today an ER nurse... tomorrow... ???

[newfloridaRN]

Hi all;

I'm an Emergency Room RN and trying to decide what I want to do for grad school, CRNA or CRNP. Most of the CRNA programs I've looked at require 1 year CC experience. Does anyone know if ER experience counts? I don't work in a level 1 trauma center, but have taken care of many CC patients in my day and have experience with drips, vents, etc.

Thanks

[peekabooicu]

I don't know if it counts or not but I know that where I work (ICU) they prefer 1 year experience ER or ICU same if you want to work ER.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

It varies by program, but some CRNA schools accept ER experience.

[Outdoor1]

Hi all;

I'm an Emergency Room RN and trying to decide what I want to do for grad school, CRNA or CRNP. Most of the CRNA programs I've looked at require 1 year CC experience. Does anyone know if ER experience counts? I don't work in a level 1 trauma center, but have taken care of many CC patients in my day and have experience with drips, vents, etc.

Thanks

It depends on which school you want to go to. I would say your ER experience would be good at most if you do in fact have experience with drips, vents, invasive lines. I would call and speak with the program director where you want to apply, let them know what type of experience you have and then they will tell you if it's good enough or if they want you to have other experience.

Good luck

[jre]

My advice would be to transfer to an ICU setting ASAP if your want to be looked at as a competitive applicant by CRNA programs. This worked for me (started CRNA School today) I was an ER nurse and had frequent exposure to vents and vasoactive gttps as well. However, when I transferred to CSU (open heart ICU) I learned every aspect of critical care on a much higher level. The problem with ER experience is that is you have too many patients and are too task oriented to really stop and think about the big picture of what's going on with your patient. Also, the ED doctor calls all the shots in contrast to ICU where a nurse usually works with complex standing order sets that requires data interpretation, good physical assessment skills and most of all great critical thinking skills. You may or may not agree with my opinion on this but remember that all CRNAs were once RNs, and the vast majority of them were ICU nurses and have similar opinions as me. I am glad that I was an ER nurse I learned how to put an IV almost anywhere and how to work codes with the best of them, but ICU is the way to go if you realy want to be a CRNA. Good luck with whatever you choose .

[Lucy54]

I had 4 years of ER experience and a few months of ICU experience before applying to CRNA school. They gave me a pretty hard time for not having a full year of ICU, but I was accepted to the program. Usually depends on the school you're applying to.