SleepyCat

Absolutely get that quality printer and more paper than you can imagine! I printed thousands of pages of notes during school (I printed mine at school, but lots of people did from home!). And the obvious - pens, highlighters, and sticky notes in bulk. The most useful tool I've had during school has been my smartphone. I have a Samsung droid, and it has been absolutely invaluable for clinical use. It has apps for Epocrates, drug guides, language interpretation, and some anesthesia-specific apps. If you don't already have one, I would definitely recommend a smartphone of some kind. Even just the good-quality browser has saved my @$$ a few times using Google. Weeks go by that I don't use my stethoscope (that's probably a bad admission to make...), so I wouldn't splurge on some fancy heart tones gadgetry unless you already have it. As far as books go, obviously Morgan and Mikhail is the big one, and what I consider the best and simplest book for review. I also really like Anesthesia Secrets by James Duke; it is concise and easier to carry to clinicals than huge M&M. Good luck to you! SleepyCat

Hi Houston, Do you have any connections to OR staff or current CRNA students who have shadowed before? When I was applying to school, I knew several other CRNA students who had worked as RNs in my unit, and they introduced me to the Chief CRNA at our hospital. Even though your hospital doesn't allow shadowing, try to find someone to introduce you to the Chief CRNA or at least a staff CRNA in the OR, and they can probably recommend another hospital to go to. Your unit manager might even have connections to these people that are helpful. The anesthesia world is very small, and a CRNA in your OR will probably be able to find you another CRNA to shadow elsewhere. My husband is from the Houston area, and there are a good number of medical centers to try, as well as outpatient surgery centers. Good luck to you! SleepyCat

Hi slywolfe, here are some answers to your questions, hope it helps! Are you in nursing school, or still taking general undergraduate classes? 1) Bedside treatment: CRNAs' bedside duties are different from staff nurses. There are circulating nurses and OR techs who are responsible for many of the needs of the patient like the ones you asked about. (Poo is much less common in the OR than at the bedside). Baths do not take place in the OR or PACU. The extent of physical contact a CRNA usually has with the patient is to do assessments, help with positioning on the OR table, and intubation/line placement. 2) Majority of procedures: This does depend on your practice setting (inpatient, outpatient, clinic). CRNAs working in a hospital OR will do pre-op and post-op assessments, intubate patients, initiate and maintain the anesthetic, monitor hemodynamics, give some medications (for nausea, hyper/hypotension, etc), place IVs and occasionally other lines (CVLS, A-lines). Practice is limited by state, but many CRNAs do epidural and spinal anesthesia as well, and can do regional blocks (blocking a certain extremity for surgery, for example). Scope of practice is different by state, by hospital, and depending on the MDAs one works with. Some CRNAs have a great deal of repetition in their work (and like it!); others, like those working in trauma centers or large teaching hospitals, see a variety of cases. 3) The majority of the time, an MDA will be present in the facility to monitor cases. In large hospitals, there will be many anesthesiologists as well as anesthesiology residents who will do the difficult intubations and place most of the lines/blocks. However, there are small hospitals and clinics (mostly rural) where a CRNA might be the only anesthesia provider, especially in call or night situations. There is a wide spectrum of autonomy for anesthetists. CRNAs definitely have experienced the loss of patients, but when a very sick patient is having surgery, there is usually a team of CRNAs, MDAs, and intensivists present to monitor the case. Hope this helps! Good luck to you!

I knew lots of people who worked as nursing techs/assistants while we were in school for BSN. You can work in basically any hospital nursing environment and help the nurses out. It's not fancy work, but it's important work, and it will show you how the ICU works so you feel comfortable before you start working as an RN in one. Every BSN program is different, but mine had two years of pre-reqs ("Pre-Nursing") and then we applied after our Sophomore year and started our Junior year as "Nursing" students. The first two years of college can be a good time to work as a tech; it looks good on your Nursing application and you have more time to do it than you will in Nursing school.

Hi! Sounds like you've already done a lot of thinking about your future career, which is good! At this point, since you're a junior and you have good statistics based on what you posted, I think you would be well-served to research good nursing programs and decide what nursing degree you will pursue first. You appear to be a competitive applicant to nursing programs, but your performance in nursing school and after (GRE, work experience) will be what helps you in your pursuit of CRNA school. Taking nursing courses in the summer may or may not help you, depending on the nursing program you end up applying to. Before you take anything, check around with programs to make sure you will get credit for it. Do you plan to get an ADN or BSN? Keep in mind that if you get an ADN, you can get a job after school and then take courses to complete your BSN while you get work experience. I know many people who did this for financial, personal, and timing reasons. Alternatively, you could go to a 4-year BSN program and have your bachelor's upon graduating, and then concentrate on work experience. Either choice can get you to CRNA school, but it's something to consider. I was hired to a transplant ICU straight from my BSN program, and worked for about a year before I started CRNA school. It has worked out wonderfully for me and I would recommend that track to anyone! Good luck to you!