naptime14

OMG....I'm so sorry to the previous posters whom asked me questions. I never got alerted to them. I've now been a CRNA for 5 years. Haha, wow....these posts were a while ago! As for the recent question, I did grad level courses at a different i...

yep, 2.5 months in Ohio as well. That's about average for all my old classmates as well. 1 year seems a bit crazy.

Hi, I would continue to contact them and just let them know that you are being persistent because it's really something you are interested in. Can you call them so you can speak with them personally? Is the person in charge of the shadowing an act...

I would focus again on Valley. I only found Prodigy helpful for a few topics. The Prodigy tests didn't really help me because I felt like you would do well only because you saw the same questions over and over. I only looked at certain things in M...

I was in the same boat as you and had the same concerns. I thought I would have to take private loans, but turns out, I never had to. It all ends up working out in the end. I had no savings before school and parents that could not help, I had a $3...

Every CRNA I know absolutely loves what they do. I'd be surprised to ever meet one that disliked their career. Anesthesia is an advanced nursing practice like no other. I have to ask what interests you in anesthesia? I feel that a career in anest...

Try to save as much money as you can first. Unfortunately, I didn't save a whole lot. Grad school loans are usually sufficient enough to get you thru the program. My husband works and has a decent income, but we still lived as though I was working...

I agree with the above response. Going back to school to receive your MSN would be a waste of time and money. Before I got accepted into CRNA school, I started to take some MSN courses. I was then accepted into another program and most of the cour...

CRNA school is a whole different animal than nursing school. There is really no comparison. You are basically on your own during your training, so you are more than competent in the O.R. once you graduate and take boards. You are primarily the one...

In my opinion and from my experience, the SICU is going to give you much better experience all around. Also, you will be in contact with CRNA's and anesthesiologists daily. In the MICU, you are going to be working with medical doctors and will beco...

I was very PRN! I mostly went back on holidays and worked some 12 hours shifts here and there. Didn't work much at all. Got to be nearly impossible by senior year. I eventually ended up re-signing in my unit.

I graduate in December from my CRNA program. I will just be turning 32 at this point. Most in my class range from 25 to 45 (with the average about 30 yrs old).

Get your BSN and then work in an ICU for atleast 2 years. Get as much experience and accolades as possible. After working full time in the ICU for a few years, take your CCRN exam. Take your GRE or MAT and then apply to schools. Some CRNA programs li...

From what I've heard, seems this happens pretty frequently. I've worked with quite a few nurses that interviewed and never got accepted. They interviewed at 2 or 3 different schools. They ended up going the NP route instead. I also worked w/ some...

I honestly don't think any employer would hire someone with facial piercings unless you are working at a pizza place or tattoo shop. Nurses and CRNA's are a group of professionals (not saying people with piercings aren't professional, but it just do...

Hi, Once you start your clinicals in nursing school, they will not allow facial piercings. They are pretty strict on uniform policy and professional appearance. We weren't even allowed to wear any earrings that would hang down. They had to be smal...

No problem! I suggest contacting schools that have CRNA programs that are close to where you live. They can possibly get you into contact with CRNA's in the area that will allow you to shadow. Contact any surgical centers or hospitals within an hou...

I'm not pregnant, but someone in my class is and she also has 3 kids. I guess I can't really speak for her, but I do see that she has a pretty good support system in her husband. Seems like the fast O.R. turnovers are the biggest issue for her. Su...

I work with many anesthesia residents, surgeons, etc. that wish they had gone to school to become a CRNA. If I had a dollar for every time a doctor said "I wish I would have known about CRNA's when I went into college.....", I would be rich. Yes, m...

In my area, new grads are having NO trouble finding jobs. Also, still making $150k +. You have to take into consideration that once schools start going to Doctorate programs, the "CRNA mills" will not be "pumping out" new grads. People are lazy an...

Agree with the above comments. CRNA programs are completely different than all others. They won't care if you have a Master's degree in some sort of pediatric specialty or something else. You will have to go through the whole anesthesia program al...

Yes, you must be a registered nurse in an ICU for atleast one year to become a CRNA. I will say, I know some schools (very few) do take ER exerpience or PACU (depending on what kind of hospital you work at......mainly the large teaching hospitals). ...

It would still be the normal length of any CRNA program (28 month avg. for most schools). You just most likely would get out of taking all your Master's pre-reqs.....that's all.

Just as limaRN said, you must first be a registered nurse before becoming a CRNA. The minimum requirement is one year as a critical care nurse in a high acuity ICU (the more exerpience, the better). So you would have to go into an accelerated BSN p...

Thinking about what you will owe in loans once done with school is definitely a scary thing! I will be around $160,000 when done. It's almost nauseating to think about. But it is worth it in the end. I have days where I think, "What am I doing to...