Scared but excited to be an aspiring nurse!

[littlemissie]

Greetings!

My name is Little Missie and I live in Mississippi. I have BIG dreams for a small-town gal...and I am willing to share my goals and my fears with y'all in hopes of advice.

I am currently Jr. in college working on my B.A. in Biology. I plan to apply to an accelerated nursing program to be an RN, get my masters, and while in school, get some experience working in ICU to become a Nurse Anesthetist.

I am SCARED because I worry constantly about my ability to get into any program. I fear that I am not competitive enough, and that I'm not focused enough to go thru with the schooling. I read that CRNAs have to get DNP (doctors of nurse practioners) licenses after 2015 (which is when I graduate from college!) I know, I need a CHILL pill, but I'm also very excited. I JUST changed my career path to nursing and if I could get advice or stories, I'd greatly appreciate it!

-LM

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Welcome to AN :)

Big dreams are good. Remembering to take realistic bites is good, too!

Once you have an RN license, you should begin in med-surg to get a good acute-care foundation, hone your skills....and learn how to be a nurse. After a time, once you are prepared to take an ICU job (which will depend on the facility as to how much prior experience is needed first but it's typically a year or two), plan to spend a couple of years learning critical care. After all THAT is done, you will then be ready to apply to a CRNA program. You won't be a viable candidate until after at least a year, maybe two, of ICU experience.

As you can see, it's going to be awhile before you get to CRNA schooling, but if you want it enough, you'll get there :)

Good luck!

[littlemissie]

Welcome to AN :)

Big dreams are good. Remembering to take realistic bites is good, too!

Once you have an RN license, you should begin in med-surg to get a good acute-care foundation, hone your skills....and learn how to be a nurse. After a time, once you are prepared to take an ICU job (which will depend on the facility as to how much prior experience is needed first but it's typically a year or two), plan to spend a couple of years learning critical care. After all THAT is done, you will then be ready to apply to a CRNA program. You won't be a viable candidate until after at least a year, maybe two, of ICU experience.

As you can see, it's going to be awhile before you get to CRNA schooling, but if you want it enough, you'll get there :)

Good luck!

The time length isn't an issue, so I'm up for it!

Thanks!