Thinking to far ahead?

SLSB2 · Oct 5, 2007

Hi Nathan -

Becoming a CRNA is an admirable goal, and there are many tough challenges to fulfilling it. Don't think for a second you would be "wasting" your time in an ICU. Adult ICU will give you the best preparation for the CRNA role. You learn to manage critically ill patients on vents with multiple drips, Swan-Ganz, ICP monitoring, etc. If you enjoy critical care, you will most likely enjoy anesthesia. If critical care is not for you, you can explore other options within nursing. There are so many roles in the nursing profession. Good luck to you!

SLSB2

tonyccrn · Oct 5, 2007

GPA is not the only thing they look at, and if you end up with a 3.6 your golden in that area.

many schools consider other attributes of the potential students, some schools put more importance on certain areas.

GRE/MAT scores

where you work

how long you worked there

what type of expereinces you have had

acquity of your patients

interviews

references.

So gpa isnt the only thing trust me, cause i managed to get in and my gpa wasnt near the best. I feel references plays a huge part! atleast it did for me.

anthony

heartrn35 · Oct 6, 2007

Hello, I am a BSN nursing student. I am in my senior year and have 7 months left till graduation. I have a GPA from my first 2 years of 4.0, this includes all the sciences and maths, my Nursing GPA is more around 3.4 right now, but I am expecting it to be around 3.6 by graduation, since I am expecting all A's this semester.
My question is whether or not I should even consider CRNA school? I do not want to waist a year in ICU just to find out that I am not even qualified.
Thanks,
Nathan

Nathan,

Oh to be in your shoes. Young, hopefully unmarried or married with no kids, little to no debt...man you are in the drivers seat. Buckle down get your year or two or three of adult icu experience, trying to take some good prerequisties (really pushing for some solid A's) and get your butt into anesthesia school. If you push it for the next 4-6 years you can be set for life if you choose. Life only gets more complicated with more mouths to feed and morgages etc. Take advantage of a simpler routine, don't worry about what everyone else is doing and just focus.

This is assuming that you are SURE anesthesia is for you. Shadow a CRNA for atleast 40 hours to get a good feel, if you like what you see (look at both the good and the bad) then you know what to do.

Hope this help.

Don't wait like I did, it only gets harder.

NathanDH · Oct 7, 2007

Nathan,
Oh to be in your shoes. Young, hopefully unmarried or married with no kids, little to no debt...man you are in the drivers seat. Buckle down get your year or two or three of adult icu experience, trying to take some good prerequisties (really pushing for some solid A's) and get your butt into anesthesia school. If you push it for the next 4-6 years you can be set for life if you choose. Life only gets more complicated with more mouths to feed and morgages etc. Take advantage of a simpler routine, don't worry about what everyone else is doing and just focus.
This is assuming that you are SURE anesthesia is for you. Shadow a CRNA for atleast 40 hours to get a good feel, if you like what you see (look at both the good and the bad) then you know what to do.
Hope this help.
Don't wait like I did, it only gets harder.

I am married, no kids. No debt. I have shadowed a couple of CRNA's but not quite 40 hours, I plan on doing some more. I just got a nurse extern position in the OR, so I hope to spend some of that time with a CRNA.

I have taken all the prerequisites that I need for the CRNA schools I am interested in. Now I am just waiting to graduate with my BSN and after a year I will apply, then if I don't get in I will just work another year. We will see how it goes, thank you for the motivation.

Thanks,

Nathan

MB37 · Oct 7, 2007

Nathan,

I'm in a similar position - 14 nonths to go on my BSN, then straight into the ICU if possible - the hospitals in my area all claim they take new grads, and the one I'm at for clinicals has a specific new grad orientation program designed for ICU wannabes. I'm also married, no kids, and will have only a little debt after my BSN ($10,000). How did you go about setting up the shadowing? I haven't done any, and don't know exactly who to call. I am going to talk to an advisor at my school once the schedule comes out for spring (2 birds with one stone, we're supposed to meet with one then anyways), since my school has a CRNA program so I can see what she recommends as far as additional prep to get in. Only downside is I'm female and want to have kids, so my timeline will be a little different than yours (and I've already talked about this on a different thread). That will give me time to pay off the current loans before I apply for CRNA though - my goal is to complete that before I'm 40 (I'm 28 now).