The Gunslinger

There is no way that I'm going to tell an admissions committee that I've applied to twelve or more schools! As far as I'm concerned it is none of their business. If they ask me anyone I will probably tell them the acceptable answer of three or four. Perhaps, this makes me a liar, guess that means I'm qualified to be President along with Bush and Clinton! When I obtained my last SNE position I applied to about twenty hospitals and several asked me to how many I had applied. A truthful answer would have probably prevented me from getting the job that I have now.

I am referring to the fact that the average pay for bedside nurses is probably somewhere around $25.00 per hour give or take $5.00/hr depending upon where you are in the country, shift that you work et. At the same time the average pay for nurse anesthesists is probably somewhere around $50.00 per hour ( my sister is a CRNA in Texas with about five years experience and earns $130.00 per hour so it can be much higher than $50.00). My point is that nine times out of ten most people would prefer a job that pays $50.00 rather than $25.00. However, there is that tenth time so you should definitely shadow CRNA's and do your homework.

It's been my experience in talking with peers who have gone through the accelerated programs that higher GPA's say above 3.2 are rare. You would probably have a better chance of maximizing your GPA with a traditional program. On the other hand you will save time with the accelerated program so you might be in a position to have more critical care experience at the time of application. The other posters make a good point that anesthesia is not a total escape from bedside. However, compared to actual bedside nursing (especially non critical care) it might as well be. No matter how you slice it fifty dollars per hour or more beats $25.00 per hour nine times out of ten.

Also, you should consider contacting serious researchers in haunting/parapsychology about that incident. You have multiple witnesses seeing something that cannot be explained by any conceivable rational explanation (a guy floats, speaks demonically, dies, and comes back to life). Were it properly documented and recorded for posterity this would probably go down as one of the most dramatic incidents in parapsychology in American history.

Where was this Catholic hospital where the rose petals appeared? To experience something like that would almost justify changing my career ambitions to work L&D. Who could doubt God or the afterlife after experiencing something like that? For those like myself who want to believe in an afterlife, but just can't quite get over the skeptical hump, somthing like what you describe could be life changing.

I don't know about small ICU's since this was a 30 bed CTICU, Level 1 trauma hospital in a city of one million plus. The person I spoke with indicated that every ICU bed in the company's multi hospital system would have this technology within two years and that it would be expanded to select Med/Surge floors within three years.

I interviewed for a SNE position this week at an ICU which will be implementing electronic/video nurse-patient monitoring. Supposedly, it will be on 24/7 and the nurse will be able to ask for help on procedures et. from a live person if they get into trouble. In addition, its my understanding that doctors will be able to make limited rounds using this equipment. I also got the impression that we would be monitored for the accuracy of our care. Doesn't this involve patient privacy issues? Could this eventually find its way into medical surgical floors and if so is it a good thing for nurses and patients?

These certifications are nice, but I suspect that many if not most applicants to CRNA school posess these credentials. It seems that I will be graduating with about a 3.35 GPA from my BSN program and will be a borderline type applicant. What other certifications can I eventually get to become a more attractive applicant.