dread_pirate_roberts

The thing about the CRNA profession is that membership in the AANA is highly encouraged, and it shows. Over 90% of CRNAs have paid a small fortune to be a part of this organization, as well as donating to the PAC in order to make the scope of CRNA practice what it is and more. Without the AANA, we would have no one fighting to promote independent CRNA practice. As one of my professors says: "If you aren't a member, you have no seat at the table. If you have no seat at the table, you have no say in the legislative decisions that are made regarding your daily practice." I agree with him wholeheartedly, and not just for CRNAs. I think joining certain ones just to join is superfluous, but if you are a Critical Care Nurse, being a member of AACN will help you, as will Sigma Theta Tau, as the organization is dedicated to recognizing and advancing nursing scholarship, research, and leadership. Good luck!

48 hours is the recommendation, but as you might know - every person and patient is different. They metabolize differently, and have compounding comorbidities that will make them more susceptible to PIS. The best way to answer this question for yourself is do some research on your facility's UpToDate or Micromedex.

I feel like I read this same type of question in a lot of areas, and my knee-jerk response will always be the same....Yes/No. There are days when I feel like the dumbest person in the room and I want to quit. There are days when my patient tells me that I made such a difference in their care, and that they were grateful for me. There are days when I'm on my 350 lb intubated patient's third liquid stool blowout of the day and my back and psyche ache. There are days when everything seems to clip along at the right pace, the checklist gets completely done, and you feel like a rockstar. I guess my point is that, at least in my experience, for every good aspect of nursing, there is something that can be considered bad. Whether or not you "love what you do" is almost entirely dependent on the attitude with which you approach your situations. The times when I'm dumb? Well - I learned something, so I just became smarter. The poop-parties? That patient can't do anything for themselves. I protected their dignity three times that day by excusing their family members and cleaning them up. It's aaaallll up to you :) best of luck!

I agree with above. It never looks good to have that on your record, but these kinds of things are why admission is based on more than just prior grades. While there's no way for us to know how it will affect your chances, you can still contact the directors of the programs you're interested in. This makes your name known to the program director prior to applications, and it gives you a chance to determine how they will view it when your application comes across for review. Just make sure when you apply that you choose references that will highlight your integrity as well as your skill and knowledge. Best of luck!

It really depends on why you like Emergency so much! I found that, as long as things were going smoothly (knock on wood), adult ICU can be a very "boring" and death-ful place (that also depends on what ICU you work in - I worked in a general surgical ICU with lots of futile care). There is SO much to learn and finesse, and in that way it is very interesting. If it's the adrenaline rush you're looking for, I wouldn't go to an adult ICU - those moments are few as long as your patients remain stable with interventions. I loved it, but you'll have to decide based on what you like about the different areas of nursing! Best of luck to you!

Agree with all of the above - not to mention, you can record lectures on notability (provided you have permission from your instructors to do so). I love having my iPad Air for notetaking, it takes my notes down from an entire large 3-ring binder to just the size of my iPad (you should see the stuff my paper-using classmates lug around). Just make sure you back it up!

I loved doing CRRT, and used prismaflex. I agree with the previous assessment that the scales can be pretty annoying (literally, if access or return line is barely touching it, it alarms). You get good at it though, learn where to drape the lines so they're not touching. I also agree about emptying the effluent bag issue, but again, once you get used to it and remember to check the "time until next intervention" on it, you develop a system/schedule. I don't know about your units, our CRRTs were always 1:1 patients, so the workload of changing/emptying bags was never an issue. The screen on the prismaflex is very informational, and troubleshooting is usually pretty easy.

For what it's worth - when I was in my second semester of nursing school, I was rejected from an internship on OB/L&D. I was heartbroken because I thought it was what I wanted to do. Regardless, I wanted some experience and the only open part time CNA position was on a cardiac/telemetry floor. I realized in that CNA job that I really liked cardiac patients. That led to an internship on that floor. Which led to an internship at Mayo's Medical Cardiac ICU, which led to multiple ICU job offers as a new grad. Which helped lead to my acceptance to CRNA school (which I wasn't sure I wanted to do until after I had all those experiences!) You never know how getting that experience is going to change your career trajectory - I always tell students if they think they can do it without hurting their grades and focus in school, go for it!

The thing about CRNA school is that if you want it bad enough and you're passionate about a career in anesthesia, a GPA of 3.4 won't keep you out of school. If you want a higher GPA, go back and retake some classes that brought your GPA down. Otherwise, like loveanesthesia said - make the rest of your application strong. Be involved in local, state, and national organizations such as unit councils and AACN. Take prerequisites, put the work in, and show them how badly you want it. You have to keep a good attitude or you won't get anywhere. Good luck with your goals!

I wanted to save more, but I started applying thinking there was no way I'd get in on my first application cycle but I did! We probably had $6,000 in savings when I started, but thankfully we don't have kids my husband has a steady government job with good benefits, so we just pared down all our living expenses as much as possible. I still have loans from undergrad, but I do borrow tuition plus some monthly expenses. Honestly - this is my dream job and (barring anything crazy like failing out or not passing boards) I'll be able to pay things off when I'm done. It's worth it. Really, it depends on where you are in life, with debt, and how comfortable you are adding on to your debt.

JJ, you're right. That might be a little bit of an extreme way to say it, but in general nursing curriculum focuses on the patient in a holistic manner, whereas medical school curriculum focuses on cellular level processes and diagnosis, etc. Obviously this thread is about CRNA school, so it does get way more into the science/diagnosis/decision-making than undergrad, but I still do think the worldview is different between MDs and APRNs. I am always willing to be proven wrong - how do you view it?

CRNA school is science. It's heavy on physics, pharmacology, chemistry, clinicals etc... but it is also heavy on professionalism (>90% of CRNAs are members of AANA) and a holistic view of your patient with certain required base courses like advanced health assessment and nursing theories. Don't forget, when you're a CRNA you are still an RN, and part of what sets us apart from MDs is our view of the patient as a whole, rather than their disease. You will learn about psychosocial and cultural factors not because they are "fluff" or "add-ons," but because they are actually pertinent to the patient that lays in front of you on that table and relies on you to maintain all the functions they're giving up to have surgery. Good luck in your journey!

Even if CVRU doesn't have their patients for very long, they have them for the time when they are most likely to be hemodynamically unstable and require quick thinking and problem solving skills. You will get very good, very fast at titrating drips, understanding hemodynamic parameters like CO/CI/CVP/SVV/SVR, etc, and how to apply them to your practice. Some say cardiac is "best", but from my understanding that's not true. I was admitted to CRNA school from a general surgical ICU where we saw everything from septic bellies to traumas to brain bleeds to CRRT to open hearts (it was great). Not only that, but you work more closely with CRNAs and perioperative patients in a surgical ICU setting, but in the end most of my 15 person class came from a medical ICU. For the most part, you can't go wrong as long as you have high acuity patients and are open to being a sponge to information. Good luck!

Know your job very well! While I agree with Hobberdog, I also got a few questions I wasn't expecting (another tip - don't over-prepare on specific questions, you might end up forgetting basic things *raises hand*). For instance, know what you would have ready for an RSI intubation when they've called anesthesia to tube the patient. Know how to troubleshoot intubated patients' alarms, etc... And again, in agreement with Hobberdog, don't BS answers you don't know. Tell them you would look it up - that's just as admirable as knowing the answer to begin with (knowing your limitations). It wouldn't hurt to look up some political issues related to MDA/CRNA/AA (i.e. opt-out). Primarily, just be yourself! Try not to stress, what will be will be :) Good luck! p.s. I didn't interview at the specific program you're asking about, but I feel like these are pretty general expectations from interviewers based on my research!

I can't speak for sure to whether just "alumni" status would help you. What I can tell you is that I worked extremely hard in my BSN program, was Student Nurse of the Year for my school and Student Nurse of the Year for my state, and was vice president of our NSA, AND introduced myself to the program director at our school in my first semester before ANY of that other stuff happened, and I was admitted to CRNA school at my alma mater on my first attempt. I do not believe that being an alumna in itself will not gain you any favor. Being an alumna who has shown initiative and shows the qualities they look for in a CRNA (i.e. professional involvement, integrity, tenacity), might tip you over the edge if they were deciding between an alumna or someone else.