traumaguy8

Hi phantom. All schools are a little bit different in how the interview is set up and the type of questions they ask. Typically, a school will ask personality based "get to know you" type questions and/or clinical based questions. I will copy and paste a response I gave not to long ago to a similar question that has my interview advice. I mention this in the post but I should reiterate, for the clinical based questions, buy an old CCRN review book (if you don't already have one) and study anything that you might see in your patient population. Most interview committees are fair and will try to stick to what your background is in. Also, if you don't know the correct answer, DO NOT make something up. I can assure you these people know WAY more about the things they ask you than you know. And they expect you to not be able to answer everything so don't let that intimidate you. So, here is that copy/pasted reply from a while back... (she had multiple questions that I answered but you can skip to the "interview" section if you'd like.) Current SRNA so I might can help a lil... * I applied to two schools. One I got an interview but not accepted. The other I got an interview and accepted. I've lurked on this forum for a long time and I'd say most people on here would advise to apply to multiple. But it gets kinda expensive traveling and if you do enough research, you should be able to narrow it down to a couple, and maybe a third backup. * You should DEFINITELY shadow. It's a requirement for most schools and it will let you know whether anesthesia is really something you want to dive into. As far as where to shadow, not necessarily at your place of employment. Wherever you can get in is fine. Unless your place of employment is a main rotation site for a program you're interested in and there is a chance of meeting an instructor and getting your foot in the door then by all means shadow there. * For GRE I did all study books. Princeton Review, Kaplan, and ETS were my favorites. Studied off and on for 2 months and hit it really hard for about 2 weeks before test day. * Interviews: Be confident, but not cocky. Different schools have different interview styles but the 2 schools I interviewed at had personality/get to know you type questions and clinical scenario segments. I didn't prep for the clinical scenario because I had 7 yrs of experience in learning everything I possible could about hemodynamics, ventilators, ABGs, vasoactive drips, antiarrhythmics, etc... But if you are weak in those areas, those are what you should get familiar with. Even if you don't take the CCRN (I didn't) you can use CCRN review books as a study guide for clinical type interview questions. I didn't know how to prep for the personality questions until after the first interview. Basically, If you don't know the answer to something, say so. Don't stumble around trying to come up with something. If they ask you a question along the lines of "Have you ever made a mistake as a nurse and if so tell me about it?" then the answer is yes and be honest, or make something up. The interviewers don't judge you for making a mistake (all nurses do at some point), they want to know how you corrected the situation. * Focus on hemodynamics and everything that affects it (drugs, monitoring, normal values, abnormal values and what causes them, etc..). Not only will it likely come up in an interview, but CRNA school will take you down into the trenches of hemodynamics.

I got a 305 (quant=152, verb=153, writ=3.5) which equals 1160 on the old test equivalence scale. It's not the greatest but was good enough to get me an interview at both schools I applied too. I guess it really depends on how much weight the school you apply to places on the GRE. Personally, I don't think many schools really put much weight on it as long as you have the minimum. Some CRNA schools don't even require it. If you have an exceptionally high score then I think it looks good because it shows you take standardized tests really well and what is the most important thing to CRNA schools? Having high board pass rates... I think 306 is perfectly fine. After the nightmare of a test the GRE was for me, I decided if I was having a hard time getting interviews, I was going to improve my application in some other way.

I was reading this thinking the same thing as lady_stic (love that username). Short of literally craping your pants during the interview, you will be fine.

Congrats! I was very interested in USF's program. I even flew down for their open house at the CAMLS center (which is super impressive BTW). Im not from Florida but I have spent some time in Tampa and absolutely love it! If hadn't gotten accepted to my hometown school, USF totally would have have been my first choice. I can't give advice on where to live there but I can tell you from experience one of the best ways to get it if no one on here replies. If you have a reddit.com account (or if you don't just make one) and go to Tampa's "subreddit" and make a post that says you want to know the best places to live within [insert distance] to [insert location] within [insert budget range]. Those reddit people are usually very helpful.

As a fellow white storm trooper who lives in the South, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Black storm troopers do take a lot more crap. But they all have huge blaster rifles. Serious reply: I agree with the post above mine. You may be surprised to find out that cities in the South tend to be fairly progressive with more level headed people compared to the rural South. Though I can't speak specifically about Naples... Or Florida for that matter.

It does get better, you will get faster, you will become more knowledgable about your patient population. The biggest thing is that with time you will learn better time management skills. During orientation and immediately off orientation, you are so busy trying to make sure you do what your suppose to that you don't think a whole lot about how to better manage your time. For example, never go to the supply room and get just one item. If you go in there for a bag of fluids, stop and look around and see what you can get for later. If you checked your IV tubing expiration dates at the beginning of the shift, then you can grab that stuff if you need to. Get a new inner cannula if you know you have to do trach care later. Get mini bags if you know you have an IV antibiotic later. A couple IVs and starter kit if you know the patient's IV is going to expire on your shift. Also, if you go to the med room for a PRN at 2000, go ahead and grab your patient's 2100 meds. Do your patient's bath as early in the shift as you can. You would be amazed at how much time these little things can save. As far as the dayshift/nightshift and new nurse/old nurse attitude thing goes, you described my old unit to a "T." That must be fairly common.

You most certainly chose an appropriate username.

You're welcome! Im glad it helped someone.

After reading back through my post, I see that I got caught up rambling and forgot to say why doing the imaginary scenarios are helpful for clinical type interview questions. It's helpful bc typically the interviewers are going to be rational and keep the clinical questions related to your experience in terms of pt population. So they might began the clinical segment by asking you to describe a typical patient from your unit. Then they might tell you, "Ok, let's say that patient begins to [insert change in VS or lab value], then what would you do?" You give your answer and based on whatever your answer is, they may give you another change related to your intervention... and so on until you are stumped. Don't worry about being stumped and don't ramble out some rubbish. These people know an insane amount about what they're asking you and I promise you they would rather you say "I don't know" than some gibberish that looks like you're questioning their intelligence.

That is not as bad of a GPA as you think it is. Especially if your science GPA is higher. I would guess that around the time you start applying, you will have about 1.5 - 2 years experience. That won't necessarily hurt you, but it won't necessarily help you. But you can't change that so don't worry about it. There are many people in my class that had around 2 years experience when they started school. As far as the interview goes, I'm going to copy/paste my response to a similar question from somebody else on here but Ill also answer your specific questions first. I was never asked why I wanted to be a CRNA but I highly suggest you be prepared to answer that one. I included this in my personal statement in the application. I can't imagine anyone asking to draw the Krebs cycle. We covered it in biochem last semester and I still couldn't regurgitate it in specifics. My first interview was at the University of South Carolina and honestly, it was kind of a nightmare. I was super nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I had read on this site that they used to be heavy on the personality questions and overall laid back. Well, they grilled the hell out of me on clinical questions and though I thought I did well on most of those, there were a couple that I stumbled around on that I think made me look bad. Either way, it was great experience because it helped me have an idea of what to expect in the future and I wasn't near as nervous in the UAB interview. UAB's interview was a mix between clinical/personality. I can't say anything more specific than that because when you interview, they make you sign a thing saying you won't discuss questions. But heres my advice from the other post: Interviews: Be confident, but not cocky. Different schools have different interview styles but the 2 schools I interviewed at had personality/get to know you type questions and clinical scenario segments. I didn't prep for the clinical scenario because I had 7 yrs of experience in learning everything I possibly could about hemodynamics, ventilators, ABGs, vasoactive drips, antiarrhythmics, etc... But if you are weak in those areas, those are what you should get familiar with. Even if you don't take the CCRN (I didn't) you should use CCRN review books as a study guide for clinical type interview questions. I didn't know how to prep for the personality questions until after the first interview. Basically, If you don't know the answer to something, say so. Don't stumble around trying to come up with something. If they ask you a question along the lines of "Have you ever made a mistake as a nurse and if so, tell me about it?" then the answer is yes and be honest, or make something up. The interviewers don't judge you for making a mistake (all nurses do at some point), they want to know how you corrected the situation. * (What should I focus on as a bedside nurse to prepare for CRNA school?) Focus on hemodynamics and everything that affects it (drugs, monitoring, normal values, abnormal values and what causes them, etc..). Not only will it likely come up in an interview, but CRNA school will take you down into the trenches of hemodynamics. One way I practiced for clinical type questions (and it came in handy) was by imagining a typical acute patient that I would see in my unit and go through what we would do for them and why. For ex, 30ish yo GSW to the abdomen who just came to us from the OR with an ex-lap, small bowel repair, and a splenectomy. I imagine VS changes, tell myself why they changed, and how I would treat them. Ex, tackycardic and hypotensive. Hypotensive from hypovolemia associated with the blood loss and the tackycardia is reflexive to the hypotension. I would bolus 1-2 L of IVF (LR or NS depending on their lactic acid and electrolyte levels). If their blood pressure didn't respond appropriately, I would start a pressor (norepi was my units first choice). If they continued to have problems with there BP, I would consider some kind of hemodynamic monitoring (Swan, lidco, flow track). Then I walk myself through some examples of hemodynamic numbers and why they might be what they are and what would I do to treat them. For ex. if their CO/CI/SV were all low then you know the heart isn't pumping effectively and the patient would need a positive inotrope like milrinone or dobutamine. If the SVR is low then you know they are vasodilated and could benefit from adding another pressor. If their cvp and wedge pressures were low then you know they are likely still hypovolemic and might need another IVF bolus or their continuous rate turned up some. And I would do this with all kinds of scenarios. What would I do if a mechanically ventilated patient's ABG came back looking like this or that? Or what would I do if a patient goes into A-fib with RVR? Would I electrically cardiovert them if they had chronic a-fib? Would I give a hypotensive patient with a history of heart failure a fluid bolus? When I was running those scenarios through my head, if I hit a wall or didn't know the answer to one of my questions, I would google it and read research articles on the topic. I actually enjoyed doing that though. Most people probably see it as tedious.

I've totally used that website before! Your answer does answer my question. Basically, the pKa will help you know to what extent a change in the solution's pH will effect the ionization of the drug. I plugged the pKa of STP into the calculator on that website and a change from physiologic pH to a dangerously low serum pH (7.2) didn't change the ionization all that drastically. But when I compared that to a mildly high serum pH, the change in ionization was enough that it could noticeably change the pharmacokinetics enough to warrant an attenuation of the dosing for STP. So I guess I understand but if I didn't have that calculator, It would take me way to long to work this out if I were in the OR. Is this skill ever really needed of is it just something that I need to have a basic understanding of?

I want to say that there are some other schools that do have satellite campuses in Mobile. Maybe LSU and Texas Wesleyan, or maybe it was Texas Christian... Can't remember for sure. They may or may not be set up like UAB's but Worth checking out either way...

Once I got squared away with school, I quit getting on here mostly for lack of time but I got on here today to post a question about something in class and I saw your post. I remember being sad when I could never find people on here with info about the schools I was looking into so I was compelled to respond and then ended up writing a book, haha... As far as being intimidated by UAB, I wouldn't be. My class had around 200 applicants and they interviewed around 60 and accepted 31. But don't let those numbers scare you because apparently, a lot of those 200 don't even meet the minimum requirements and those applications get thrown out immediately. And also the satellite components are included in those numbers (which I explain later in this post.) Like I said, they like trauma ICU experience. They accept multiple trauma ICU ppl every year. As far as stats go, if you want to post yours I can give you an analysis using what I know about mine and my classmates. If that's a personal thing, I understand and will give you mine for reference. Overall GPA: 3.54 Science GPA: 3.85 GRE: 305 (new grading scale) ~1160 (old scale) BLS, ACLS... no CCRN (although it does look really good to have it) 7yrs trauma/burn ICU experience; Lead nurse for 3.5 yrs References: 2 of my charge nurses and a CRNA I used to work with before he went to school at Samford (so no connections). What Ive gathered from hearing my classmates stats and what my instructors (the people who interview and decide acceptance) say: *Though a 4.0 overall looks great, they put a lot more weight on science GPA. *My stats seem to be in the middle of my class except for my experience. 7 years in a high acuity ICU is on the high end of experience in my class. Most ppl are between 2-4 years. *The interview can seriously make or break you. If you have a lower end GPA or GRE, and/or lower end experience but rock the interview, you are likely getting in. And vice versa. *References- Don't worry about getting a reference from a past instructor for UAB. They don't require it and it would be the least impressive of all the options anyways. They require 3 and if I remember the application correctly, they require 1 of those to be from a supervisor/charge nurse and 1 from an anesthesia provider (MDA/CRNA). The 3rd can be whoever, (instructor, nurse manager, charge nurse, attending physician at your hospital). I think the more in depth and truthful a reference looks is the most important thing. For ex; I worked with one of my charge nurse references for 7 yrs and she had been doing my unit evaluations for the last 4 years and I knew very well how she felt about my abilities and work ethic. I would say her in-depth reference would weigh more than some random anesthesiologist who only wrote a few generic sentences. Satellite campuses: Unfortunately, as far as I know there isn't one in Mobile for UAB. They are in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Dothan, Huntsville, and Jackson, MS. The way UAB's program is set up, the whole first 3 semesters (entire first year) is all didactic, meaning classes 4-5 days a weak on campus in Bham with no clinicals at all. Starting the 4th semester till graduation, It is mostly clinicals with one online class a semester. This allows the people who were accepted into the satellite campuses to move back to their home cities and finish the rest of the program there doing all their clinical rotations at the hospitals in their hometown and classes online. I know that sounds confusing so I will give you an example. I was accepted into the Birmingham component so just like everybody else in the class, I will be in birmingham for the entire first year doing nothing but taking classes. Because I am in the Bham component, I will also stay here for clinicals and rotate through hospitals in bham. However, my classmate is from montgomery and he got accepted into the montgomery componant. He had to move to bham for this first year but once the clinical phase starts in July, he will move back to montgomery and do all his clinicals at montgomery hospitals bc the classes are online from that point on. The benefits to these satellite campuses is that A.) you only have to move to bham for 1 year instead of 27 months, and B.) when you apply to a particular satellite component, you are only competing with people who are also applying to that satellite component which ups your chances a little bit because less people apply to those compared to birmingham component. You can still apply to a satellite campus if you wanted to to possible increase your odds but that would entail you moving to birmingham for the first year and then to whatever city the satellite component you applied to was for the other 17 months. Any other questions just let me know...

So, I am taught that an anesthetic's pKa is important because it is important to know how the drug's actions will be altered across varying levels of plasma pH. Well, I get the importance of knowing how the drug's actions will be altered across varying levels of plasma pH but I can figure this out without knowing the drug's pKa. In other words, as long as I know whether the drug is a weak acid or base and the value of the patient's pH, I can figure out how the drug's actions will be altered. Right?! Or am I missing something? For example, say we have patient X that recieves "medication A." Medication A is a weak acid and the patient's pH is 7.4. The medication is distributed at a textbook onset of action time. Now, lets say the patient plugs off or something causes a new pH of 7.25 and medication A is given again. Q: "What changes would you expect to see in the effects of medication A the second time it is given?" A: Medication A is a weak acid that is being introduced into the blood with a lower than physiologic pH; therefore, the non-ionized (lipophilic) form of medication A will dominate and be distributed to the site of action faster causing a faster onset of action. If the above is correct, then I can come to this conclusion without knowing medication A's pKa. So, why is it important?

Current SRNA so I might can help a lil... * I applied to two schools. One I got an interview but not accepted. The other I got an interview and accepted. I've lurked on this forum for a long time and I'd say most people on here would advise to apply to multiple. But it gets kinda expensive traveling and if you do enough research, you should be able to narrow it down to a couple, and maybe a third backup. * You should DEFINITELY shadow. It's a requirement for most schools and it will let you know whether anesthesia is really something you want to dive into. As far as where to shadow, not necessarily at your place of employment. Wherever you can get in is fine. Unless your place of employment is a main rotation site for a program you're interested in and there is a chance of meeting an instructor and getting your foot in the door then by all means shadow there. * For GRE I did all study books. Princeton Review, Kaplan, and ETS were my favorites. Studied off and on for 2 months and hit it really hard for about 2 weeks before test day. * Interviews: Be confident, but not cocky. Different schools have different interview styles but the 2 schools I interviewed at had personality/get to know you type questions and clinical scenario segments. I didn't prep for the clinical scenario because I had 7 yrs of experience in learning everything I possible could about hemodynamics, ventilators, ABGs, vasoactive drips, antiarrhythmics, etc... But if you are weak in those areas, those are what you should get familiar with. Even if you don't take the CCRN (I didn't) you can use CCRN review books as a study guide for clinical type interview questions. I didn't know how to prep for the personality questions until after the first interview. Basically, If you don't know the answer to something, say so. Don't stumble around trying to come up with something. If they ask you a question along the lines of "Have you ever made a mistake as a nurse and if so tell me about it" then the answer is yes and be honest, or make something up. The interviewers don't judge you for making a mistake (all nurses do at some point), they want to know how you corrected the situation. * Focus on hemodynamics and everything that affects it (drugs, monitoring, normal values, abnormal values and what causes them, etc..). Not only will it likely come up in an interview, but CRNA school will take you down into the trenches of hemodynamics. But to be completely honest with you, there is nothing I could have done, or learned, or focused on before school that would have helped me be better prepared for the plethora of knowledge that CRNA school force feeds you with the force of a thousand lightsabers.... And I LOVE IT!