brainfreeze

Tamm, I personally let similar advice re: CRNA's keep me from going after my initial desire to follow anesthesia as a career choice. I heard the same thing re: the job being boring, lacking any true "nursing" (which I could argue most nursing jobs actually lack, as we rarely get to have those heart to heart therapeutic conversations with our patients), and that anesthetists are "greedy". I have to admit I am glad you entered this forum to fing out for yourself. I personally was pigeonholed into a very unfulfilling career for three years before I followed my gut and started working in the units and shadowing CRNA's. Now I can say that I am extremely excited and sure that I am making the correct decision to become a CRNA (I officially start in January at Duke). Don't let the negativity of others disuade you, find out for yourself. Further more, the reason that nurses are so poorly compensated in my opinion is due to nurses like those you have spoken with that somehow assume that if we are compensated adequately, we must not "CARE", which couldn't be more untrue. When you shadow a CRNA I think you will find them to be the most detail oriented "nurse" you have ever had the opportunity to meet, constantly assessing their patients and making adjustments accordingly. When I have surgery I hope to have someone who cares in that manner monitoring me.

Badass, to say that we are trained technicians is quite insulting, it is like saying that anyone can be taught to perform these "tasks" and implies that we do not use our judgement while performing our duties. Also, in my opinion it implies we are ignorant, which we are not, have you seen the GPA's and score results of most of those accepted? It is actually higher than those of most medical schools, though like med school there are exceptions to every rule.

Hi Williams, I just found out that I was accepted at Duke also, and was just perusing the realtor ads via the internet. Its really hard when your not familiar with the area. If you get any good advise on a safe ( I have two kids) area, please let me know. Weren't you ecstatic when you found out, I sure was. Are you originally from the NC area, I'm from TN.

i just have to reply to you that if anesthesia is a dream of yours, i think it will be worth the initial sacrifice. i currently have a three year old and a one year old. i really had to consider how time consuming anesthesia school would be, but though you will be on call afterwards, most of the crna's i spoke with averaged working 38-42 hour/ week, which is exceptional when you compare it to time worked in other professions with similar pay. you really have to make sure your family understands the sacrifice and i think the reply from the srna husband was enlightening to how much of a sacrifice it would be. this next month i will be going to my first interview for anesthesia school at duke, and this decision to become a nurse anesthetist was not one i came to in haste. as my husband says, when i get "we" will be going to anesthesia school because he will be essentially a single parent. in reality, thougth, the reason that i am so driven now to become a crna is that it will improve the lifestyle of my family. the thoughts of sending 2 children through college on a nurses salary is frightening, not to mention that i really craved more autonomy than being a staff nurse afforded. i have heard of women with 4 children getting through and successfully becoming crnas so there is hope for us, too. don't let anyone discourage you, but be realistic at the same time. i know that i am way more time efficient now that i am a mother with two small children that works full time than i was when i initially went to college after high school. my maturity level translates into better time management because i want to see my kids and that means i don't procrastinate and study for a weekend straight.

Duke called me today and left a message regarding setting up an interview, but of course, as fate would have it, I was out of the house and have to work tommorrow, so I won't know when my interview is until Monday, but at least the waiting is over. Unfortunately, now I'm nervous about the interview itself, I heard it is before a panel of twelve. :uhoh21:

I applied at Duke, just getting everything in right before the deadline, and I was just wondering who else applied and whether they have heard anything re: an interview as of yet. Maybe we could all be anxious together.

You will probably need to do some research, I took the upper division (pre-med) version, but is sounds as though you have an excellent background for the class. I didn't take the "pre-nursing" chemistry initially either though, honestly because it annoyed me that they had , at the school I attended,anyway, dumbed down the requirements to this very simple introductory 2 semester intro to inorganic and organic chemistry, specifically for nurses, and I have a huge chip on my shoulder about being able to prove that we as nurses are as intelligent as any other profession and do not need these classes which wouldn't even be accepted for any other degree. I think nursing needs to raise its standards. Sorry for the rant. I think the fact that you are looking into extra classes is great and speaks well to your determination. I am sure you will succeed. :angryfire

I am currently applying to three different anesthesia schools, and I took organic chemistry, and even the ones who don't require it are very impressed that I took it (and made an A) because they can use it as a predictor or future success. I also heard from a CRNA at VCU that those students who took the class are doing much better in their wickedly hard physiology class 1st year, so I would recommend it. I have not heard anything at all in all my research on all the schools suggesting that physics or biochem would be recommended, but as it is a science course, it couldn't hurt, either.

Hi, I am currently in the application process to three different anesthesia schools, with the first being Duke for January 2006. I have been a nurse for 5 years, but only full time in the units for the past 7 months. I will have met the year requirement prior to admission if accepted, but do you know if this lack of critical care experience will really hurt me? I work dayshift, so I think I've learned alot more than if I had worked nights, and I have really tried to learn everything I can, signing up for any and every class or inservice. I think I am very competitive otherwise. I graduated with a 4.0 and made a 1300, writing=5 on my GRE. I am really getting nervous as the time is nearing. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I have really sacrificed to be able to pursue anesthesia. I sold my home and my family moved into my parent's basement to save money and be able to move at a moment's notice. Crazy or dedicated, I don't know which. Any advise or info would be appreciated.