heartICU

Actually, we are pretty aggressive at my facility with glucose levels, at least in the cardiac ORs. Most patients end up on an insulin drip, at least for a few hours, starting with blood sugars over 150. Studies show that tighter control leads to bet...

I am not sure patient acuity has much to do with new grads being hired directly into ICU or not. I think it's a matter of being a larger facility and having more resources available to train new graduates.

It is difficult. I have not been practicing anesthesia for long, but I have done two - a two-year-old while I was a student, and a patient in their mid-thirties. Let me tell you, it is a hard thing to turn off the ventilator, turn off the monitoring ...

Stank hole? Nice. FYI - Everyone around the Cleveland area pays for parking, at least if you work downtown. And UH, down the street from CCF, also charges employees for parking. The wages are not that bad - they are market wages for Cleveland. Benefi...

These patients present very interesting dilemmas. We have a well-known bariatric surgeon (two actually) at our facility, and I was discussing the post-op and long-term outcomes with one of them. Interestingly, many of the patients develop drinking an...

This is incorrect. CRNAs practice in every state.

You say M&M is higher when CRNAs provide anesthesia, yet you also say you respect our job and see a need for it. You respect poor patient outcomes? You are contradicting yourself. Please provide the reference for your above statement about outcom...

Money isn't everything. I like anesthesia better than ICU nursing. Plain and simple.

FYI - CRNAs are licensed/certified in U.S. Practice overseas would most liekly be impossible, unless it were with the military, or part of a humanitarian mission. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

MS = Master of Science MSN = Master of Science in Nursing You don't really get a MSN in Nurse Anesthesia. It would be called a MSNA. You are an advanced practice nurse with a masters degree in nursing. No effect that I can tell on employment and sala...

First of all, CRNA is a certification, not a degree. There is a movement to get all masters' prepared nurses to the doctoral level (DNP) at some point in the future. However, a PhD is a RESEARCH degree, while the DNP is a CLINICAL degree.

Since you are going to the program I just graduated from, I can offer some advice. They will send you a booklist soon, if they haven't already. You do not need to buy every book on it - when you get it in the mail, let me know, and I will give you my...

I graduated from Case in Dec, and they are a little slow on the paperwork. Don't worry - it will get there. The program directors will make sure you have everything you need.

Just curious - how do you know he was not under general anesthesia? Was this supposed to be done under local anesthesia? Was he provided any sedatives? Sometimes the meds we give to provide sedation can cause funny things to happen to the airway, lik...

I am not an NP, but the school I graduated from does offer a specialty in cardiovascular nursing as part of their NP program. Check it out. http://fpb.cwru.edu/MSN/Cardio.shtm

My program director did not repeat anything he heard someone else say. It was his program (that he was the director of at the time) that educated this particular AA/CRNA. I know several AAs socially. Have not worked with one. And no one spoon feeds m...

First of all, don't be rude. My program director, who has been the director for 10+ years, provided me with this information. He is a well-respected member in the nurse anesthesia profession, and I have no reason to disbelieve anything he has told me...

This choice was available to me. I chose CRNA. The program I attended educated a former AA to be a CRNA, and from what I was told, that particular individual was blown away at the depth and breadth of information she was taught in CRNA school that sh...

FYI: The original poster is talking about CRNA boards, NOT RN boards. And yes, I do know someone who had the minimum number of questions, and still failed, but she didn't study except a few weeks (as in, two) before the exam. No one was really surpri...

Sevoflurane can cause emergence delirium. In most cases, kids wake up screaming and crying. Sometimes its pain, sometimes its emotional distress, and sometimes its none of the above or a combination of the two. Sounds like the anesthesia/PACU team tr...

Accidentally dislodging a central line during transfer is something that unfortunately can happen if you are not careful. While I understand that when someone is reprimanding you, it may seem that they are yelling, I don't think this falls under the ...

45,000 (that includes 6,000 from undergrad)

Any drugs that we need quickly, we usually have out already (we get it out in preparation for the case). We have a pyxis in several of our fast-turnover rooms, and it is very helpful.

The CRNA boards don't even compare to the NCLEX. It's all more advanced anatomy, physiology, physics, pharmacology, etc than NCLEX. The two can't really even be compared. Yes, if you fail you can retake it. I am not sure what the passing rate is.

Please don't spread incorrect information. This is not true. Some facilities choose to have a team approach to anesthesia, where the MD and CRNA are together for induction. Some facilities do not. In fact, many hospitals are CRNA only facilities. Sec...