MinorityNurse.com

 

Response to Military Nurse/Lena Gould,CRNA, MSN

Hello Antonio

I am the founder of the Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program and former Chief Nurse Anesthetist. Please visit our website at www.diversitycrna.org to further appreciate our year long activities to increase minorities in the Nurse Anesthesia profession.

I read your comments about your concerns about the ICU experience versus the operating room experience as a a requirement in a Nurse Anesthesia Program I too, was an operating room nurse who aspired to become a Nurse Anesthetist. It was the Chief Nurse Anesthetist who told me that I had to leave the operating room and gain critical care experience in order to apply to a Nurse Anesthesia Program. Yes, you may know about patients in cases that require them to be placed in a prone, lateral, lithotomy or prone position. Also, you are aware of the special equipment needed for those cases in particular, for example, allen stirrups, prone view, bear huggers,etc. But it is the CRNA, as experienced critical care nurses who can manage a patient who is severely sick who requires invasive monitoring. These monitors that CRNAs, with the critical care experience, are trained to place the arterial lines, Swan-Ganz catheter, interpret ECGs, titrate vasoactive drugs, initiate codes, administer blood and platelets, analyze blood gases and have ventilator and airway experience. As an operating room nurse, your duties are important but are vastly different in scope.

Please note that you will be required to rotate to different sites for anesthesia experience in cardiac, neuro, labor and delivery, pediatric and general cases in order to successfully complete any program. Even in a case that requires sedation, anything can happen and you have to react in a calm and emergent manner that requires your critical care experience to make any scenario into a positive outcome.

You have to make the decision to either gain the three years of ICU Nurse position in the Armed Forces or simply acquire a position in the civilian programs. Also note that there are many Nurse Anesthesia Programs that do not require the GREs too. If you prefer, I can email you the list of Nurse Anesthesia Programs that do not require the standardized test for admission. Email me at crna4u@comcast.net.

Also, consider attending the Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Information Session Luncheon on October 10th in Miami. There will be four Nurse Anesthesia Program Directors, minority CRNAs and Nurse Anesthesia Students on the panel. Discussed will be the admission, selection process, rigors of the program, balancing family and finances, clinical, didactic courses, Boards and more! Please visit my website and click on 2009 AnnualInformation Session Luncheon in NJ and CA to view pictures from those events.

I hope this helped you in your decision of obtaining critical care experience to actively pursue Nurse Anesthesia!

Wallena Gould, CRNA, MSN
Founder, Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program
www.diversitycrna.org