My_brain_hurts

Hi. I think you might be wanting info on BSN undergraduate stuff? I don't recall HESI being a part of CRNA application. Also, not sure if you want UTHSC Houston or UTHSC San Antonio info. I went to UTHSCSA for my BSN but that was before they started the HESI stuff. They were just 'trying it out' then, we took while in the program and it had no bearing on our grades. Sorry not much help, but try posting in a different area and I bet you'll get lots of responses. Good luck in nursing school!

Wow, that's a really good question. I mean, you can stand up at your station, stretch the legs and such, but I don't know if that's what you mean. I'm not yet in clinicals. Have you spoken with your own doctor or the program directors of the programs you are interested in? It sounds like this does not at all impact your ability to care for pts so much as your own personal health, comfort, and wellbeing (which is super important!!!). What I mean is, it sounds like you're wanting to know how people with similar conditions handle being in the anesthetist role. I wish I could offer more insight. Best of luck to you. I hope someone with a better understanding than myself will repsond. If you find out more info somewhere else, share if you feel comfortable. I'm sure others have similar questions.

Oh good lord people! it WILL be impossible if you NEVER APPLY because you think it's impossible. . . I know rejection is horrible and sometimes you just would rather not try, but come one! if you want it bad enough you will do whatever is necessary to get in. I say all this with a smile I'm 32 (dang, that looks old when I typ it!), and finishing my first semester of a 30month program. I had just under 2 yrs ICU experience when I started the program, so about 18months or so when I interviewed. Get good grades or take some classes to improve grades if you're completed a degree already. Get good experience. You will need it! Do good in GRE. Get CCRN, ACLS, PALS for sure. I don't know what the magic number of yrs experience is. It's different for everybody and for every school, and by that I mean there is no magic number. Once you have a yr, or when you know you will have a yr by the time a prospective program would start, of experience you can apply. I say this all the time, but really, the worst that can happen is you don't get an interview, but all your stuff is together and ready for then next year when you have another yr of experience behind you and you are an even better candidate. If you keep telling yourself you can't do it then you are right, because you'll never do it. Good luck! study/work hard. Shadow some CRNAs, decide if you really want to do it and then start taking the steps you need to get there --CRNA school or whatever it is you want to do.

I don't know that your chances will be decreased if you are not a texas resident, but your tuition at a state school will be much more expensive if you are not a resident. At Baylor, TCU, or Wesleyan, they are all private and I don't think residency matters for cost. Don't say you can't get in somewhere because it's too competitive. I applied to Baylor and UTHSCH. I thought I didn't stand a chance of even interviewing at Baylor. I interviewed at both, UT turned me down, and Baylor accepted me. Baylor was my first choice, but I thought it was impossible. I honestly don't know if the particular ICU where you work makes a difference. Surgical/Surgical-trauma ICU makes sense because, um, it's surgery :) A lot of people have CVICU experience. I'm from a mixed medical/cardiac ICU, we have a couple from Peds mixed ICUs, and one from a neuroICU. I think --and this is just my opinion-- that you need to look at pt accuity and what kinds of opportunities the unit offers for you to learn stuff. My MICU had lots of vents, sedation, vasoactive drips, invasive monitoring, organ failures of all types and combinations, MI, stroke, renal, liver, EtOH withdrawal. . . ah, what fun. . . So if it's a medical ICU with lots of sick people and stuff then go for it. You can also call the schools you are interested in and ask if they have a preference. Some will say on their info page that they don't, some will list the "preferred" units in a certain order. GPA looks ballpark. It's great by 'normal' standards, but everybody applying will have nice GPAs, so therefore otherwise great GPAs become 'average'. Do good on GRE, get CCRN, PALS, ACLS for sure. I think the big picture, complete package is more important than any one element. Write a good, honest personal essay. Answer the prompts. Some will be similar among schools and some won't. Modify your essays to what each school is asking. BE HONEST, have it proof read by somebody who writes better than you :), even if it's just for grammar. I know I can overlook my own mistakes like nobody's business! Good luck to you! don't let competition or 'numbers' get to you. Just apply! worst thing that happens is you don't get an interview, but you won't know unless you try it.

Some schools require a BSN, which you can get after your ADN, no problem. Some schools will allow an ADN if you have a BS degree in a "related field", like biology or chemistry or something like that. If you need to start working right away the ADN might be the better choice. You can start working --in an ICU if you can-- and then to an RN to BSN program.

Well, yes and no. You have to have a minimum of 1 yr "critical care experience"n (usually more to be competitive). But it is left up to each school to decide what they will accept as "critical care" experience, at least that's how I understand it. If you get ICU experience that is definitely accepted at all schools. Some schools will accept ER experience, some won't. Some accept PACU, some don't. I don't know about OR. I think what schools want to see is if you have worked some where with where YOU managed pts on vents, vasoactive drips, sedation, etc. I know you see that in the OR but I don't know how much OR nurses really get to manage the pts since that is what anesthesia is doing. Also, different ICUs are sometimes better than others to get experience in, so they say. Surgical/trauma is where a lot of people go, also CVICU. I happen to have gotten my experience in a Medical ICU, but we had lots of vents, drips, sedation, etc. Check out the different schools you are interested in to see what they accept and if they have a preference for type of ICU or even hospital. If not, or if you can't find a job you want where they recommend, go where the accuity is high, where you will get to see the vents and sedation and the really sick pts. I loved the OR when I was a student! I knew I wanted to be a CRNA and so going to the ICU was the best choice for me because I wanted to be most marketable to a wider group of schools. Good luck to you!

Great that you are looking at furture careers at this stage. I was very very undecided at your age, and so now at 32 I'm finally feeling like I know what I want. How time flies. I NEVER thought I'd be a nurse, not so much because of blood but it just seemed like a not very fun/pleasant/mentally challenging job. And also I don't like poop much. . . ok, at all, I don't like poop AT ALL :) But I also didn't know much about nursing beyond TV and the few times I'd visited family in a hopsital or nursing home. And here I am, been an ICU nurse and now in CRNA school. You learn to deal with the poop, or blood, or vomit, or whatever your "icky thing" of choice is. You put yourself in the pt's position --how horrible is it to have a stranger help wipe you after a no. 2?-- and realize that being professional, doing your job whatever it requires even if it's VERY unpleasant is really awesome in itself. If I can make a person feel less uncomfortable, more at ease with what must be done, I think that's really important. Also, being an RN doesn't mean you have to work in a hopsital. If you want to be a CRNA, well, then yes it does. But there's community nursing, nurses can work for research companies, drug companies, etc. Before I was a nurse I was in research, and a lot of the study monitors that would do site visits were RNs. I had a nursing instructor who said "While you are in school you have to put up with everything. But when you graduate, if you don't like kids, you never have to work with kids, if you don't like poop, don't work where there is poop". . .you get the idea. You have to make it through nursing school, but you have lots of opportunities to work in other areas besides THE HOSPITAL. Nurse practitioners (a lot like physician assistants), nurse midwife (deliver babies), clinical nurse specialists (kind of like NP in some states, nurse education role more traditionally), and CRNA (provide anesthesia during surgeries) are all advanced practice nursing roles if you want to get a master's and do more than you can with just you RN. Best of luck to you! definitely shadow people, not just in nursing, but in anything that interests you. I wish I had had the guts to shadow different professions way back when. Even if you do it and go "Wow, I NEVER want to do that!" it's still a learning experience. You may find nursing isn't exactly what you want, but it might be better than some other job you thought --before you shadowed-- that you liked. And I know a lot of people who are doing nursing as a second career after they realized it was a steadier job than what they did before. Okay, again, good luck and have fun while you are deciding what you want to do!

You sound good. You should apply. Worst that happens is you don't get in but have everything ready for next year. Best case, you get in!!! I had BS degree, GPA 3.2 range, BSN GPA 3.8 or so, sciences somewhere closer to the 3.2 :) GRE 1210/4.5 MICU/CICU mixed unit at a teaching hospital, 18months. ACLS. NO CCRN (but that was really stupid of me and a HUGE risk not having taken it before inter views!) I got accepted into my first choice school after my second choice school --but the one I thought I had a better chance of getting in to-- declined to accept me. So apply. You never know what will come of it. You will never get there unless you start applying! Look at the admit requirements for the schools you are interested in. Some schools will want a chem class within the last 3 yrs, some will want you to have a statistics class, some won't have any such requirements. Do you have a BSN? if not, a lot of schools will take you with an ASN as long as you have a 'related' (usually some type of science) bachelor's degree. Good luck to you!

Sooo, what exactly do you know about CRNAs and what they do? It 'might' be possible to only do sports medicine-related procedures, but even if you found such a gig, it would likely be SURGICAL since CRNAs provide anesthesia. . .and most anesthesia is for OR procedures. . . and if it's sports medicine-related, I'll tell you it will be primarily orthopedic procedures. There is always blood, but worse then the blood is the drilling, pinning, hammering, bone fragments, and the smell of burning bone (because of the drilling). Are you a nurse yet? You have to be a nurse, and RN, before you can be a CRNA. You will encounter blood in nursing school, and you will encounter it in the ICU, which is also required. You have to be an ICU nurse for at least a yr before you are even eligible to apply to a CRNA program. Do some shadowing to find out if nursing and CRNA is for you. It's a time and money committment and you should be sure it's what you want to do before you get started and find you don't like it. Do some research, ask lots of questions. Good luck.

You have to have something like 1750hrs of ICU experience to be eligible to take the CCRN exam. Check the website, I'm not for sure about the number of hours. But it is HOURS of beside care, not simply years worked in teh ICU. If you are applying to CRNA school you also MUST have at least 1 yr of ICU experience. It's the 'rules' that all accredited schools must abide by. They are allowed to decide what they consider ICU expderience, (Stepdown, ER, etc., besides "ICU" units) but you must have that minimum 1 yr experience by matriculation. I can tell you that med/surg will not be considered ICU experience. If you have ICU experience in the past, some schools say it must be within so many years (don't quote me, but they want to make sure you weren't in the ICU 20 yrs ago and haven't been back since) of application. You need to work where you have experience with vents and vasoactive drips and sedative drips, etc., invasive monitoring, art lines, fun things like that :) Do you have a BSN? or an ASN with a related BS degree? you'll need that. Check out the AANA web site, and the web sites for specific schools you are interested in to see what you need to be a good candidate. Not all schools require the CCRN, though even if it's not required it's usualy "recommended". Good luck to you. Do some more research, online, shadowing CRNA, so you know how to plan. It's way more than just needing the CCRN.

I'd be more worried about schools finding out you didn't submit all your transcripts as they had asked. I think some applications have a "we can dismiss you from program if we find out you lied in the application" type of statement. It could reflect badly on you if it looks like you are hiding something. You will be dealing with people's lives in away that is a little different then in the ICU and your instructors need to know you will be totally open and honest about close calls/mistakes that happen while you're learning. In the interview, be willing to take responsibily for not-so-awesome grades. They know people grow and mature from the time they started college :) It wasn't the instructor's fault, or because your car died or you had a bad hair day on the day of exams, etc. It was because you didn't study enough, or partied too much at first and didn't have your priorities lined out when you started, you know, things you obviously learned how to change because your grades are great in your BSN! bottom line, DON'T HIDE THE GRADES. Someone, somewhere will find out and it's better just to let them know up front. My two pennies :typing:

Yes, the test changes periodically. But I don't think it's changed in the past 4 or 5 yrs or so. I took the GRE a little over a year ago. Also, the study books usually have a web site you can look at for GRE changes, and as long as you get a fairly recent book they will take into account new question types and things like that. I think the biggest change to the GRE was when they took out the 'logic' part and added the two essays to assess writting skill. And keep in mind, you know best how you study. If you have a hard time self-starting, or feel you're getting bogged down studying on your own, it might be worth the money for you to take a class. If you're good at self study, give the books a try and save the cash. My sister was also studying for the GRE and she had a friend who was studying as well and sometimes we all studied together which was nice. More motivating when you're not the only one suffering

I've probaby said this 20 times in various posts, but it worked for me so here is time 21! I did not want to spend $1000 on a Kaplan review course. I went to the book store and got Kaplan study guides, verbal book, math book, and a realy nice 'combined' book that came with a CD of mock GRE exam type things. I especially liked the CDs because the mock tests are so similar to the real thing, even down to the layout of the screen and everything. Even has essay prompts. Essays of course can't be graded by CD, but they give examples of 'perfect' essays and you can compare yours to them. Gives you scores for verbal and math. It's timed like the really thing. Well actually I think I had a little more time in the real exam. I think they make you work a little faster on the practice CD. My CD scores were in the 1100 range and I actually got a 1200 on the real thing with 4.5 on the writting. And I hate math and timed essays with a passion! I don't think I would have done any better with an actual. $1000 class. I think the self study from the books was and excellent way to go. And I think you had a question about work experience on a nother post. Yes, you have to have a MIN of 1 yr ICU experience prior to enrolling in a program, no matter what program. Some programs will interview you with less with the understanding that you must continue working to complete that 1 yr by the time you will start classes. Good luck!

Yeah, poo is one of my least favorite things, but you have to do it to get where you want to go. And I'll tell you, it's a whole different thing when it's an 80yr old man/woman who feels just terrible and embarrassed that you have to do such an unpleasant thing because they are too sick to get out of bed. I mean, would you want somebody wiping your but? I like to take care of that kind of thing my self, and heaven forbid I have to have someone else do it, well, it sucks for the pt and is sucks for the nurse. But when you can do it and help put the pt at ease in the process, it's kind of cool. Gross mind you, but makes you feel like you did something "good" for the patient. But poop isn't that 'bad'. . . what is 'bad' is when you watch the pt you've been taking care of for 3 wks die in front of you, and see the family you got to know so well have to deal with that. You know what a "code" is? as in "code blue"? It's not like on TV, unless you watch the TLC station's trauma in the ER or whatever it's called. That's a glimps, but it's edited for TV of course. Codes are 'bad', horrible to watch what we have to do to try and rescusitate the pt. Crazy stuff you will see, stuff you can't even imagine, things you almost don't believe even when you do see it --both good and bad. Kind of brings the poop into perspective Good luck to you! there are a lot of men in nursing. There are usually more guys in the ICU or ER it seems like. And in my class of 15 there are 7 guys, so lots of guys in anesthesia too.

Hi there. Great you are interested in becoming a CRNA. Very first thing you should do is make sure you know what a CRNA does and what it requires and what you are getting into. Shadow one, or several, as soon as you can. The AANA (american association of nurse anesthetists) is a great place to learn about the profession and schools and requirements. You should also look at individual schools' requirements for BSN and for entrance into anesthesia programs. You are just getting done with highschool and it's great you a planning for the future. Some people will say "how can you want to be a CRNA so soon?", but man, if I had known at 20 that this is what I wanted to do I'd be done by now :) What you will need for sure is to either get your BSN to become an RN, or get ASN, and if you get ASN most (if not all) CRNA programs will require a "related BS". So really, might as well get the BSN if you can. The classes required for BSN depend on the school, so you should look at the schools you are interested in. Lots of biology, chemistry, physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, etc. And you'll need basics, like english, algebra, history, gov, etc. All that fun stuff. You'll have clincal classes too. And then you graduate and take NCLEX to become an RN. As an RN you need AT LEAST 1 yr of ICU experience to apply for CRNA school. And more then 1 yr is really better, but 1 is the required min. Schools can't accept you with less. Most schools require the GRE, some will take the MAT, and a couple don't require either. You need good grades from your BSN because it's very competitive. Also, taking college classes in organic chem, biochem, extra anatomy and physiology, statistics, things like that can really help you in the long run. That's a big overview. You really need to do some digging on your own. Just google CRNA or nurse anesthesia and you can find all kinds of info. Find nursing schools you want to go to and see what they require. That is the best way. Nursing is great even if you decide not to do anesthesia. There are a lot of things you can do with an RN after your name that people don't realize.