chris21sn

I have never heard of a NICU nurse becoming a CRNA. Try PICU. Some will accept. But fair warning, my PICU classmate does say she struggles with the classes, because her mind is wired to kids, and not at all adults. Ideally adult population is more helpful in this field.

Currently I have a 3.8 GPA. I’m a 2nd year CRNA student. Doesn’t really matter though tbh, as long as I graduate LOL

Hi my friend! Currently im half way into my CRNA program. Don't worry too much about the GRE. My program doesn't require it, and a lot of programs are phasing it out as well. As for your stats, I feel like the only thing that might be a slight disadvantage for you is your amount of experience. Usually, most programs say a minimum of 2 years, but many come in competitive with 3-4 years. As for me, I had only 2.5 years, and I believe 2 other kids in my class had just the minimum of 2 years, so it is doable. Your GPA might stand out a bit for them. Usually the lowest we accepted here was 3.5-3.6, but as long as you're able to explain to them your graduate classes, I think you will be fine. D o you mind me asking what your CCRN score is? You stand out well if you do well on the CCRN (at least in my program) Usually a competitive score is >100 questions correct. Another piece of advice is showing them you have leadership abilities, I did preceptorship for a bit, as well as received employee of the month. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I think your chances to get an interview is pretty good, and if not ^ the above is something that you can tweak a bit.

18 years old starting BSN ? 26 years old started CRNA school ?

Hi! I’m a first year SRNA. Personally my entire cohort are all ICU nurses, specifically CVICU, SICU, and Neuro ICU. All of us had our CCRN, and some type of leadership ability. Usually 2-3 years of experience. I was a MICU/CVICU nurse, 2.5 years of experience. CCRN, preceptor. There are some instances where they do accept ER experience, but very few exceptions. PACU, OR etc would not be appropriate. You are competing with a lot of people, do what you have to do to stand out. If you could show you are a charge nurse, have the open heart surgery certification, took care of open heart/balloon pump patients, it would increase your chances. good luck ?

Hi my friend! Honestly it hasn’t been too bad. I have had to learn how to prioritize my time, after being out of school for almost 4 years. I wake up at 6 am, I have learned to cook healthy (non heavy) food so that I’m more alert. I read and study from 7 am to 12 am most days. I plan morning, afternoon, and evening walks in between, where I prioritize my goals for that part of the day. We have monthly meetings with the other cohorts telling us our responsibilities. We always have to be aware of the fact that we are lucky to be where we are. I have had to say no to a couple of friends and beach parties. Though a lot of people in my class still work with covid, and are fine. For me, personally I enjoy my free time, my walks with my dog, so I prefer not to work. It’s a grueling program but you can still have break time. I plan ahead usually 2-3 weeks in advance. I’m incredibly thorough, to the point of paranoia. I highlight everything, make flash cards. I always ask questions. A lot of memorization and a lot of papers and projects. But honestly would not dream of giving this up. I’m happy to do all of this. In comparison to being a bedside nurse again. Hard work but incredibly rewarding. I love when people tell my cohort how we are the cream of the crop, and I love meeting other people who are also part of different cohorts. Again, great semester so far — will keep praying it goes this smoothly.

Hello! I'm currently a first-year CRNA student. I would say the post-ICU/long term experience is not appropriate. The majority of our cohort has CVICU and SICU experience, an occasional Neuro ICU. For me, I had 2.5 years of MICU/CVICU experience! Good luck ?

I totally agree with you, and to answer your question: I have no idea. That's what our crna program head wants. Whatever they want, I'll give haha

Might be a reach, emphasis on the “most part”. LOL In any case, we need help. I’m not going to be taking care of 3 vented, proned, paralyzed, sedated patients, while PACU nurses sit pretty on their phones waiting for a case to come out. At least they should have the audacity to take the easiest patient or at least act as a helper/PCA.

Unfortunately I have to keep my mines. In crna school and they require us to keep it. Some coworkers of mine’s, same boat as you. They let it expire. I totally understand your issues with it.

Personally, in my hospital they are allocating PACU nurses to ICU. PACU nurses are considered, by my understanding, competent with ventilators, drips, lines for the most part. Considering the circumstances (I'm in North Jersey, 5 miles from Manhattan), it is best to use the staff to their fullest potential and actually help one another. Our ICU try to give the PACU nurses the least heaviest assignment. The other day I had three ventilators with three paralytics. The PACU nurse had one vented patient and another with a nonrebreather. If one has the skills, I don't see the harm in helping lessening the burden of care on the ICU health team. Just my two cents. There was a PACU nurse before complaining she didn't want to be exposed to the Covid, and that she would rather be the waiting staff in case any emergent case came to the OR. And I'm sorry that attitude - does not help anyone.

To be blunt, no. IMCU is not ICU or critical care. IMCU is similar to a PCU; some can also compare it to even a more 'high-acuity' type of telemetry floor. IMCU is a step down for ICU patients, a place where high-acuity patients may be observed in cases where they might need to be stepped up into a higher acuity floor - an ICU. A good way to determine the acuity of a floor is to see the nurse/patient ratio. The higher the ratio, the less severe the patient and the less severe the floor. A good example - my PCU in my hospital has a 5-1 nurse/patient ratio. In comparison, the tele floor has an 8-1 nurse/patio ratio. PCU is more critical than tele.

hello. currently I'm in a crna program ? and I can see you're interested in becoming an ICU nurse and also a crna? (I saw one of your posts said, crna? sorry if I misunderstood? LOL) answering your question - you can sit for the ccrn exam after about 1500 hours. meaning about 9 months into your first year as a full-time nurse, this DOES include orientation hours (if you're the main nurse). as for your second question...how to get that ICU job: I would really recommend starting on a medsurg, tele, or pcu first. I was about 23 when I became a ICU nurse and got accepted quite easily. I had about 1 year tele experience under my belt. I worked hard on my tele floor, received drips, chronic vents, ekgs. I even got my critical care course - which is a ICU led course which teaches you all about ICU type of patients. it was quite smooth transitioning into ICU. while you're hired at a hospital, all certifications such as acls/bls/pals will be paid for. so I wouldn't worry about it too much. if you're not wiling to go to tele first, (Which I totally get. I was impatient when I was younger) id recommend being a pca, or like you mentioned getting some sort of externship. id also recommend as you said getting a acls certification, iv course, ekg course, just to prove that youre a go-getter. I was actually able to grab an ICU position straight out of nursing school at 21, but I had to resign because of personal issues - and decided that going the tele route was more suitable for me. but like I mentioned, I got an acls cert., iv course cert., and ekg course. I had a good GPA, good recommendations from my teachers, and I had also volunteered as a hospice center prior. so it was smooth getting that ICU positon. anyways as for the crna portion question? (again, sorry if I misunderstood the question) currently 25, and I got into a crna program. I worked 2.5 years, passed 100/125 score on the ccrn, became employee of the month, got good recommendations, received open heart patients (the sickest type of patient), shadowed crna for about 40 hrs --- then started applying got into my dream school hoped I helped. any issues, let me know ?

I studied on/off for about a year right after I finished orientation. I believe I studied off the Pass CCRN questions & the Self Assessment exam from AACN & the Barron Review Book. I also bought the AACN CCRN review course. I attempted to review the Laura videos, but I felt it wasn't helpful. I made a 50-page review sheet comprised of any facts I forgot, questions I got wrong; and then I divided it even further by organizing it by body system. After about a year of ICU, I took the exam. I believe I got a 100/125; passed first try. The youngest one ever on my floor to receive it. I believe I was about 23 at the time.

Why? I wanted to be a CRNA. LOL So I took the mandatory ICU experience requirement ? I recently got accepted into a CRNA program. I'm very excited to start my journey. But I don't regret going into ICU. I have learned so much. I have developed so much competence and confidence.