RNNJ

Oh wow! I've just read my post from 5 years ago! It brought tears to my eyes! Today I write a reply to this thread as a CRNA! I graduated May 2009 and now have been working for 7 months and loving it. It was all worth it. Good luck to the rest of you!

I just took my boards on thursday. I got the whole 170 questions. Boy was that long? Both my friends that got 170 questions passed!!! I have no idea how I did. And it wasn't the questions that bothered me, it was the answers. I am still perplexed and don't really know how I did. I say t myself "you did fine, just trust yourself. There were a lot of questions that you knew that you knew". And then another minute I say "there were a lot of questions that I don't know if I answered correctly." So one never knows until that bloody envelope comes!!! But thanks for the encouraging words about the 170 questions and the high likelihood of passing! That made me feel good for another minute. Then I had a friend who got 103 questions and felt he did horrible and did not pass!!!I swore that he had passed but no luck. Again, wait and see I guess.

Hi Gaylord-rn! Great name by the way!!! I just graduated from Drexel's Anesthesia program 3 weeks ago! Awaiting my boards. I am not sure where else you applied but Drexel was an excellent choice! The faculty is great and very approachable. Interview was very nerve wrecking for me. They gave us a few scenarios and asked what would you do. Remember you are applying to Anesthesia school, so airway is always a good answer! Just show them that you can critically think! That is what they want. Be humble, don't be a smart ass! If you have anything academically brilliant just make sure you bring that forward. Know your strengths and weaknesses and be ready to discuss them. They ask that question. Also when you talk about a weakness make sure it is not something like, and oh yeah, I am an alcoholic. Your weakness has to be something cute. Like "I still get choked up when I lose patient. It never gets easy." It is not particularly a bad thing but it is the kind of thing to say. Or you can say "I am very anal when it comes to things like my patient's IV lines and how they are labeled". That may be annoying to other nurses in your unit but ALL anesthetists are anal-retentive. So they'll love that. Tell them how much this means to you and how you've been planning for this for a long time. You have your finances in order and you and if you have your family is committed to you succeeding at school. You talked to people about what it takes to make it through. And really, after thinking about what I wrote you see if Anesthesia is right for you. I saw a lot of people find out they were not cut out for it after a year of schooling. Good luck! RNNJ

We all feel your pain. How did you study? Everybody swears by Valley. I am taking mine on May 28th. I am frankly just very scared. So much depends on me passing this exam. Like the bills that are piling up!!! Keep us updated with your progress. Third time WILL be the charm for you! Just believe it!!! :dancgrp:

For lack of a better word, you are barking up the wrong tree!!!

I must agree! I am graduating in May and I must say if I didn't love what I do I would have quit my first semester. You NEED to love it. And yes, the admission committee will know your reasons why and really even if you fool them it will only hurt YOU in the end. My two cents...

TBICU, No you don't need to be talking alphas and betas in your interview. And if that is what they expect they are fools. That is stuff you'll be learning at school to the highest degree. Where else did you apply and or interview? Penn is not all it's cracked up to be. We all come out doing the same thing competing for the same jobs as new graduate CRNAs. They don't pay you more because you went to Penn. If they are actually expecting you to name receptors they are more lost than I thought. They do however, in most institutions expect you to have a critical thinking. They might give you scenarios and ask you "what do you think is happening", "what would you do?". That is the appropriate way of handling entrance interviews to evaluate aptitude. Wish you luck.

Argh! How many times have you taken the boards and what did you study from? That is a fear we all share. My first language isn't english and I have a hard time with tests. So I am fearing that myself. Hope you find a cure. Keep us posted.

Hi Tanguera, I am currently at Drexel's program and loving it. I am graduating in May 09 and although I applied to PENN they didn't offer me a spot there for the year I wanted. I have a friend however that goes there and he is getting killed. Anesthesia school is intense as it is. PENN condensed it to 24 months and made the demands higher. By higher I mean you'll have clinical and didactic on the same day, they don't like you taking courses out of the way before enrolling, and their attitude is "you should be lucky that you are going to PENN". Drexel is a strong program. If I had to do it all over again I'd still pick Drexel. Our coordinator is great and the the other faculty is very nice. The MSN courses are offered online so you don't have to be on campus for them, which works out pretty good. I am actually enjoying the time in school because there is so much to learn and when you show interest people are looking forward to teaching. Having said that there are always the nasty ones, but they are a rarity. The first year sucks. You are like a slave in every sense of the word. But then it gets better. My friend at PENN is still wondering when it will get better... But again, it is PENN and I understand why people want to go there. I was one of them. Now I am happy everyday that I am not there. It just wasn't a good fit for me. Good luck and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me! RNNJ

Drexel University in Philadelphia PA.

Hi Super Sleeper! As long as you find this romantic you are in the right place. Just make sure you save enough stamina to see it to the end. What school are you going to if you don't mind me asking?

Here is a glimpse of my week: Monday: Class from 8am to 4pm. Come home at 4:30 so you can study for the classes that you just had and get ready for your cases in the OR the next day. Oh, don't forget to pee, eat, and sleep. Tuesday: Wake up at 4:30 am. Drive for 45 minutes to the clinical site by crossing two state lines! Set up your room for the cases that you actually find out you've been changed to after you had gotten your assignment the night before. Find your attending and be ready to change your anesthetic plan all over again because he or she does it that way. They are always right, you are not, you know nothing and your ten years of experience as an RN means Jack. Leave clinical when they relieve you, like 4, 4:30 or 5pm. drive back home in rush hour traffic which takes longer than the morning drive. You are home at 6pm? Acknowledge that your kids exist, say hi at least. Try to sound excited about their day... Don't take your frustrations out on them. Then regroup and get meal ready, have your kids' homework done. Greet your husband who is exhausted and wants attention too. Listen to how miserable his day was. You want to talk about your day? No time for that!!! Go get ready for your cases for wednesday. You should be happy that you got dinner. Study for whatever exam you may have on monday for what 30 minutes if you can bear it. Go to bed. Wednesday through friday: Repeat tuesday three more times!!! Saturday: Oh, the weekend, right? NOT!!! Kids are all jumping up and down, everyone is off and at home. Listening to music, playing, making noise. Filter all that and try and study while you need to do wash, have a meal plan for the night, and maybe even catch up with the family for 30 minutes or so... Repeat same on sunday!!! If have an exam saturday and sunday is spent studying with optional pee breaks and meal breaks. Try to convey to fellow RNs how much your life sucks. Monday, repeat the prior week only now you are one week closer to the end... 80 hours a week? I spend I pend 13 hours a day just getting to, in clinical and coming from clinical!!! That is 52 hours a week just for clinical. 8 hours a week in class, That is 60 hours. Studying and researching on the weekends is another 20 hours. That's 80. Then you have to do daily research of your cases for the OR and study your didactic, that is another 3 hours a day. So 15 more and it equals 95! That is compounded by the exhaustion factor! The rest is just sleeping time and tiolet breaks, eating... Hope this helps.

Here is how I see it. There are different types of people in all our daily interactions in life. This happens to be that part of our life where we can't pick who to associate with and who not to associate with. Being out of control is what sucks here! Whenever one goes to school, dealing with multiple individuals, not all nice, is part of the deal. There were and are several people that I absolutely couldn't get along with no matter how hard I tried. At the end of the day, in order to not lose my focus and most importantly my sanity, I picked things that I knew I screwed up or could have done better no matter who I was with. Some days just go bad. Most of the time it is the person that you are with that makes or breaks your day. However, we need to move on as we have to keep our eye on the ball. Just think, being a SRNA sucks, being a CRNA is where it's at. If the problems these people are creating are so horrible you need to speak with your coordinator or your advisor at school. I did. I was moved to another clinical site for two months where people were more tolerant to students and they loved me! I loved them and I am thinking of working there upon graduation. Now, who lost in this deal is the place that is spending so much time trying to teach me anesthesia but due to their nastiness will never have me as a CRNA there.Truly, that is their loss. I will survive and move on and go where I am appreciated and feel like I can grow to be a strong CRNA. If you quit now they will be the victors, if you go on you will!!! Keep it together and talk to someone who can do something to resolve your problem. Hope this helps...

Hmmmmmmm? Is this a real question? It's a trick isn't it? Answer: they don't compare. Sorry to be short but it is true...

How far along are you into the program? Loans are one thing but do you really want to go back to the ICU? Not that there is anything wrong with being a ICU nurse but after Anesthesia School and hopes and dreams of becoming a CRNA it would be very depressing!!! My two cents...