goof1552

Hey guys, I am an SRNA in Chicago looking at moving West after graduation. Specifically I am looking to move to Seattle/Tacoma. Does anyone have any insight into whom/where I should look for job openings? I have tried the normal avenues with minimal success, i.e. gaswork, monster.com, etc. The only place I can find is U of W. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! 35 weeks and counting!

Dear god - 66?!?!? Where the hell did you go to school? That is a huge class. Did the profs even know your names?! lol Im sure you did fine!

LOL - I am still in school chip, so I cant tell you about "years go on" part, but I can tell you that unless the case is really long I usually always have something I could do to keep busy. Getting drugs ready for the next case, charting, getting new circuits, IVs, and suction setups ready, etc. If all that isnt enough to keep ya awake, you can always watch the surgery, talk to the surgical team (they tend to talk alot about weird random things, believe it or not), and usually music is playing too. Topping everything off is constantly re-evaluating where your patient is, too deep vs the amount of stimulation, too light, etc. I also try to time my anti-emetics and postop pain meds properly for DOA and onset, so I have to think about that as the case nears conclusion. In fact, alot of time I am hauling **s trying to be fast enough, as the cases are short alot of the time and I want to be prepared for the next case before this one ends. For example in the cysto/gyne room you may do 7 -12 cases a day and after you have sedated the patient and the surgeon begins, you may only have a few minutes until you have to start awakening the patient. Bottom line for me, no - its not boring, preferably not TOO exciting :nuke: , but not bad either. I have yet to hear many people complain about it being too boring! :)

I know my posting is way after the initial post on this thread, but just a thought for anyone else reading this later on is to talk to potential employers about sponsorships. I posted somewhere else about it being risky, i.e.you may not like the job but are obligated there, but if you are in dire financial straits it is better than losing your house. I took a 3 yr/36K sponsorship that is basically like getting your sign on bonus before school. I am moving to a place I have never lived and have no family near. It is also in a pretty practice restricted state (studied up on it before I decided). All that being said, I think I made the right choice. I am about half way through school and am doing well financially. The stress level difference between me and some of my class mates is huge. As the others said, loans are great - I am taking them as well, but if they arent enough - look at other avenues. Dont let this stop you! Good luck.

LOL - Every school is different - just do your best and if you need to take a little refresher on essay writing. If you do fine on the GRE essay portion, youll do fine with any essays the admission forms throw at you. Good luck!

Just a thought - if anyone was in the Chicago area this last year or so they heard about an issue in a dentists office. A young girl died after a procedure, from what can best be deciphered as diffusion hypoxia. Guess why that happened? Diffusion hypoxia should never kill anyone unless they are not being cared for properly. This was the case in the dentists office. The dentist did as you stated above and hired some girl of the street to be his "monitoring tech" and she killed the small girl. She did not do it maliciously, however when she was on the stand she did not know what anesthetic had been used, what a blood pressure cuff was, or even how to count respiratory rate. In other words the tech was probably a high school drop out IMO. This dentist has lost his license forever due to his following your line of thinking. Granted AA's will not do this, but it underscores the danger that path leads to........

Hi, I did exactly what you are talking about. I don't know if many other folks have done this, but I was in dire need of financial help to get through CRNA school with 2 kiddos and a mortgage. One of my buddies followed suit and took the same "deal" or "scholarship" I did. Basically, I looked at a job website (i.e. gaswork) found areas I thought I might be happy with the family and looked at jobs in large hospitals and what sounded to me like a decent work environment (i.e. they list the type of anesthesia you will perform and you just decide if you like ob or peds, etc). I then had a form letter I developed the best I could explaining my situation and that I would enslave myself to them in return for help financially getting through school. I got a response from probably 25-50% of the jobs I faxed or emailed my letter to, and of those about 50% were serious and I considered. Typically the amounts (20-25K) are less than sign on bonuses for you after you graduate, so if you can wait - DO! However, my deal was 3 years for 36K at a Lvl 1 trauma center (best deal I was offered btw). I ended up going to a (in my opinion and those I talked to) very practice restricted state, but you have to take concessions to get what you want. I could have gone to a better practice location, but probably not a better living situation or financial one. Bottom line - dont go looking for this kind of a deal unless you have no choice. The biggest danger is that you will sign up with some place for the money and get obligated and once you are into the field, you will decide you would have rather worked in a different setting. Be careful, I am prior military and as we always said "semper gumby" (be flexible), but a lot of people cant just stick it out for three years. Most places will let you pay back the money, but with interest. Good luck and I hope I helped - im pooped and rambling - its time for bed as the shift is almost over!

Just curious, but what is the diff btw an LPN and the diploma RN's? Aren't they both only a year or two of school total? I can tell you that with all the confusion, even among us nurses, about the different nursing ranks there will always be a messed up heirerarchy. Not that I know the solution, but having jobs that overlap leads to confusion, poor leadership, and graying of boundaries. I applaud anyone who goes to school, education is the means to a brighter future, I just always wonder about the direction to take. I personally have a BSN, but have been asked many times about the diff. between LPN's vs. RN vs aide education. Most of the time I say I dont really know, other than to say the pay diff is quite drastic between each step.