What are peoples thoughts on crnas

RNYC · Feb 13, 2010

I know a program that gets 400 apps, grants 30 interviews, and enrolls 6 per year. That should give you a relatively decent gauge on the competition The one person I know who is in school applied 4 or 5 yrs in a row and finally got in. As far as where your at now focus on getting into critical care and get the highest GPA possible. You can't apply until you have 1-2 yrs critical care (depends on the school) and from what I hear most of the people getting in have more like 5 yrs ICU exp.

Theres a lot of nurses who think CRNA before even getting out of BSN programs (I was once in this mentality) but focus on strong ICU experience first in an adult ICU and temper expectation - people getting in with 1 yr experience are likely very few! Hope this helps.

ITALY123 · Feb 13, 2010

Hey thanks for the advice. I plan on getting a job in the CCU once I am done with school. It should be fairly easy to work my way up in the hospital. I have been working there for 2 years now as a lab tech/phlebotomist.:redbeathe:redbeathe

sunnycalifRN · Feb 13, 2010

A good place to post this question is the pre-crna inquiry forum. Also, there are many threads there along the lines of your question.

PMFB-RN, RN · Feb 13, 2010

Everybody I know who has applied has got in on their first or second try. Last year 8 nurses (out of about 56 total) from our ICU went off to CRNA school. It doesn't seem to be hard to get into. Have great grades, particularly in your sciences. Get great experience. A couple years at least in, perferably, a busy adult SICU or CVICU. Get your CCRN and if not accepted on your first try take a couple graduate classes before you re-apply and you should be a shoe in.

RNYC · Feb 13, 2010

Everybody I know who has applied has got in on their first or second try. Last year 8 nurses (out of about 56 total) from our ICU went off to CRNA school. It doesn't seem to be hard to get into. Have great grades, particularly in your sciences. Get great experience. A couple years at least in, perferably, a busy adult SICU or CVICU. Get your CCRN and if not accepted on your first try take a couple graduate classes before you re-apply and you should be a shoe in.

That ridiculous...your ill informed. Thats like saying its easy to win the lottery. Have you actually called admissions commitees and talked to them? I have.

The only factor that makes it much easier is to be willing to relocate - that lowers the odds considerably.

AggieQT · Feb 13, 2010

Hey now... lets not attack people... just because you don't agree with someones post does not make them "ill informed" They may live in a region of the country that does not have huge masses applying for CRNA school. That poster was stating their perspective, you posted yours. Lets be courteous to one another and respect different opinions.

Argo · Feb 13, 2010

That ridiculous...your ill informed. Thats like saying its easy to win the lottery. Have you actually called admissions commitees and talked to them? I have.
The only factor that makes it much easier is to be willing to relocate - that lowers the odds considerably.

They might be ill informed or you might be unwilling to budge..... I also knew 4 nurses all that got accepted on their first go around in TX schools. One other that took 3 trys because of lack of experience and bad grades(relatively)....

As far as the job, the 7 CRNAs that I have working in my OR love it and make a tad over $200k a year.

RNYC · Feb 13, 2010

Thats different - they have super high GPAs and the proper experience and they are in. You knew 4 smart people.

r0b0tafflicti0n · Feb 13, 2010

Pitt's anesthesia program has their own website (I'm not going into anesthesia nor interested in it AT ALL. . .chem is about at the bottom of my list of interests). There's a FAQ section as well.

http://www.pitt.edu/~napcrna/frameset.htm

Might be helpful to you.

krisjazzer13 · Feb 13, 2010

I am only a first year SRNA in a 3 year program, so I don't have much anesthesia experience to draw on (yet!) but I can offer my thoughts on program admission and my classmate profile.....many students in my class have on average probably 2-5 years of ICU experience...some more (9 years +),and one student had only one year. Experience in type of ICU is varied, but most programs prefer level one trauma centers with large surgical or CV ICUs. If you had two years or less at the start of the program, you are required to continue working a certain amount of hours during your first year (which for us is all didactic) in order to gain/keep skills fresh.

My school does not require the CCRN, but it does look nice on your application as something to stand out from the rest, since the majority of applicants will have stellar GPAs and GRE scores---they do, however require organic chemistry. Each school is different in their requirements and some require organic chem, physics, biostatistics, etc, so try and register for a couple of classes if you can fit them into your work schedule (some prereqs can even be taken online, such as grad level stats and organic chem)--and school directors love to see that you've completed some coursework already prior to admission. If you want to be a CRNA, go for it! It's a lot of hard work (haha believe me, as I'm seeing already in my demanding classes--and it only gets more difficult after this!) and admissions are getting tougher, but if you really want to do it, you will pull out all the stops. Best of luck!:)

skipaway · Feb 13, 2010

Hello, I am about to finish my BSN but I really love anethesia.

Just wondering how you really know that you "love anesthesia"? Did you do a rotation in school or is it just a thought that you might like it?

Suggestions in order of importance:

Experience

Great Undergrad GPA especially in Sciences

Shadow a CRNA ( not in my opinion an MD b/c that' not going to be your profession)