lot to be learned from time management to building repoire with patients to helping restock the supply room even if it's not within your job description...or talking to doctors or looking some things up you weren't sure about during your shift. It never ends and it learning should be that way. I have every intent to learn as much as I can in the ICU and am super excited to start in a couple of weeks. I'll start with that and if CRNA school is still on my mind down the line, then so be it...but for now, my full focus is to learn as much as I can in the ICU. Though CRNA school may be the final destination, it's the journey that leads me there that matters most...:icon_roll

Thanks for your valuable feedback and positive words Cassandra!! I definitely agree with everything you said and you couldn't have put it more simply!! Great points and get perspectives...I definitely respect the role of an ICU nurse and being at a level 1 trauma hospital is an ENTIRELY different setting/environment that I am in now. I can easily see why anesthesia programs like the level 1 environment...I mean, the equipment, the acuity of the patient's, everything really...it demands so much more from you as a nurse. I will be starting in a few weeks and am very excited!! Thanks everyone for your feedback!!

Just 3 more posts!! haha~

Thanks for all that info, it really was helpful!! I still consider myself to definitely be a new grad especially to the ICU setting obviously so I am not surprised that I was off with some of my info. I was just actually wondering that the other day because the hiring department might have mentioned "liver transplant/surgical ICU" to me once or twice but everyone else termed it "liver transplant" ICU so I totally forgot that it was/may be the SICU as well. And I heard that the CTICU at UCLA has tons of its members leave for nurse anesthesia school as well, must be a great unit to work in. That was actually my 1st choice since I'm on a cardiac floor now but they didn't have any openings. Either way, I'm totally excited about working at UCLA...the research, academic, and teaching hospital that UCLA Medical Center platforms itself on is the perfect setting that I would LOVE to practice in!!

A little skill with a LOT of luck!! I'll take that any day of the week!!!

Thank you for your support and understanding...perhaps you are right but at the same time, there are so many benefits with being a CRNA at the same time. I'd dare say that those arrogant anesthesiologists who may think they are better than you are actually jealous of you at the same time. Jealous that they may not have the quality of life you do, jealous that you are accumulating financial freedom as they work hard to service their debt, jealous that you are able to do everything anesthesia-wise that they can but without all the years of school/stress/debt/time/sacrifices that they had to endure...yes, I dare say that some of them feel this way...

I appreciate your feedback and completely agree with you. There's just a lot of things going on in my mind right now so I hope you don't take it the wrong way...sort of a mid-life crisis if you will. I respect nursing and medicine for what they both are and have the utmost respect for EVERYONE in the healthcare setting. I'm just trying to find my nitch which has been the challenging part...at least I know that I'm meant to be in healthcare, just a matter of deciding where!!

Thanks everyone for your feedback, I really appreciate it!! I'm 99.9% sure...well 100% sure now that I'm going to take the position. I probably would have anyways because it's a large teaching hospital (UCLA Medical Center), level 1 trauma, and of course, being the challenge I am really looking for...an intensive care unit!! I'd go into ICU even if I wasn't going the nurse anesthesia route, just love the critical thinking aspect!! I just wasn't sure if you get the pressor, vasoactive, cardiac, etc. drips in the MICU since there is a cardio/thoracic ICU at the hospital as well. But from my interview, the cases the MICU sees a lot of are sepsis, acute respiratory failure, pulmonary htn, etc. And you guys are definitey right, I can always build on my ICU experience with MICU and later on decide if I want to transition to other ICUs as well even though I'm sure I'll be in the MICU for a while learning everything. I'm just super excited to have been offered the last spot for the residency program at UCLA in the MICU!! Thanks guys for all your feedback and thoughts about your MICU experience!!!

I was just wondering if MICU offers a good experience for a foundation in nurse anesthesia during your ICU requirement? I can potentially start in a MICU at a level 1 trauma center or I can try to wait for openings in the cardio-thoracic and/or neuro-trauma ICU units since they do not have any immediate openings right now. Thing is, I'm not sure when those openings will be available and when they would... I just want to make sure that MICU offers a good enough experience. Do you know if you get drips in the MICU? I was told that 60-70% of the patients are ventilated. Any thoughts or comments? Thanks everyone!! :bowingpur

I was initially interested in anesthesiology and was pursuing medical school until I met a CRNA one day. He told me about it so spent the next 3 years researching and reading about it and made the decision to pursue CRNA. I do like certain aspects of nursing but there are certain aspects that I am not in love with as well. This may sound weird, but I could never be a floor nurse and my whole intent of going through nursing school was to become a CRNA. If nurse anesthesia didn't exist, I would never have even gone to nursing school. Please do not get me wrong, I greatly enjoy patient care and interaction and I know that I'm in the process of becoming a great nurse but my real passion lies in the medical aspects of the science of caring for people. While most nurses are stronger in certain aspects such as flushing every hep lock, I'm more concerned and stronger in the patient picture and what is happening with them...their dx, their tx, their progress, etc. I'm back to being torn between nurse anesthesia and medical anesthesiology. So to answer the OP, I would have gone to medical school if CRNA's didn't exist. However, CRNA is a great way in reaching my ultimate goal in life and that is to provide competent and quality anesthesia management to patients in need...:icon_roll

MB73 put is PERFECTLY!!! I haven't decided yet but anesthesia just FASCINATES me. You are tasked with one of the biggest responsibilities ever in having a patient's life in your hands and you are required to make critical decisions regarding their anesthesia plan so I know anesthesia is where I belong. As for CRNA, every aspect that MB 37 mentioned is exactly how I feel... My confusion is whether I should pursue medical school and anesthesiology instead because of that looming cloud above my head that reads "What if?"...something I don't want when I'm 40 or 50 years old as a CRNA. Then again, from a financial perspective, CRNA makes a whole world of more sense than the medical route especially these days with our healthcare system...it's just a matter of how much financial strain is worth self fulfillment and I have yet to answer that just yet...when I do, that will be the day I am 100% committed on staying the CRNA route or opting for the medical school route instead...

I just graduated from nursing school in July, passed the NCLEX and started at a local hospital in their cardiac observation unit in September. It's not an intensive care unit but it's a step down and we do 3:1 drips. Two of my 3 patients yesterday were on a cardizem and dopamine drip...well, Bumex too but that doesn't count... Anyways, since I graduated this summer and am near Los Angeles, I really heard great things about the UCLA intensive care nurse residency program but since they weren't interviewing until now, I took my current job. So, being a relatively new grad, I interviewed with UCLA just a few days ago and from what I heard, it was pretty competitive. Cardio-thoracic and neuro/trauma ICU positions were all full so they weren't taking new grads for those units into their residency programs so I interviewed with the only two available: MICU and liver transplant. There was only one spot left for the MICU and nurse anesthesia adcoms would prefer MICU over liver transplant in my opinion so I was hoping to somehow get an offer for MICU but the director for that unit had the most interviews/applicants and one spot left for immediate hire. By the end of our interview, he offered me the spot!!! I was so stoked, it wasn't even funny!! So, I'm getting a tour of the unit and hospital next week and will most likey (99.99%) accept the position. Sorry to ramble on but to answer your question, I think it really depends on where you apply as a new grad. Community hospitals may be harder to get into because they arent' equipped with the proper training for new grads in ICU but at the same time, the competition isn't as rough if you can meet the right personnel at the hospital. Bigger/academic institutions have the resources to have great new grad ICU residency positions but as you can imagine, they are more competitive with more applicants but you will be getting grade A experience as opposed to small level 2/3 trauma community based hospital. From the local nurse anesthesia adcoms, they all recommended me to either do my ICU residency in at USC or UCLA. Hope this helps!

I feel the exact same way you do ever since I made the decision my senior year of college to pursue nurse anesthesia and I think we would be identical in our thoughts about being a CRNA. But, have you or did you ever question yourself in the entire process and wonder if you should've pursued medical school at all? I was pre-med with interest in anesthsiology just like you and made the decision to go with nurse anesthesia just like you so I'm wondering if you ever had thoughts about medical school as I am having now. I just graduated from nursing school over the summer and have been working on a cardiac floor for 2 months. And you cannot be more right in that nursing school, albeit learning a lot, was one of the most MIND-NUMBING things I've ever had to do. I graduated top of my class and felt like it wasn't enough of a challenge in many senses, thus sparking my thoughts about pursuing medical school now. Being an RN isn't much different though better than being a student nurse by far. I LOVE working with patients and helping them and I tell myself how grateful I am to walk into a hospital every morning I have a shift but I feel some of the activities are just busy work and on some levels mind-numbing. I'm assuming nurse anesthesia school is much different...at least I hope it is otherwise I'm definitely pursuing medical school. Did you ever feel this way at all?