Where should I go for ICU to prep for CRNA school

[lalalaaa, BSN]

Hello everyone! I wants to go for CRNA route eventually. I have been an ICU nurse for 1.5 years in a level one trauma center. A lot of people have been telling me cvicu is mostly favored. Right now I am thinking if I need to change specialty: 

 I am in a big neuro surgical/ trauma ICU and I basically deal with vented patients everyday but not that many drips except cardene, levo and propofol.I am kind of getting tired of neuro population too. I recently have an opportunity to go to a cvicu in a smaller heart hospital. The cvicu deal with cardiac surgical patients but most of the time they do not have many pts intubated and pts stay in the same room until they are discharged ( meaning sometimes these patients become pcu or floor pts and I will need to take them).  They are not level 1 trauma center.

I also may have an opportunity to go to a large medical ICU in another level one trauma center and academic center, but they aren't dealing with cv surgical patients that much because their cv surgical patients go to another university hospital nearby. 

My current job is day shift and the cvicu in the smaller hospital is too, but the medical ICU is possible night shift. While I prefer day shift, I am OK to do night shift if there is no choice.  And right now I view experience more important and do not consider salary as an issue.

What do you recommend? I am very lost and thank you for all the help!

[brookalyn, BSN, RN]

Any ICU with a lot of ventilators and titratable meds is where you want to be! It is a myth that you must have CVICU to get into CRNA school. A medical, surgical, or trauma ICU can give you a lot of experience as well if you have those opportunities. I was accepted to multiple schools without CVICU experience. In medial ICU you deal with chronic and acute pathophysiologies. There are a lot of respiratory and medical cardiac issues there. At the level 1 MICU/SICU I was in, we did CRRT and I loved it! Night shift can present a lot of autonomy opportunity or learning how to run with less resources. Day vs night shift also doesn't make or break you getting into a program either. There are pros and cons to each specialty and shift. Go where you will grow the most!