Air'n

I just recently jumped in the game. After getting my bachelors and then my masters, I realized how specialized my job is at this point. If, god forbid, anything happened to my career, I'd like to have other income streams. Many financially savvy bloggers recommend having multiple "buckets" to drink from! Trust me, it is possible but hard as heck to get noticed. I believe we are all very well educated and have a lot to share so why not? The market is getting tight for nursing publishers and bloggers, but differentiating yourself and marketing yourself can really help! I'm not really making $$ yet, but I hope things pick up as I keep writing and learning! ----

I go to UPenn. Tuition is $125,000.00. If you add cost of living for the 24 month program it is more like $175,000.00. With interest for Grad Plus loans at around 7.5% I'm looking at $30,000.00 in interest conservatively. That doesn't include books, equipment, licenses, background checks, mandatory drug screenings, and commuting. I would tack on another $5,000.00 - $7,500.00. The reason I'm bringing this up is that many RN's are so anxious to get into school that they forget to ask how much it costs until it's tool late. We all want so badly to be CRNA's and we wind up paying more than we ever imagined in lost wages, tuition, and interest. The margin between how much it costs to attend school and salaries/benefits we enjoy is narrowing. The schools don't really advertise these costs either. Also, as a culture I believe we should put our cards on the table concerning money and salaries more often. I don't think it's in bad taste. It only HELPS us all to know how much the next guy is paying and making so that we have more bargaining power! Let's talk!!

I'm an RRT as well and I'm working my way through BSN school right now. During interviews for BSN program the interviewers were very interested in my respiratory background and with vent, critical, and high stress code blue experience that saturates the profession it could only help for CRNA school. Plus they might tweak the tally of minimum years needed in critical if you've already been in the ICU as a RRT for years.

I live in K.C., KS and am in nursing school. I just called Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill I said I wanted to shadow some CRNA's. With no background check or confidentiality paperwork they had me in OR scrubs and observing a gastric bypass in 10 minutes. I got to hang out all day & pester the CRNA's with questions. God bless busy county trauma hospitals.

Wait a minute. . . COPDers may have a lower sat than 98% but it sure isn't as low 70%. If you allow it to go this low you had better have a ventilater on hand because that pt will begin hyperventilating to increase oxygenation then tire out giving you a respiratory rate of 0. Oxygen induced hypoventilation (which is what you TRYING are describing) is extremely rare. When aneasthesia at our hospital walks in the icu and starts babbling about it the other RT's and I laugh. If the pt is critical enough all efforts should be made to oxygenate regardless of possible hypoventilation.

Breath sounds for pleural effusions usually sound like a coorifice rubbing together of leather as well as diminished.

Hi everybody, I'm a respiratory therapist who wishes to pursue a CRNA degree. I'll begin 2 years of nursing school this Spring. Can anyone attest to the experience provided by several years of Respiratory Therapy in critical care toward the duties of a CRNA? This route may be a bit indirect but I was wondering how well the management of mechanically ventilated patients serves a future CRNA. Also, my first casual attempt at a degree out of high school left me with a GPA of 2.2 after 64 hours. Since then I got my RT degree and pre-reqs out of the way with a 3.75 GPA. Will admissions to CRNA school see the proverbial line drawn in the sand of my acedemic record or hold it against me. Thanks, Air'n P.S. Big ups to Charles. Pimp'n CICU as always. RT for life.