birdin

Congratulations on being accepted to Duke! I am a current junior in the program. I'd be happy to answer questions you might have. Sometime soon, the school should assign a senior "buddy" to you (someone from my class). Until then, I can field some questions. I think I may be the only one from the program on allnurses. Check out the following link for housing advice: http://www.communityhousing.duke.edu It also depends on if you want to live in Durham or Chapel Hill. I have some personal biases about this. send me a private message if you want more info. And....see you in January! Dang, I can't believe I'm almost a senior!

I think BigDave put it well. Anticipate an interview question about why you want to switch. In my class of 19 students, two are former NP's and one is a former midwife. Good luck!

There are a few students in my class at Duke that had 12-18 months of ICU experience only at the time of matriculation. You have an above average GRE/GPA (above mine!!) which will help. However remember that Duke, like most schools, looks at the whole picture. It sound like you are on the right track doing extra classes and training as well as preparing financially (Duke is expensive!). As is always recommended, go shadow a CRNA or two. Make sure you will actually like this field before you get into it.

I just finished my first semester which included physiology. I and many of my classmates didn't care for the Stoelting text you mentioned (however, we used it for our pharm class primarily). I never thought it was very good for physiology either. I have used two other physiology books and found the Guyton/Hall text to be the most readable. Look for "Textbook of Medical Physiology" Tenth edition. Otherwise it sounds like you are doing all the right things. Besides study tips I think you need a pep-talk. Don't give up, you can do it. Keep telling yourself that. Like you, I had a bad exam grade early in the semester that threw my confidence into a tailspin. It got better and I'm still in the program! You have come too far to let one low score to throw you off course.

Duke had 30 OR's in the main hospital. This does not include the eye center, out-patient surgery center, etc.

I think I am fairly qualified to give you some advice on this. I currently work in one of Duke's ICU's and I have worked in two of them total. I am also starting their Nurse Anesthesia program in January. First of all, you said you have an ADN. Duke does not have a ADN to BSN program that I am aware of. Their BSN program is an "Accelerated BSN" program. In other words, you need to have a "Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university" as their website states. Check it out here: http://www.nursing.duke.edu/academics/bsn/about.html Duke has some great ICU's. I can honestly say, as far as patient care, the unit I work in now is one of the best I've ever worked in. That is saying a lot considering I've been a travel nurse for the past 4 years and have worked in many ICU's across the country. Yes, there are politics to deal with, but every unit and every hospital has their share of that. I think that many people (to the dismay of their nurse recruiters!) use the Duke ICU's as a springboard for bigger things like grad school and such. From my experience, it has been a supportive learning environment for nursing staff. My personal advice is to start on a floor or stepdown unit for a year. Yes, people do start in the the ICU's as a new grad but I've seen many struggle and some end up dropping out of ICU. My advice is to increase the likelyhood of setting yourself up for success, not failure. A year of floor or stepdown will do wonders for your organizational skills. Morever, when you do get to ICU, you will appreciate those hard working floor nurses much more! Duke does have an outstanding Nurse Anesthesia program. I've talked to several of their students who have completes the program and some who are currently in it. They all say the same thing: the faculty really support their students and want them to succeed. They really listen to the students. I don't mean to sound like an advertisement for Duke but it has been good to me. My only advice about the ICU's: Their CTICU is the most challenging unit I've ever worked. A person learns a lot but also works hard. Hope all this this helps.