lasvegasnurs

Just as an FYI, I interviewed there a couple years ago. Was one of the more laid back interviews I had. Was no clinical questions. Pretty much a get to know you and why you want to do be a CRNA interview. Ended up going somewhere else but if you aren't from that area you need to make sure you go to Sanibel island. Not being from the area I couldn't believe how nice it was, and am considering planning vacations out there in the future.

I had a similar situation deciding if CRNA would even be an option for me. I had a 3.6 Biology degree. Went to 1 year med school and was having health problems that made it difficult during first year. Finished 1st year with 2.6 in med school. I then ended up going on medical leave and not returning to med school. Went back and found a accelerated Nursing degree program that let me skip any prereq's and 11 months later had a BS in Nursing 3.9 GPA. The med school thing is something you need to address in interviews or in your application letters. Schools will want to know why you didnt want to practice medicine here. I was very worried that school would see me dropping out of grad school and with poor gpa as a big red flag so I applied to way too many schools..... and then I realized I spent way too much money and time applying to all the schools because every one of them sent me interviews. I got wait listed at my first choice school and into second choice.... and turned down spots and interviews at several others. So long story short... just do well in your nursing degree and you shouldn't have any problem

program director was looking for very specific things.... dont remember exactly but I didnt 100% meet requirements they wanted.... and they were already 1 of too many schools that I applied to so I just withdrew application vs spending expenses for interview. But she was very honest (back a couple years ago) of what applicant would get in.

Little biased in that I had a degree in Biology and minor in Chemistry before I went into nursing.... but the chemistry understanding required is less than my first chemistry college class. I still think the chemistry is important.... but as for boards a "relatively" superficial understanding is all that is required. As for the statistics you will unfortunately be seeing those forever. Much of the emphasis really is more in the understanding what the statistics mean vs how to calculate the statistics so in that way it may be easier than an undergrad stats class.

The program director when I applied a couple years ago at ECU was very open to discussing application and specifics that they were looking for including recommendations to making a application stronger.

yes... but not as a school loan because no one will give you more than what the school says is the cost of attendance which gov't loans should meet that amount. you can take out a consumer loan but that would be under terms like a car loan... like 20k with a $400/month payment plan starting immediately for 5 years or whatever. Back 10 years ago I had a private loan for a grad program but those have gone away.

Not aware of any school that wants high school transcripts. High school grades do not matter after starting college. I think I had under 2.0 in HS but started college knowing that things now mattered and that college grades never go away.

Every school looks looks for many of the same things but then there are also many differences in what they look at. Taking anatomy again may help on say a school that looks at Science GPA AND only takes the top grades it could help but most graduate programs don't use GPA that is used on college transcripts which typically takes the highest grade earned in a class, they take every grade. So if you took anatomy 5 times and got 3 F, 1 C then the fifth time got an A all five grades would be used in calculating GPA. As for meeting specific requirements like "obtain B or better in classes X, Y, Z" You are likely OK. So as long as overall your grades are in range of accepted applicants you should be fine... but a person who gets a 3.0 while taking classes once can't just go and retake all the classes and end up with a 4.0

Dont let us news and report or whatever you saw for rankings fool you. There is little those rankings are based on. Look for a program that fits YOU best when you are ready to apply. The application process can also be very expensive especially if you interview at many places. Also depending on how quick you are getting in the only option is DNP but most the programs have recently changed or in process of changing and the transition has been rocky from what I have heard from other students. To me the most important (recent and historical trends of) attrition, board pass rates, travel for clinical none or little, does the school want random prereq's that I dont already meet, cost of living in area, class size preference. Then once you interview at places the schools will usually have other students that you can talk to as well as talking to faculty and determine if the school will be your best fit. Also you may need to ask yourself if you really have your heart set on say going to U of Pitt (or anywhere) is it worth not getting accepted and waiting another year to hope to get in vs going to another program that you may still excel at.

Lots of good answers already but I doubt the job description specifically says you must be able to perform chest compressions. You can still lift 40lbs I imagine like many nursing jobs will say but certain limitations is expected. I used to work as a Rapid Response/Code Nurse in a large busy hospital and returned to work after having surgery on a broken clavicle. I technically met the stated job requirements but I would not assist in CPR. Now it was very rare that I would help with CPR anyway since I was more involved in the code management but nevertheless I was physically unable to participate with chest compressions for about a month during work. Honestly there were several people that I would swap out of CPR rotations because good CPR isnt easy. Its not a requirement of a nurse to be able to perform amazing CPR. There however should always be a way to give a patient effective CPR at any location. Most floors always had the same couple people that would be involved in CPR every code and I saw no problem with that.

PICU, NICU, ER, PACU all acceptable at a couple schools but its looked the experience may still be criticized by even the schools that take it. Traditional adult ICU (really any type) is the only safe bet. Also board pass rates are lower for those without traditional adult icu experience. Last I remembered looking MICU actually was best pass rates however really any adult icu would be what you want. Other experiences will count marginally or none.

Good enough GPA, now don't worry about it. Go get a job and and look to progress to an ICU since few are lucky enough to start in the ICU. It's great to have goals but sometimes things change. I graduated from nursing school several years ago planning mostly to be an acute care NP but eventually decided to change it up and do the CRNA route instead after being exposed more to the different positions in the hospital.

larger facility, level 1 will all lead to sicker patients and better experiences for admission to school. Work environment will be tougher but just get through it.

Neuro is a pretty pigeonholed specialty with very minimal conditions and comorbidites. Sure you get to see lots of cool stuff, but overall exposure to other aspects of medicine are limited compared to many other ICU's.... but for application purposes as long as its adult ICU most programs dont care (as long as you tell them you deal with all the different drugs and invasive monitoring).

ER scribe in ideal world but can be hard to get. At my previous hospital almost every scribe was on way to nursing, respiratory, or MD. Great experience and you learn a ton.

Our hospital is $5, $7.50, $10 or $15/hr depending on how bad help is needed and sometimes different shifts and days are higher rates. Other times it felt like the rate offered was random.

If you aren't making much money now and a public school isnt accelerated and would keep you in school longer it "could" be better financially, but avoiding loans when there are cheaper options that get you to the exact same place is preferred.

Totally agree. There are tons of nurses that only go into nursing ONLY because they want to be an NP, big mistake. I try to tell all of them it would be a mistake if you cant see yourself as a staff nurse and never doing an NP. Typically people that didn't really find job satisfaction as a staff nurse aren't any happier as an NP. Get your RN because you can see yourself retiring as a RN, and if you happen to find a niche you want to fulfill as an APRN down the road great and sometimes plans change. I returned to school to become a CRNA after originally planning NP because I enjoyed have more hands on patient interaction, but I LOVED my last job and it was very hard to leave.

I think you are on the right track. I dropped out of med school and was considering my options a few years ago. After taking a couple years to work I looked at my options of return to med school, PA, or NP. Ultimately my biology degree wasnt worth much alone. A biology degree doesnt provide much in job opportunities especially ones that pay well so I decided the nursing route was the best since it right out of school provides a decent salary and good experience. Where I lived they had an accelerated program for those with a degree already if you met certain requirements which having a biology degree covered it all. NP programs are defiantly abundant and much easier to get into and can be done while working (another huge bonus). I went into nursing still not sure what exactly I would do but planned on graduate education. I ultimately decided not to do the NP route and am in a CRNA program but looking back nursing was the best choice and is a good career with the most options and experience's available compared to other routes in the medical field.

There is no definitive answer about the GPA. Schools all calculate it differently or ignore parts of it. Some may look at everything combined. Others breakdown science classes. Unfortunately many of the other nurses only took the biology required for nursing and have no idea how cutthroat biology classes are at most colleges. I originally got a Biology degree with chem minor before my nursing career which wasn't my first career. I started out as a med student. I mental meltdown in life during med school and had a 2.x gpa for a year of classes before I quit, which... looks really bad. Picked myself back up went to accelerated nursing program and now am in a CRNA program. I had to do my homework in trying to determine what schools wouldn't discount me for dropping out of a graduate program in the past. Can't emphasize enough in trying to figure out what specific programs are looking for... and if you aren't a good fit don't bother applying, its expensive.

I guess some of it is how comfortable you are with debt. Does waiting an extra year to save 50k of additional debt at 6% interest worth postponing a 80k-150k a year raise? For some it does, for some they can't stand the idea of the debt. Work as hard and as much as possible before school to minimize amount needed. Consider going the military route which will pay for school and give you a stipend (salary) while in school. As mentioned above social service state assistance for a family of 5 can provide about 1000 a month in services. I still rent out my house after moving for school which qualifies me for a little less than others in my class but I still get about $800/month in state assistance. In the end. Make 100% sure it is what you want to do. My class did lose 1 student already who just decided that anesthesia wasn't for them after the first semester and straight A's. Nothing would be more expensive than taking out those loans and then deciding later you do not want to do it. It's all a numbers game in the end. ICU RN salaries highly vary throughout the country. During interviews I had people telling me they were making $23/hr and the opposite being CA RN's making 3x that. Decide what you are most comfortable with and when in your own life you have the time to commit to the program. Programs are also all transitioning to DNP ONLY programs so school will take longer and cost more if you want your DNP vs MS.

In CRNA school now and have three kids and wife can work and make pretty decent money working full time as a dental hygienist, however we have her only picking up shifts a couple days a month. It's become more advantageous to just focus on school, take out loans, apply for medicaid, food stamps and any other assistance. It all works out. Don't be afraid of taking out loans, make it through and it will be worth it. About 1/3 of my class has kids.

In it for the money? Quit nursing and do law school. Otherwise work in an area they like and enjoy going to work and it will be a good salary to live on anywhere. More schooling (graduate) opens higher paying opportunities if they want to specialize in an area.

Guess there isn't many others that look here?

Anyone else starting at Mount Marty August 2016? Looking to get to know any other students especially those that are familiar with the area!