mmlpn

You're not the only one. My 3 buddies in my unit are interviewing this week and have had their noses buried in their Stohlting books during their entire 12 hour shifts. The MTSA interview is by far the most intimidating interview I've ever had and they will definitely try to throw you curveball questions. When you go for the interview you get to pick a pt scenario and then that's all you talk about during the interview. It's good that you are studying dopamine, Levo...etc but if the pt in your scenario isn't on one of those drugs than they won't ask you about it. I'm not really sure why they have you list the drugs you use most during the application because they already know what drugs they are going to ask you in regards to the patient scenario you pick. For instance, I put Levo, Dopamine, Milrinone, nitro, and Nipride. My pt was a 54 yom post-op CAB on Epi, Neo, and propofol....so I didn't talk about a single medication that I had mentioned on my application. But even though I didn't mention these medications they still had me discuss Neo all the way down to the cellular level and the effects on the sarcoplasmic reticulum and all that good stuff... Kinda pointless to have you list the meds but it's the way they have been doing it for years. Good luck to you!!!

Hey guys, Texas Wesleyan University CRNA Class of 2017 FB page is up n running. Go search for it once you are accepted.

Texas Wesleyan CRNA Class of 2017 FB page is up and running. Go add yourself after you've been accepted

GRE scores and GPA of 3.66 are competitive. Experience looks good. I wouldn't worry about the FNP thing. That shouldn't hurt your chances at all. If anything it shows you have drive to further your education. Good luck!! Go for it. I would definitely get your CCRN before applying though

Texas Wesleyan CRNA Class of 2017 FB Page is up and running for those of you accepted. Go look it up

I had 4 years of CVICU experience and the one student made me feel like a chump. Askin stuff no ICU nurse would need to know for their profession. But good luck man. I've got 3 friends from work interviewing for MTSA in Jan as well. Keep us informed!!

No I ended up taking a spot at TWU. My buddy from work ended up accepting his spot and he loves it. I did take a tour of the "school" and they have some pretty top of the line sim labs. I didn't like that the seniors and juniors share one large classroom. The entire school is one classroom (seats 150 students), faculty offices, 1 library, and a student lounge. To cram 130-140 students in that small space seems ridiculous, but they manage it. A good aspect of MTSA is you begin your clinicals 16 weeks into the program. My buddy said the first 16 weeks is incredibly difficult as it is test after test after test, trying to weed out students. He said once the actual anesthesia part started it got much "easier". Good luck and study up! Review some of your CCRN stuff as well.

Hardest interview I've ever had. You get to pick the specialty your most comfortable (CVICU, MSICU...etc) then you draw a pt scenario and they hammer you with questions about drug MOAs. I ended up having to explain drugs down to the effects on calcium in the sarcoplasmic reticulum inside the cell. Know your meds!!! Know your receptor sites, know all your dosages of your meds I.e. How different dosages of Dopamine act on different receptor sites... In my pt scenario (CV) I had a 54yom with a good index and high SVR and I had to "fix him" (switched his Neo gtt to Levo) my interview went well until the little b*tch senior SRNA tried to make herself look cool by hammering me with question after question about drug MOAs till I got one wrong. The MDAs were really nice though. It's actually a 2 part interview. The first part with the president of the school is very laid back and personal.

Exactly. Many DNP/DNAP programs will allow you to do a lot of the Doctorate classes and fluff classes online but I don't know of any that allow anesthesia classes online. And frankly, I don't think I would want a degree from a school that did. You want the field to remain difficult to get into. You want the programs to be a sacrifice to attend. If it becomes easy to become a CRNA, many more students will take this route and that $130,000 starting salary goes to $80,000 because the market becomes flooded. One of the programs I was accepted in to starts with all the 900 level classes for the first 12 months and then the next 2 years is the masters level classes and clinicals. Basically you get the "doctorate" while still being able to live at home and possibly work for a year before starting the anesthesia aspect.

Interviews are a little different then because I work in a CVICU and every question was CV related until I mentioned I weaned my own vents then it took a sharp turn into PEEP and ABGs. But, as stated here, it is very CCRN based so go in being prepared for CCRN type questions. Good luck

I'd like to hear about this as well

Questions are based specifically on your patient demographic you are used to. As stated above, they will ask you questions you won't know. They are looking for an opportunity to work you through a problem to see what your thought process is like. My only advice would be to study your meds and be prepared to talk in pretty good depth about the MOAs of the medicines you see most often in your unit

I want to work in a major hospital after I get done just to gain as much experience as I can but eventually yes I would like to be in a smaller, rural hospital and be a lot more autonomous. I actually had thought about pediatric oncology but I spoke with a current MSU student at my interview yesterday that said once he shadowed Peds anesthesia his mind changed quite a bit and it was not what he had expected. But I've got years to figure that out. So are you at MSU? Or where are you going now?

Yeah I didn't necessarily mean fluff as in easy. I meant fluff as in filler classes. Like theory and the ones that don't require a lab component. I'm sure they are still time consuming but hopefully it will allow me enough time outside of school to continue to maintain a steady paycheck. I actually just signed a weekend option contract in my CVICU so that would be excellent if I could keep my weekends free to work for the first year. Plus the added bonus of still maintaining my insurance.

Thanks for the info!! I went for my MSU interview yesterday and it went really well. I got a lot of my questions answered and they explained their side of the lower pass rate a few years back. I also forgot that MSU allows you to continue working during your first year now that the first year is strictly the fluff classes and are all online. I feel the same way as you when it comes to case numbers. The more the better. And that was a big negative for me when it came to TWU just because I am a hands on learner much more so than via text and 650 case average compared to 1350 is a no-brainer. When I went to my MSU interview I was 80% sure I was going to pick TWU but now my feelings may be teetering in the other direction I am just weary of that 67% from a few years back. This could all very well be unneeded discussion as I have not officially been invited to attend MSU yet but I am feeling pretty confident about my interview so I guess I have a few days to make my decision. Thanks again for all of your info and I'll post on here again once I get my letter from MSU. They said possibly as early as 12/10....

Thanks for the info. I've only spoke with a few current students and they've all been from different clinical sites. All have had very positive things to say so it's gonna come down to just picking on my own... I've got a few weeks left

It's against the norm but I know some RNs that have gotten into CRNA programs with sub 3.0 GPAs. I know of MANY sub 3.0 GPA students that have been accepted and have graduated from FNP/ACNP programs. The CRNA rout will be much more difficult for you to gain acceptance and may take many years to be accepted. With a low GPA I would definitely get your CCRN and get some killer ICU experience such as CVICU with daily monitoring of multiple drips and Swan-Ganz catheters. As for FNP/ACNP, some of the sub 3.0 students also had less than 1 year of nursing experience before getting accepted into their programs. If FNP is your choice, go for it. If CRNA is what you want I would take a few of your lower classes again to make you more desirable.

Murray State University in Madisonville, KY will allow you to complete the first semester online prior to starting Sim Lab and Clinicals

Hey Alana, First off, congrats on your interview. Secondly, they no longer administer the math test, so no worries. I interviewed with TWU in November (and was accepted on the spot;) ) I actually asked the board when I arrived what the math test was going to include and they said "Oh yeah, we don't do that anymore, we need to take that off the website" haha. Good luck on your interview. Study your CCRN stuff and know the meds you use most often like the back of your hand!

I was also and LPN before I finished my ADN and BSN. I was a CNA and EMT prior to that... Became a CNA to pay for EMT. EMT to pay for LPN, LPN to pay for ADN, and ADN to pay for BSN.... Why not make more money to fund your future goal?

Very doable!! I know many FNP students that got accepted into school with

Thanks for the reply!! I was not thrilled with the class size of TWU at first either but when I interviewed I found that my actual class size would only be around 6-10 students. Although the entire graduating class is around 100, each clinical satellite has it's own small group of students whom I would consider my "classmates" for the entire journey. I am also with you in the regards of the DNP. Whether I choose Murray or Texas, I will complete the Doctorate. I favor TWU's curriculum more so than Murray's and I can also work as a CRNA while I complete my DNAP rather than having to complete Murray's entire doctorate before being able to receive a paycheck. Murray is closer to home and I know quite a few who have graduated from there and I know absolutely zero CRNAs that have attended TWU. One thing that did worry me about Murray was I know they did a little spring cleaning a few years back after they had a very low pass rate. I haven't actually spoke with any students that have attended since the new curriculum and faculty changes. I guess you could attain to this and it sounds like you are. Happy with your choice.. I am happy with any information you can give me, my interview is coming up on the 5th and 6th of December. As much as I would like having the option of picking which school I wanted, I guess if Murray turns me down I'll have an easy decision to make haha. I was also disappointed in the lack of clinical case loads with TWU. Many of the satellites are just over the minimum. I have tried to find how many cases SRNAs at Murray complete but could never find a straight answer. Add in the 3 month residency at the end of Murray's DNP and I'm sure it would go above and beyond. I believe the absolute most cases I would complete at TWU is around 1100 and that is at an Arkansas hospital which I don't plan on even applying for. It doesn't look like there are too many clinical hours in the DNAP aspect of their program either. How many clinical cases are you estimated to have by the end of the DNP??

$29.96 base, $3.50 night diff. $2.00 weekend diff. In downtown Nashville, TN. This is with BSN, CCRN, ACLS, PALS, and 6 years ICU experience...

Absolutely! Be honest about it because if they find it and you weren't up front about it there may be repercussions. They can't deny your licensure for a minor ticket like that. They basically just look for felony charges like battery and refusal to pay child support...etc

I work at Centennial as well, in the CVICU. We are currently offering $2,500 sign on bonus for outside hires. Centennial is the best hospital I've ever worked for and would highly recommend it over other hospitals in the area.