How To Become An ICU Nurse | What Is It Like To Be An ICU Nurse?

[@vvcc1450]

in my area getting a job as a student nursing assistant in ICU is very competitive, and hard to conciliate with school. I am still applying but loosing my hopes for this summer.

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

Keep looking! Hope you find something- we're cheering you on. You got this!! PS Thank you for tuning in!!

[@shiftnsix]

Persistence pays, hang in there!

[@Rzo139]

Partially agree with the whole "hospitals will only take BSN", but it doesn't mean you won't get in. I'm currently in a CNA class (prerequisite for my nursing school) and every nurse I've met has said that, yes, most hospitals do require a BSN, but every hospital will take what they can get because they can't afford to be picky with so many nurses leaving the profession.

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

Thank you for sharing! Appreciate the insights. Cheering you on!!

[@imcatboi]

Help! Offered a CVICU position a community hospital & a medsurg position at Lv1 teaching hospital. I like cardiac & all & i am deadset on CRNA! Please tips?

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

Congratulations on your job offers! Those are both exciting options and offer a strong start to the foundation you'll need for ICU experience for CRNA School. You have to weigh what's more important to you- The CVICU will start counting towards the ICU experience you'll need to apply, but as a community hospital you'll need to evaluate the acuity of patients you'll get. Some community hospitals do get "the sickest of the sick" but if yours are shipped to a different ICU then eventually you're going to need that higher acuity ICU to be competitive for CRNA. It may be worth starting in the CVICU so you can more easily transfer into another high-acuity ICU versus not having ICU experience at all if you start in Medsurg. The "level" of the hospital doesn't matter as much as the acuity does; however Medsurg won't count towards ICU experience for CRNA. I encourage you to check this post out for more details on how to be competitive for CRNA school: crnaschoolprepacademy.com/podcast/episode-158-what-you-need-to-know-to-become-a-crna-in-2024-the-playing-field-has-shifted/ Thank you for tuning in!! PS- Please join the Academy when you're ready! We offer a TON of educational content in our Critical Care Learning Library that will be beneficial for you in your new role: bit.ly/3IhYTaI Cheers to your future!

[@Garsal95]

I’d take lvl 1 teaching hospital. Community hospitals offer less growth and expansion.

[@imcatboi]

TY! My plan if I take the ICU position is to work their a year then transfer to that Lv1 teaching hospitals ICU. I judt dont wanna waste time not being in the ICU. If I take the medsurg at the teaching hospital it would take me 2yrs to transfer out. Should I take the ICU? Or stick out the medsurg?

[@Garsal95]

@imcatboi community hospitals may have lower acuity icu patients. Good place to get foundational knowledge for icu then transfer to higher acuity hospital. You can negotiate pay as well since you have experience.

[@sammm9397]

Could you please tell me becuse i also needed suggestion, who do you think have better work life balance overall anesthiologist or crna?

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

I'm a bit biased towards CRNA ;) Mostly kidding, but I can't really speak to anesthesiologist; I do however have several videos on the Day in the Life of a CRNA and work-life balance. I encourage you to check them out and make that determination. Here's a couple links to get you started-- CRNA Work-Life Balance Compared to RN: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJrdZotsd9-bors Typical Day of a CRNA: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKbFnpWdqcqth6s Thank you for tuning in!

[@keyerajade]

Do you think it’s good to travel first to save for CRNA school or just work Staff for a period of time?

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

Hey there! Great question, thank you for asking. That depends on the experience you currently have, and how you convey your travel experience to CRNA schools. Travel nurses don't typically get the "sickest of the sick" patients, and this is known to CRNA schools. They want to see high acuity. IF you have strong experience from being in the ICU *before* you start traveling, and therefore can get assigned the sickest patients while traveling, AND you can convey this fact in your resume/personal statement/interview (We can help you with all of that!) then you'll be golden. If you don't have solid experience to get the good assignments, then you should focus on getting good experience. Lastly- if you decide to travel, keep in mind that you will need LORs for CRNA School applications. It's more difficult to get these from temp assignments. You may consider staying PRN at a full-time role so you can obtain these when needed.

[@sammm9397]

Is there any way I can get into icu as a new grad?

[@born2drum1]

I just got hired on nights in a micu by me as a new grad. It’s a busy 12 bed ICU that sees intubated pts, vaso drugs, impella, sepsis work ups, strokes, balloon pumps, central and art lines. Academic center 365 beds. I couldn’t get hired into the lvl 1s by me as a new grad (they were all pushing stepdown units first), but I feel like this icu will give me great experience for now, and then worst case down the line I can transfer to higher acuity hospital if I feel the type of pts I see aren’t sick enough for crna school. Fwiw I put in about 8 applications to various icus by me and only received 1 interview, so make sure you do tons of prep to kill the interview as you might only get 1 shot.

[@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy]

Congratulations on your role in the MICU as a new grad! Fellow MICU nurse here if you haven't been tuning into my channel long :) So glad you're here, thanks for encouraging our fellow aspiring ICU nurse and potential future CRNA!