Suggestions for a Nursing Student/Question about Programs

Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN · Mar 29, 2015

Honestly, you got a long way to go my friends. While having a 5 year plan is all well and good, you still gotta stay focused on what's in front of you. You got a looooong while to figure things out. In all honesty, you sound a bit arrogant which reminds me of myself when I first became a RN, that didn't last long after someone put me in my place. Word to the wise is alway stay humble, arrogance or thinking you know is no

Bueno. Compared to CRNA school nursing school, while it is hard because you have no experience, is a joke. CRNA school is perhaps one of the hardest things I've will have ever done, thankfuly for me, I'm done in 5 months.

Now, you asked about what you can do to get ahead for CRNA school. Truthfully, there isn't anything. You still gotta graduate and pass your boards and anything you do or try to do now you won't remember 4 years down the road, so why even bother? Study hard now, do well, get good grades and pass your boards. THEN worry about trying to 'get ahead.' How many years do you have left in school? Unless you're accelerated, you agve what...2,3 more years? Plus another 2 years of experience before you apply...you got like 4-5 years to go before you even apply! Which brings me to another point, if you think that one year of experience in an ICU is enough, you're wrong. Yes there are people who have gone into school with only 1 year exp and did just fine, but you'll be a better nurse and a better CRNA with more ICU experience, take it for what it's worth.

If if you wanna learn to practice independent then you're going to have to look at places outside of Texas, the north Midwest is heavy in independent practice, it's where I'm currently doing my training and Ive done almost 35 weeks of independent CRNA only practice. You really need to do your research on CRNA scholls and other assorted CRNA school related stuff.

Bottome line is this, take a deep breath and relax, you have a lot of time to think about this whole thing. Don't rush it. Do your research. Stay humble and don't be an overachiever, no one likes a 'one-upper.' Oh and actually go shadow a CRNA for a couple days, you may come to find out it's not as exciting as you think, and trust me at some points it's reallllllly boring, but I love it!

hammerdown · Mar 29, 2015

Honestly, you got a long way to go my friends. While having a 5 year plan is all well and good, you still gotta stay focused on what's in front of you. You got a looooong while to figure things out. In all honesty, you sound a bit arrogant which reminds me of myself when I first became a RN, that didn't last long after someone put me in my place. Word to the wise is alway stay humble, arrogance or thinking you know is no
Bueno. Compared to CRNA school nursing school, while it is hard because you have no experience, is a joke. CRNA school is perhaps one of the hardest things I've will have ever done, thankfuly for me, I'm done in 5 months.
Now, you asked about what you can do to get ahead for CRNA school. Truthfully, there isn't anything. You still gotta graduate and pass your boards and anything you do or try to do now you won't remember 4 years down the road, so why even bother? Study hard now, do well, get good grades and pass your boards. THEN worry about trying to 'get ahead.' How many years do you have left in school? Unless you're accelerated, you agve what...2,3 more years? Plus another 2 years of experience before you apply...you got like 4-5 years to go before you even apply! Which brings me to another point, if you think that one year of experience in an ICU is enough, you're wrong. Yes there are people who have gone into school with only 1 year exp and did just fine, but you'll be a better nurse and a better CRNA with more ICU experience, take it for what it's worth.
If if you wanna learn to practice independent then you're going to have to look at places outside of Texas, the north Midwest is heavy in independent practice, it's where I'm currently doing my training and Ive done almost 35 weeks of independent CRNA only practice. You really need to do your research on CRNA scholls and other assorted CRNA school related stuff.
Bottome line is this, take a deep breath and relax, you have a lot of time to think about this whole thing. Don't rush it. Do your research. Stay humble and don't be an overachiever, no one likes a 'one-upper.' Oh and actually go shadow a CRNA for a couple days, you may come to find out it's not as exciting as you think, and trust me at some points it's reallllllly boring, but I love it!

Thanks for the response. It did sound like I came off as cocky, but in all honesty I am not. I know I will have a lot to learn about nursing before I think about anesthesia. But thanks for keeping me in check. Also, is there anything I can do to help me when I become an ICU nurse right now?

I feel like I have a lot of down time that I could be using to help my career. I'm just unsure of what I need to focus on. I have ordered the Rapid Interpretations for EKG book as I have read that I will for sure need to be competent in that when I get to ICU. One last thing, how do I research crna programs deep enough to know if they teach you to practice independently? All I can find out is the pre requisites and curriculum on their website. I've tried googling reviews of some programs but haven't had any luck. I'm not trying to "one up" anybody but I do like to have a plan, I don't think anything is wrong with that.

Thanks!

PTach00 · Mar 31, 2015

I think I read in other posts that you're currently in SMU program? I just applied for SMU's 2016 program. Can you give me some insight to their program?

1. Do you get good support from the school and staff? I've heard some bad reviews regarding school/instructor support.

2. Do most students feel prepared before they graduate to practice on their own?

3. Do you get enough variety of cases at your clinicals?

I've been thinking of CRNA since nursing school. Didn't land in an ICU setting right away but have worked my way up to almost 2 years in a neuro-icu. However, with almost 4 years of nursing experience (almost 2yrs ICU) under my belt, I still feel like I'm not prepared for CRNA school. I'm doubting that I won't know as much as I should? Is that a typical feeling for most students?

Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN · Mar 31, 2015

Yea if you wanna send me a PM I can answer any questions you have. Ever heard the expression - ' Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see?' It goes for everything, my experience had been wonderful actually. PM me and I can answer any other questions you may have.