apaisRN RN, CRNA

I am probably going to get beat up for this. I'm sure the line will be that if I can't picture myself as a CRNA then I shouldn't be one. When I applied to the ICU internship, I had to write an essay about "why I want to be a critical care nurse." I a...

I leave Wednesday, 6/15. I'm going to a camp in Maine, about 4 hours from where I live in VT. I'm going to be setting up the health center, etc for a few days, then some pre-camp orientation with the rest of the staff, then the campers come. 190 girl...

Congratulations! All that work and struggle is over!

My preceptor today was Filipina. I don't know her story or where she studied nursing, although her English is so good that she must have been here a long time.

The information provided in the news story does not make it clear that the CRNA deliberately killed the patient. Giving a patient fentanyl in the recovery room is as routine as flushing the toilet! And I've never seen a CRNA ask a surgeon before givi...

I have NOT been taught that in school or heard it from my preceptors. In fact my professors have emphasized the need to avoid atelectasis and tissue damage by running N2O or air with our O2. Tell me more!

I think anesthesia is intrinsically more stressful than the job of most NPs and CNSs, although not perhaps of midwives. Your decisions have to be instantaneous, with no time for a friendly consult or room for error. No time to mull it over. No second...

The stress level and pressure are higher than most realize.

In my very first rotation a preceptor spoke highly of this technique, although we never used it. I was still pretty overwhelmed with figuring out the bed controls so I don't remember her rationale.

You don't sound like it's what you want to do at all. Tell daddy he should become an anesthetist if it's what HE wants to do.

I am class of 2007. The class of 2008 started today. It feels very weird that it's been a year and those new juniors are where I was a year ago! I still feel like I don't know anything (much)! Congratulations to the class of 2006 and kudos for stayin...

I do understand where the longterm ICU nurses are coming from. New ICU RNs require a lot of focused attention and don't stay long if they have anesthesia plans. However, as an SRNA (who worked 2 yrs in the unit) - what else can we do? CRNA programs r...

It's a long haul. The sheer length of it is my nemesis. 16 months to go.

Just FYI, money can be a touchy subject around here. Some may resent those who express interest in the profession which is perceived to spring from financial considerations alone.

Wow - well, if you can do pharmacy school, you will be a shoe-in for admission and success in anesthesia school. Admissions committees will LOVE you! All that science and pharmacology background. Your classmates will beg you for tutoring too. (this p...

Great post, ellarose.

Sheer terror for several months.

If the patient is free of risk factors like coagulopathy (hematoma risk) or infection (epidural abcess, very bad) there's really not a lot you can do to seriously hurt someone while placing a spinal or epidural. I was petrified of neuraxial anesthesi...

I think there might have been a time where admission was that easy, but not any more! It's a competitive and stressful process these days. To the OP: If you are willing to work hard and you really want this, you can do the academics. However, it soun...

What a great analogy! I couldn't begin to describe the experience. In general, if you have what it takes to get in (lots of hoops to jump through, long-term focus on goals) you will make it work once you get there. It is very hard. It feels like a wo...

I did something similar. I had exactly 2 weeks to send a large check to secure my place, and I had interviews scheduled at two more schools. The second I was accepted at another school I preferred, I informed the first placeI wasn't coming, and forfe...

I didn't get my loans through them, but the process was a HUGE hassle. I was using a temp PO box right after I moved and they kept saying they couldn't process the loan until I gave a street address. I called FOUR separate times and gave it to anothe...

I am grateful that my program has been around for 10 years (relatively new). When we talk to earlier graduates they recall a lot of kinks to be worked out during their student years. There weren't as many clinical sites and it all just sounds a littl...

Huh? Why would they ask about your spouse?

I think you should apply. If you are accepted, you can think hard about whether you feel ready to go. You may be able to defer your admission a year, or if not you know you've been accepted once and can probably count on at least one admission the fo...