SRNA Senioritis

Warning.... this is JUST a RANT:

I have 49 days left till graduation and it seems more dreadful every day. Walking into traffic seems less painful. This week, my clinical preceptor was trying to impart "helpful hints" to me and I stood there trying to burn holes through his head with my laser beam eyes. All I want to do is study for boards..... but nooooooo, I have to finish my final care plan and co-write some dumb paper on Third World Anesthesia. When I got home today, all I could do was eat potato chips and read the "best-of" section of craigslist.com. I barely have enough money to make it until my first day of work..... imagine if I don't pass the boards....blah, blah, blah. Oh, jeez.... to think, not only do we sign up for this, but we go into debt doing it.

Life could be worse, but I know some of you out there can relate.

p.s. no cheering up needed... however, stories of misery are welcome

p.p.s. "buck up camper" is my motto.... so don't bother with that one

I've got a little shorter row than you - 41 days here. What really sucks is that next month I get to go get treated like a first day junior. We are treated as staff at my main level 1 teaching center. You (a senior) and a MD for 97% of the cases. I have been with a CRNA maybe 12-15 times as a senior and it was strictly for medicare billing reasons. Challenging call shifts and complete trust / independence after proving yourself. Now I get to go to an outlying facility that has a whining and condenscending MD staff with equally painful CRNAs. They will never leave our sides. And don't think we are doing awake carotids here folks. I'm talking lap chole's and lap appys. Home of cookbook anesthesia - everyone gets zofran/decadron/toradol/des.

Thank God for surgcial masks, at least they won't see that knot on the side of my face, often referred to as a clinched masseter muscle.

This sucks.

okay ...here is my story of misery.....I start school in 2 months and I got the first year "what ifs"......what if i run out of money in a year.....what if I don't remember how to mix a dopamine drip.....what if I hate school....or worse fail school....what if..... You get the picture.

okay ...here is my story of misery.....I start school in 2 months and I got the first year "what ifs"......what if i run out of money in a year.....what if I don't remember how to mix a dopamine drip.....what if I hate school....or worse fail school....what if..... You get the picture.

Money issues: Forget it for the duration of school. Money is simply an avenue or vehicle that will get you to your goal. It will be paid off when you get out.

Dopamine gtts: I have made exactly two of these gtts in two years. Just remember these three letters: TTE which stands for Titrate To Effect.

Relax. Study hard and show up with a willing / learning attitude and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the word of advice... with any luck I will be suffering from SRNA Senioritis in Jan of 2009. Wow 2009....that seems like forever.

Relax. Study hard and show up with a willing / learning attitude and you'll be fine.

This is a little contradictory from your last post regarding your outside rotation. "Now I get to go to an outlying facility that has a whining and condescending MD staff with equally painful CRNAs. They will never leave our sides. And don't think we are doing awake carotids here, folks. I'm talking lap choles and lap appys. Home of cookbook anesthesia-everyone gets zofran/decadron/torodol/des."

Here's hoping you'll go to that outlying facility with a more open mind and a better attitude. At our institution we aren't allowed to leave students alone either. Just the way it is. Don't take it personally.

Respectfully.

skipaway, crna

This is a little contradictory from your last post regarding your outside rotation. "Now I get to go to an outlying facility that has a whining and condescending MD staff with equally painful CRNAs. They will never leave our sides. And don't think we are doing awake carotids here, folks. I'm talking lap choles and lap appys. Home of cookbook anesthesia-everyone gets zofran/decadron/torodol/des."

Here's hoping you'll go to that outlying facility with a more open mind and a better attitude. At our institution we aren't allowed to leave students alone either. Just the way it is. Don't take it personally.

Respectfully.

skipaway, crna

Not a knock at existing CRNAs, but we wonder why we even have to go in the first place. The anesthesia group as a whole pitched a vote before signing our contract. ALL the CRNAs voted not to have students. Half the MDs didn't want us either. So there goes the "conductive to learning" atmosphere teaching or instructional sites are supposed to have. Some head honcho in the group thought it would be good for recruitment, although, suprise suprise, no one - not even people who worked there as staff RNs - want to work there as anesthesia providers after graduation.

Every student who has gone there, juniors and seniors alike, have welcomed the ending of the required month, even when that means coming back to our main facility and working call / nights. So I don't exactly think it's my attitude here.

Call me naive, but I believe there is a great difference in a totally new student showing up for clinicals and a senior student about to graduate, who has to go to a very restrictive, mostly outpatient-based, level 2 or 3 hospital after being given much earned, but also deserved, mostly free reign with decision making / anesthetic plan making at a level 1 trauma hospital. And I'm talking a AAA I did the other day solo: aline, 16 ga IV, subclavain dual lumen codis and epidural cath by yours truly then off to the room and management of duration of case with no CRNA and periodic MD dropping by. And he woke up beautifully. You tell me how doing outpatient hogwash at a facility that doesn't even want me around can relate to this.......

Don't get me wrong. I'll go with the standard smile on my face and an open mind. I'm sure I'll learn quite a bit, but the opportunities to learn pale in comparison to our main site, a level 1 adult and peds hospital, doing just about every surgery except transplants and pedi hearts. I do enough outpatient anesthetics within our main system. So what's the point? I'm almost sure they will cancel our contract, too bad it won't be before I graduate.

I realize this comes off as slightly snotty and arrogant, but I don't know else to describe it. I think it's one of those situations you just have to know about before anyone starts passing judgement.

Here's to the next month passing quickly.

Well, that's about the most realistic post I've read. School at every level is a bunch of _ _ _ _. But it gives us a change and gets us to our goal. When you finish you will be specifically trained and prepared to perform. You'll most likely love your first job because you will reflect on this bad clinical and be glad that you don't have to work in an environment like that. Good luck, I wish you a temporary haze that will lift when it is all over.

Warning.... this is JUST a RANT:

I've enjoyed reading all the other posts. This from a 1st year with 7 down and 20 to go . . .

All my preconceptions have been right especially: hard work, no sleep, no appreciation, no money, and no life.

That said, the considerations I had but have turned out false include, but are certainly not limited to: 1) time would drag, 2) I might hate it, 3) I might regret it, 4) I might suck -this remains to be determined but so far, so good-, etc.

I'm tired of care plans, I hate the fact that some people still feel the need to "defecate" on their own profession by treating students like "defecated-upon-individuals", I'm yearning to do some different things other than 10% roc, propofol & sux, and I can't wait (but am scared too) to rotate to next stop.

Best wishes for 49+ (and 41+)!

Z

i felt your pain not too long ago... and you are right - it sucks... all i can tell you from the other side is --- when it is over...it is over... kinda like labor and delivery - you kinda forget the pain...

:)

good luck

i felt your pain not too long ago... and you are right - it sucks... all i can tell you from the other side is --- when it is over...it is over... kinda like labor and delivery - you kinda forget the pain...

:)

good luck

Thanks athomas. I appreciate. :bowingpur

Yeah, senioritis is painful, these last 2 years have been the most painful of my life(i guess thats a good thing), i never thought i could bend over so far for so long, but it's gonna be worth it come august 31st at 5pm:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: