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It took me a while to get into it and I am sure you have more experience than me. Just keep trying, it will happen when you least expect it. Unfortunately, a lot do hire from in-house. But, I think your experience is priceless. Take whatever break you get and even apply for jobs that you may not want, it will at least get your foot in the door. Good Luck!

Thanks, That was very interesting.

I am in the process of trying to do that at this time. I have looked at the requirements of the 2 schools that I would be interested in and they do not mention anything regarding science classes having to be in the last 5 years. The only class that they mention to be required is graduate level statistics. If I would be required to re-take science courses, would it be listed under requirements?

One thing that I love about nursing is assessing and identifying problems and finding solutions. I like challenges in that if a patient presents with multiple problems, I enjoy finding the solutions to the problems and in turn,helping others. As a CRNA, are you able to do the latter? I believe you would but maybe in a different manner. As CRNA, does administering anesthesia start out like a basic recipe for that patient and you adjust to how they react to it? I hope these questions do not sound stupid. I just trying to get a basic idea of what is involved in administering anesthesia and how the nursing process fits into the job. Is the job stressful all of the time? I do not mind stress and even thrive on it at times but I do not want to be stressed the entire time I am working and everyday that I work. What % of your job do you feel you are stressed? I am sure that it is a very stressful job but to what degree?

I have been a nurse for 7 years (3 years doing med-surg and the last 4 doing case management dealing with basically outpatient care). I am considering CRNA or NP school and thought I would try to get a job on a ICU, likely after transitioning from another unit because I have not done hands-on nursing in 4 years and do not think I will be hired directly into ICU. Anyway, my A & P and patho and pharm are very rusty since I have not been using it like I did when I worked on med-surg. THere is a lot of things from nursing school I do not remember. I almost feel like a new nurse except for my instinctive nature and ability to look at things wholistically. Will I learn what I need to know doing ICU from experience or should I go back and take some courses as a refresher or just find good textbooks to read?

Thanks! I am really considering going back to the hospital and get my ICU experience and after a year then think more about what is really right for me. At least at that point, I will have some ICU under my belt, which is required for CRNA. I am considering NP too. I can always try home health in the future as well. I just don't want to keep sitting on the fence and a few years from now I decide to pursue CRNA and I do not have ICU at that time. Plus, I hear CRNA is going to a doctorate level program with more schooling. I am hoping to get in before that happens, which means I better start getting the wheels turning now. I do not see myself staying working for hospital long-term. But at least, ICU will likely prepare me for any new step and I can always go back to case management.

Good question. I would love to know too!

I have nothing against critical care. I just believe that if she is not wanting to jump right into critical care as she had mentioned then I would consider med-surg as a starting and transitioning point. I believe if you choose to go straight to ICU then you should go to one that offers a lot of variety and not just hearts unless you are sure that is all you want to do. I believe med-surg can somewhat prepare you for ICU with time management and being able to handle stress plus be able to manage multiple number of patients.

Thanks for the advice too! The only problem about the ICU route is I will probably have to jump ship to do it. THey are not likely to train me to work prn. I figure I could do med-surg prn a few months to see if I like the shift work and if so do ICU for a couple of years and then make a decsion regarding CRNA or NP. I keep having this feeling that I will not know unless I leave. I guess I can always go back to CM. But, I like working out of my house so much and hope if I do decide to go back that I can get a job out of my house again. I must say I do like field better than TCM. You get a better insight and I enjoy the travel.

I did MS for 3 years and even though I hated it towards the end. I feel it provided the best base to work from. No offense to others, but if you can handle Med-surg then I believe you can handle ICU. Med-surg was the most stressful bedside nursing floor in my hospital. I think you would be well prepared to move up to ICU in a year or two. You may be new to the heart stuff but you will likely have the stress and time management under control. Plus, you deal with every body system. Most nurses who do not go to med-surg when they get out never will. So, I think it is best to get a foundation to build from when you get out. YOu will not know any better. Then when you leave, everything else will seem better and you will have a good knowledge base as well. I have co-workers who left my med-surg unit and went to ICU and said it was much easier than the med-surg unit. It is a different kind of stress. I was told to go to Med-surg when I got out and eventually hated it but do not regret it. To me, med-surg is most of nursing wrapped up into one. YOu see everything. I really believe it will take you several years to really figure out what you want to do in nursing. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do and have been a nurse for 7 years. As you get older and experience different things, you will see that things you once desire you no longer do. It is part of life. I believe iit is best to get a broad base experience before specializing. That is just my opinion. Hope it helps!

Thanks for the advice. I am in the boat of decisions! My main issue is that I do enjoy case management but always thought that if I did what I loved I would enjoy working. I do enjoy my job to an extent but miss the chance to vary my hours if I want to do so. I feel crunched because I enjoy what I do to an extent but know I do not feel like working 5 days a week for 30 more years. Unfortunately, case management is a 5 day a week job. Plus, I would like to make more money. I feel stupid working 40 hours a week when I could work half that and make the same money. I have considered going back and doing prn work on the weekends and doing nights so I can get a feel before I jump ship. I am considering nurse anethesist or nurse practitioner program as well. I know that I do not want to work nights and weekends the rest of my life either. So, I feel in order to make more money and have more freedom with my hours it might be best to do the CRNA or NP program. I am 30 and not getting any younger plus I will need to get ICU before I do CRNA, if I go that route. I just feel that if I do another type of CM I will be burnt again in a few years and only older. Also, the discouraging part of my job in WC arena is that it seems that the laws dictate everything and no matter what you do I do not feel that I am impacting the case except as a messenger. It seems like everything that is disputed as unnecessary ends up getting approved anyway because of legal circumstances. YOu try to be cost effective and everything gets approved anyway. Is UR that way? I figure if I go and do ICU and try it and decide shift work is not for me and I do not want to advance my education then I can always go back to CM. How is working in the ICU? I worked on a busy med-surg floor for 3 years and was not able to provide adequate care to the 8+ patients that I had. Do you feel that way working in ICU?

Thanks! I think I am going to go back to the hospital hopefully picking up a few shifts for a few months and get my a feet a little wet before I jump ship. I want to make sure that I am okay with doing weekend and nights since that seems where the money is. Plus, I will make 4 years in March and would like to at least make it to that point. I am not sure on how I am going to react. I am not much of a morning person or a night person but I always say you can not have your cake and eat it too. I have considered going down to 30 hours and work 2 shifts a month at the hospital and likely make the same money. I thought about trying to do 3 tens with WC but you know how that goes. I think this will be my deciding year. If going down to 30 hours does not cut it, then I will likely jump ship. Do you feel if you wanted to that it would be hard to go back to doing WC case management? I am not crazy about WC but I love the travel and love working out of my house. Do you do weekends? If so, how have you reacted to doing weekends and holidays? What type of nursing do you do now?

TraumaRUs, I have thought about doing other case management but am afraid that it will not be any better because the hours are M-F. I enjoy the CM that I do now because I can work out of my house and travel, which changes things up. I am afraid to leave what I have and regret it and not be able to find a CM job working out of my house if I decide to come back. Likewise, I have considered going to CRNA school but feel I am doing it a lot for money. I am not sure that is a good reason to do it but have heard others do it for that as well. Do you know anyone that left the hospital and did case management and then went back to the hospital? If so, what was their reaction? Did they enjoy going back to the hospital or did they regret it?

Nobody, wants to answer this thread that I posted in Career advice section, so I thought I would post it here. Any advice would be appreciated. I have done worker's compensation case management for almost 4 years. I was a med-surg nurse for 3 years. I have an okay job it pays about $25/hr. I am autonomous in that I can arrange my schedule around my family and I work out of my house. The down side is billing. You have to show credit for your time spent. It is hard at times to work 8 hours and show credit for 8 hours so doing 12 hours of it is next to impossible. I am at a point that I am so tired of working M-F and having no time off. I have two kids and it seems that the weekend is here and gone before I know it. I can not imagine spending 20 more years working M-F. Truthfully, case management is a M-F job. I figure that I could possibly go back to the hospital working every other weekend 12 hour shifts and work a few extra shifts a month during the week and make the same money for less hours at the hospital. I thought maybe eventually I would do agency if holidays and money became a problem. I am not sure how I will react to going back to doing hands-on nursing either or 12 hour shifts or nights. I am considering going back and doing ICU and maybe considering going on th CRNA school. Who knows maybe I am dreaming. I have a friend who is a CRNA and loves it. Does anyone know the good and bad about being a CRNA? I am not sure what is the right path to take or how to find it. Am I crazy to leave M-F 9-5 shift to go back to nights and 12 hour shifts? I thought about picking up some prn work to see if I would like the hospital again. However, I am hoping to get hired. Agency would not hire me because I have not done hands-on nursing in the past 2 years. I just thought if I tried prn work while keeping my job I might have a better idea. I just do not want to give up what I have and go back to the hospital and say "why did I do this!" I have what most people would love to have but I am burnt. How do you get past it. If I go back to the hospital, I would have more time off. But, will I get burnt on 12 hour shifts too! Too many choices! Any advice would be helpful. I am 30 and feel I need to either poop or get off of the pot. I have also considered home health. Can you do 12 hour shifts doing home health? Is it autonomous? What are the good and bad about home health and ICU? I really do like case management overall, but how do you get past being burnt!

I can understand what you are going through. I am a nurse and always thought I wanted to be one. I realize that I am not much for bedside nursing. I do case management now, which I do like because I am able to still be involved in medicine, which I enjoy. Truthfully, I should have been a detective. But anyway, I think you should make a list of all of the reasons you believe you want to be a nurse and all of the reason that you don't. If your reasons to not be one heavily outway the reasons to be one then maybe you have your answer. Consider volunteering at the hospital and get a better feel on what nursing is all about or if you are able to get a job as a nursing assistant. When I did floor nursing, I felt like a glorified waitress. I was tired of being around sick people as well. But, do know, that there are areas that you can do where you are not dealing really with sick people or at least for very long. You could be a surgical nurse where you manage the operating room, you could do recovery room, you could do endoscopy where you are giving meds during procedures, you could do mother/baby, which is mothers after they deliver. I do not believe that they are really sick. You could do telemetry. They may be sick but they can do a lot for themselves and probably not going to deal with a lot of gross stuff. You could do office nursing. There are a lot of options. If you like being a trainer then maybe you should consider being a physical therapist. They make good money as well. There are many options in nursing. But, if I had did it again, I might have been a doctor or a detective. DO not do it for other people. You really need to look at what do you like about nursing and what do you not like about nursing. If the bad outway the good, then you should have your answer. IF there are certains things that you like about it, then consider if there is other careers that match the things you enjoy in nursing. DO not worry, I am a nurse and still battle today on what I should do. I can not make a decision either and battle my own demons regarding what path to take in nursing. I often tell myself that I need to either sh#@! or get off of the pot. If you are really depressed try to find out what is really driving your depression. Feeling of making the wrong decision and failure drives my anxiety which goes along with perfectionism (thanks, mom!). I would try to get your mood stabilized (possibly antidepressants) before making a decision because you are not likely thinking rationally if you are depressed. Hope this helps!