Gods child

There are also several med schools that do not require a Bachelors degree. For instance, the one I am thinking about applying to only requires 3 years of college and the completion of the pre-requisites (which could take less than a year to complete). Of course you would probably be more competitive with a Bachelors degree.

It is that way where I live as well. I read all of these articles about how there is nothing to worry about because there will be plenty of jobs available due to the baby boomers aging and the schools only being able to graduate so many students. I just fear the market for CRNA's (and anesthesia providers in general) will be flooded in the future. There are more and more people who enter nursing for the sole purpose of becoming a CRNA. I may be way off base, but with the emergence of more AA (and even CRNA) programs I don't think the market being flooded with anesthesia providers is as impossible as people believe it to be. I think its possible to try to overcompensate for the shortage of anesthesia providers and in the process create a surplus. Hopefully I'm way off base and have no idea what I'm talking about.

I have never heard about the pay being better in the 80's. I have heard rumors that the pay of CRNA's is not expected to increase much, and in some instances may even decrease (on average). I don't know how true this is, its just something I've read on different message boards and internet articles.

There is a weekend LPN-RN program at a Community College a few hours from me (they are in class all day, I think its from 8-5 or 9-4). I think more programs like that would benefit some LPN's wishing to become RN's.

I see. I don't think it is too much to ask to take pre-requisites. The accelerated programs have pre-requisites as well. The 64 credit hours for the LPN-BSN program sounds extreme at first, but is sounds as if it is similar to my traditional BSN program. My BSN program was set up where you completed about two years of pre-requisites and general education requirements (about 60 c/hr), and then you were only eligible to be admitted to the program when you had a maximum of six general education requirements left to complete (most people admitted were finished with their general education requirements). The actual "nursing program" was 5 semesters. I only know of one LPN-BSN program in my area and there are only 2 nursing classes they do not have to take when compared to a traditional BSN program, it seems like more credits would transfer over, but I guess the school want their money. When I read that back to myself it sounded really mean, but I didn't mean it that way

Accelerated programs aren't trying to bypass continuing education by "testing out of" anything. I know of several people who have completed an LPN-RN bridge program in about 15 months (or less). :nuke:

I don't think there should be any shortcuts to becoming an RN. In the time it would take to get the five years experience as an LPN one could have already completed an LPN-RN program. However, I do think that employers paying for LPN-RN bridge programs are a great idea. And remember, there is no nursing shortage... This is like a Dental Assistant wishing to become a Dental Hygienist if she studies real hard and passes the test (because after all they do a lot of the same things). But in reality the formal education is what separates the two professions. I can see where you are coming from so I hope you don't take this the wrong way.

I agree, especially with the bolded statement. The goal of my reply was just to point out the downside to interviewing nursing candidates. The good probably outweighs the bad.

Yes, I understand that. I was simply saying that was one of the possible problems that could arise from an interview. I agree, most jobs require an interview, but even then there is still the possibility of personal bias.

Well, that could actually be the case. The people on the selection committee are not immune to having personal bias. For example, I have read here that one can tell who would make a good nurse within the first few minutes of talking to them. Something like that is too subjective (with the exception of extreme cases). That is the main problem I see with interviewing candidates for nursing school. Other than that, I think it's a great idea.

Yes, I have noticed that just about everyone I have spoken to wants to be a CRNA. I think I liked it better when CRNA's were "the best kept secret in healthcare".

I don't know about your area, but where I live you can get hired as an Anesthesia Tech with paid on the job training. This might be something you want to look into before you start the program.

I was thinking the same thing. Although earning an ADN may take some people longer than two years to complete, it is still considered a two year degree.

I'm personally against Plan B, because I'm one of those weirdoes that doesn't believe in premarital sex or birth control for myself. But it would not bother me if other people used it as they see fit.

Wow, we need more people like you in this world. I can't believe that someone posted something on here which basically said oh well, just deal with it, we can't change it. If that were the case I would probably be a slave today. The truth is we can make a change. Some people are just unwilling to put forth the effort to do so.