Which program did you attend and why?

1. Small class size. Can a school possibly clinically educate 50, 100, 150 students a year? You have to know this.

2. At least half of your clinicals a need to be CRNA only. If all your clinical are tightly controlled ACT areas with anesthesiologist a and residents, don't do it.

3. You need to get experience with nerve blocks and regional anesthesia. Not holding the syringe and watching the MDA placing the block. YOU need to be the one doing the block. Same for central lines, spinals, and epidurals.

4. The more your potential program tells you how hard and demanding and challenging is, the more you need to raise an eyebrow. The more a program tells you that you need to study for your interview, the more an eyebrow should be raised. The less access they give you to current students, the more an eyebrow should be raised.

5. If they will even look at you as a candidate, with only one year experience, you just have to ask yourself why, you have to raise an eyebrow.

Few, if any exceptions, to these guidelines. If a program is close to where you live, or will take you despite you not being strong, or has lame reasons why they don't meet the above guidelines, please, please, please ask yourself why?

Good Luck.

Thank you! That's great advice. As far as anesthesia models go, are there CRNA only clinicals in all states? Or should I look for schools in opt out states? I'm a little fuzzy on the whole "opt-out" concept.

Ditto

Thank you! That's great advice. As far as anesthesia models go, are there CRNA only clinicals in all states? Or should I look for schools in opt out states? I'm a little fuzzy on the whole "opt-out" concept.

"Opt-out" is actually about billing, and does not actually have anything to do with actual anesthesia practice. It is a little confusing, but at this point in your careers, you should not get too hung up on whether or not your potential program is in an opt-out state.

You our can absolutely find CRNA only practices in all states, however not all schools utilize them. Some schools, especially in larger urban areas, especially in the NORTHEAST do not utilize them. The program's exist to make money, or staff medical centers and groups. They do not exist to produce full service, independent, full scope of practice providers.

I do do not and will not call out any schools as poor, nor will I say some are good. But a general trend of training exists in most east coast programs that is far more ACT based, than exists out west. The programs that are the most restrictive generally keep telling you how difficult they are, and tout irrelevant stats like first time board pass rates, all the while leaving out the fact that you placed the absolute minimum labor epidurals to graduate.

Thanks so much!! I will definitely keep that in mind

Do you have any schools you would recommend looking into?

Wow, this is a really interesting topic. Yes, please list some schools that offer CRNA only clinicals. I'm not finding much info being revealed by the schools. In particular, I want to go to Wake Forest, Columbia, UPENN.

BigPappaCRNA I'm surprised by your statement that one year ICU experience is not enough. I will have one year when I apply, but I plan on massively boosting other areas of my resume like leadership, credentials, graduate courses, etc.

Don't be discouraged if you only have a year or less. Experience is only one thing of many. I applied and was accepted to a great school with only 8 months of ICU experience at the time of interview. If you have a high GPA & GRE score, unit involvement, shadow experience, and are personable you have a good chance! And I don't think a school accepting students with only a year indicates anything negative. No reason to ask why. The person was obviously a top candidate. Good luck with your school search! I chose Pitt and couldn't be happier to start (:

Wow, this is a really interesting topic. Yes, please list some schools that offer CRNA only clinicals. I'm not finding much info being revealed by the schools. In particular, I want to go to Wake Forest, Columbia, UPENN.

BigPappaCRNA I'm surprised by your statement that one year ICU experience is not enough. I will have one year when I apply, but I plan on massively boosting other areas of my resume like leadership, credentials, graduate courses, etc.

I know Gonzaga University in Spokane WA offers CRNA only clinical in smaller, rural facilities, in addition to clinicals at a level II trauma center and a community hospital. Franciscan Skemp also offers CRNA only clinicals.

As for the minimum one year ICU experience, it is the minimum for a reason. In that first year, you're not only learning how to be an ICU nurse, but you're also learning how to be a safe and competent nurse. It takes awhile to become proficient. Also, even with certification and leadership, you would be competing with more experienced ICU nurses for spots. When I apply for CRNA school, I plan to have at least 3-4 years of ICU experience. I want to get to the point where I can expertly handle anything on the unit, and I want to be seen as someone the other ICU nurses can come to for help. I want to do RRT, charge nurse, precepting, serving on committees, possibly even do a publicized research study. While you could probably get in somewhere with one year, a few extra years will make you a stronger candidate for CRNA school.

I should have clarified. I have 2.25 years M/S nursing experience in an urban Level 1 Trauma center/ 600+ bed teaching hospital. There I was a preceptor/charge nurse. Of course ICU is different than M/S but I figured my M/S experience is helpful considering I did learn a lot about being a safe, competent nurse.

Are there CRNA only practices in urban areas? Seems like MDAs have a corner on the market in major cities.

I know Gonzaga University in Spokane WA offers CRNA only clinical in smaller, rural facilities, in addition to clinicals at a level II trauma center and a community hospital. Franciscan Skemp also offers CRNA only clinicals.

As for the minimum one year ICU experience, it is the minimum for a reason. In that first year, you're not only learning how to be an ICU nurse, but you're also learning how to be a safe and competent nurse. It takes awhile to become proficient. Also, even with certification and leadership, you would be competing with more experienced ICU nurses for spots. When I apply for CRNA school, I plan to have at least 3-4 years of ICU experience. I want to get to the point where I can expertly handle anything on the unit, and I want to be seen as someone the other ICU nurses can come to for help. I want to do RRT, charge nurse, precepting, serving on committees, possibly even do a publicized research study. While you could probably get in somewhere with one year, a few extra years will make you a stronger candidate for CRNA school.

Thank you thank you thank you. Finally someone gets it. Someone that is listening. It takes more than one year to be an adequate ICU nurse let alone to then move on to the challenges that lay head in a CRNA program. The smaller the program the more competitive, the more competitive the better you need to be, the better you need to be you need some ICU experience.

The two schools you mentioned are excellent examples of small class size and outstanding clinical opportunities. Others are, of course, any of the military programs, Midwestern, Kaiser, National University, Arkansas State, Samuel Merritt. There are others, this list is hardly all of them. Just the ones that pop into my head right now.