First year nursing student that is focused on getting my CRNA. How hard is the exam, really. I keep getting the whole, just study hard thing, but study hare FRE, study hard regents exam or like study hard LSAT?
Cianna Greaves
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December 6th, 2008 at 2:04 am
CRNA is supper hard! First off, you have to obtain your BSN. To get into school for your Bachlors of Science in Nursing you have to be super smart. It is very, very competitive. Once yo finish school you have to work in critical care for at least 5 years prior to applying to CRNA school. Most hospitals do not hire new grads… You are looking at investing at least 7 years into nursing, and then probably not even getting into school. With bedside nursing, no CRNA, you are looking at making beteween 20 and $50 an hour. It’s not a bad life…. Getting into CRNA school is more competitive then med school.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I’m about to finish my first semester of CRNA school! Yahoooeeee!!! What I’m about to share with you is from my own personal experience and may be different where you live.
1. So far, CRNA school is the hardest thing I have ever done in an academic sense!!!!! I have 2 bachelors degrees (which includes my BSN) and a master’s degree (in another field), and CRNA school tops them all. My A&P instructor taught medical school for years; my pharmacology instructor is a Pharm.D.; and we have to take a General/Organic/Bio chemistry class – all in the same term. Essentially you are cramming in 2 years of med school into 2 semesters (at least in my program. Some programs will combine book work and clinicals. My program does the book work first and then focuses solely on clinicals).
2. When they say in orientation that you cannot work during the program…they mean it! I started out w/ a simple 1/2 day per week job and was actively involved in my church…NOT ANYMORE! I’ve had to quit everything and focus solely on school. My poor wife and kids have had do live w/o their spouse/dad for 4 months now.
3. I was able to land a cardiovascular/surgical ICU job right out of school. Some hospitals require more experience before they hire someone into the ICU, but some are so desperate for staff that they have no problem training new grads. I started out as a nurse extern/tech on the ICU and got to know the staff and showed them that I could work hard and that I was a team player. They had a job waiting for me before I even graduated. I would recommend doing the same thing to get your foot in the door.
4. You don’t have to have an overwhelming amount of experience to get into CRNA school. The guy who interviewed me says that people who have been out of school for more than 4-5 years tend to be less successful in CRNA school. So don’t wait too long before you apply. Experience helps, but don’t let time pass you by before you decide to go back to school. Most schools require that you have 1-2 yrs ICU experience and take a chemistry class w/in the last 4 years. I got into my CRNA program w/ only 2 years experience as a nurse total! I graduated w/ my BSN in 2006 and started CRNA school in the fall of 2008.
5. How hard is CRNA school? Well, I tried to give you some idea in the previous points listed, but here is the straight forward truth…it is extremely difficult. First you have to take the GRE for you to even get considered, and that is just a general exam to assess your overall comprehension of college level math, language, and science. The actual CRNA program is difficult for several reasons: (a) you are being given an overwhelming amount of material that you must know backwards and forwards; this is material that you have to know as well as the anesthesiologists you will work with in the OR; (b) you have a short time to learn all of this material – I spend at least 9-12 hrs/day studying when I’m not in lecture…sometimes more (I’m not exaggerating); (c) you are shifting your focus from nursing care to clinical practice – instead of comfort measures and nursing intervention, you will be coming from a pathophysiological perspective and you will find some of the things you were taught as a nurse were wrong and you have to unlearn many of those things.
So, to sum things up, I had one of the anesthesiologists I know tell me that CRNA school is just like medical school. It is very difficult, time consuming, and rough on a relationship. However, it has been an amazing experience thus far. If you want to get in, just plan out your career and make opportunities for yourself by volunteering/working in the ICU (if possible). If the hospitals in your area don’t hire new grads in the ICU, then move somewhere where they do. It’s not as difficult as it may seem to get in to CRNA school, you just have to make the best opportunities w/ what you are capable. Go for it no matter what anyone says!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hi, I am a pediatric nurse practitioner. I worked in the PICU and peds ed for years and often cared for adults (18-21 years) that qualified to be treated in these units- but never worked in an adult ICU. Do you think this would be a big disadvantage for me in CRNA school? Would it be too difficult to overcome and would you recommend working as a nurse again in an adult ICU setting? Thanks