RAnking of CRNA school

loveanesthesia · Apr 5, 2014

The reputation of the nurse anesthesia program within the anesthesia community does matter.

AlphaAgonist · Apr 5, 2014

Yes, agree with above. Rankings are quite important as they are established by reputation within the crna community.

"To quote U.S. News and World Report, the programs are “ranked based solely on input from educators at peer nursing institutions, who nominated up to 10 schools for excellence in each area; schools with the most votes are listed. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked.”

Basically, each CRNA program administrator in the country is sent a questionnaire about competing CRNA schools. They are asked to rate the other programs on a scale of 1-5 (1 being “marginal” and 5 being “outstanding”). CRNA Schools with a score less than 2.0 are listed in alphabetical order as “No Rank”. Surveyors were instructed to select "don't know" if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program."

loveanesthesia · Apr 6, 2014

The US News and World report rankings are highly suspect and most CRNAs don't put any weight in them. The data used to produce the US News rankings is very poor quality. A program administrator has great motivation to rank a competing program as marginal in order to raise their own program's ranking. Anesthesis employer's do learn which programs tend to produce high quality graduates, and will develop preferences for hiring.

manusko · Apr 6, 2014

Does the ranking of the school matters when you apply for jobs?

You will get a job no matter where you went to school. Many places could care less where your degree is from in my experience. Now if you are applying to a CRNA independent practice position there may be an issue with your independent practice in school and ability to perform blocks.

icu2crna · Apr 7, 2014

Thanks for everyone's reply. I was wondering if TCU is considered one of the best. I don't believe what US news ranking says. But generally if you are a TCU graduate, in CRNA world is it reputed.

sweetdreame, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2014

I am a student at Baylor. Baylor's program ranked high on the U.S. News and World Report, but it also has a fantastic program. If I were you, I would consider all factors when applying. The attrition rate, the board pass rate, the average number of cases/procedures. A good program will have this information easily available to give you. Another factor is class size and clinical sites. I didn't think I would like the small class size, but I LOVE it. These people are my family. Clinical sites are important because they are where you make your connections and build experience. Baylor's program offers all clinical sites in the Houston Med Center. That is huge when you think about having to change cities to get certain experiences. I have a friend who just graduated from TCU and I hear it is a decent program. I have heard mixed reviews of clinical experiences because the sites are quite varied. Good luck with your decision.

icu2crna · Apr 13, 2014

Thanks.I'm very interested in baylor. I heard great review about the program. How was the competition like when u got in. I have 3.9 GPA. Working in trauma icu currently. Planning to do gre soon. Since i have to relocate for baylor it's getting hard to decide.

MatyIce · Apr 19, 2014

how do you find out board pass rates for each school? Having trouble with this info for Florida schools?

sweetdreame, BSN, RN · May 2, 2014

The competition was intense. I left the interview feeling pretty demoralized and thinking there was no way I got in. When I interviewed I thought there would be a few I could immediately (mentally) weed-out as competition. But, it seemed like I was pretty much up against the "A-team". Everyone was on their game. 3.9 GPA is impressive, I think our class average is just under 3.7. Trauma ICU is great experience, and as long as you do well on the GRE, it seems like you have the numbers. When thinking about competition, the numbers are only part of the equation. Acing the interview is crucial. The interview is an all day thing and is really the deciding factor. You will have tests during the interviews (there are 5) with patient scenarios. If you are comfortable as an ICU nurse and are up to date on your CCRN topics, you will do fine. Good luck. If I can be of any help please let me know.

sweetdreame, BSN, RN · May 2, 2014

Most schools worth their salt will have board pass rates posted on their website. If not, call the school. Unfortunately, I was recently at the Texas Board of Nursing meeting for a school assignment, and witnessed a school (who was called in front of the board for low pass rates) be scolded for having grossly incorrect pass scores on their websites. So, just be careful. Go to a school that has a good reputation in the community, not one that will just let you in....

icu2crna · May 2, 2014

The competition was intense. I left the interview feeling pretty demoralized and thinking there was no way I got in. When I interviewed I thought there would be a few I could immediately (mentally) weed-out as competition. But, it seemed like I was pretty much up against the "A-team". Everyone was on their game. 3.9 GPA is impressive, I think our class average is just under 3.7. Trauma ICU is great experience, and as long as you do well on the GRE, it seems like you have the numbers. When thinking about competition, the numbers are only part of the equation. Acing the interview is crucial. The interview is an all day thing and is really the deciding factor. You will have tests during the interviews (there are 5) with patient scenarios. If you are comfortable as an ICU nurse and are up to date on your CCRN topics, you will do fine. Good luck. If I can be of any help please let me know.

Thanks for taking time to reply. I may come back to you in future when I'm eligible to apply. Shooting for beginning of next year.