Personal Experience From an Active CRNA
Before embarking on an important life journey, it always helps to learn from the experiences of others. What worked for them? What mistakes did they make that you can learn from? What lessons did they learn that can help you during your journey? What techniques worked for them? The list goes on and on which is why I am sharing my CRNA school journey with you. Was it a walk through the park? How was the schedule like? How did I thrive? You’d get to know all these and more in this post. The plan is to inspire and motivate you to become a CRNA and, of course, how to thrive while in CRNA school. Let’s take a walk through my journey!
How It Was Like In The Beginning
When I got accepted into CRNA school, I was pregnant with my beautiful daughter, Bella. My husband and I already took measures to prepare ourselves for school plus we were going to have support from our family. I remember going to orientation and being 9 months pregnant and how my classmates were shocked. They looked at my husband and thought he was the one who was the CRNA student. Imagine their surprise when they found out that I was the CRNA student!
I had my daughter 6 days before I started school! I still remember having a donut to sit on in school and also rolling a suitcase with all my tons of books for school and lecture.
I remember there were times when I said I couldn’t do it anymore. I was always stressed and anxious. I felt like I was overwhelmed but I had to keep reminding myself that this was all temporary and my future as a CRNA was going to be amazing.
Lectures And Everything In-Between
In my first semester, there were more lectures. There was Pathophysiology, Basics of Anesthesia, Physics, Biochemistry classes, etc. My second semester, on the other hand, had a combination of things. I had clinicals 4 days a week and lectures too. It was a lot but then I had a lot of support that allowed me to succeed. I remember telling my husband at one point after the first couple of weeks of having lectures and clinicals that I couldn’t do it anymore because it was too much and too hard. I told him I didn’t think I could succeed and he replied by saying that there was no option for me and so, I had to finish the program. He reminded me of how before getting into CRNA school, I had told him all of the benefits of going into the school as well as how much I wanted to be a CRNA. With that, he brought me back to a point where I told myself ‘Hey, I know you’re stressed right now but you can do this’.
The roughness aside, my second semester was great because I got to practice as a CRNA. I got to look up to my preceptors and professors and apply the information I had been learning as well as understand it in clinical practice.
Clinicals
Now, a lot of stuff you’d get to learn in clinicals are not from books. There are techniques not written in textbooks and so, you need to see them in practice which was great. During clinicals, you’d see things that you love and that make you go ‘Wow, I’m going to incorporate this into my clinical practice’. You would also see other things that you’d decide you’re never going to do. You might apply it and try it out but then, you’d know that it’s something that might not exactly work for you when you’re a practicing CRNA. So, that’s another nice thing about having a clinical rotation. You get to choose what works for you and what doesn’t.
Thriving And Graduating From CRNA School
Though there was still underlying stress and pressure, as the semesters continued to progress, I felt more confident in my practice and more comfortable being a CRNA. It made me have that “Wow, this is it!” moment. I had butterflies in my stomach when I was in clinicals and I knew that this was definitely what I saw myself doing.
So, my journey was, of course, very difficult but at the same time, it was beautiful because I knew being in school was temporary and being a CRNA permanently was going to be amazing.
I eventually succeeded in graduating and I can proudly say I did very well in school. But then, what contributed to this success?
- Having a strong support system makes things better
The support I had from my husband and family helped and made things a lot better. It, however, doesn’t mean the road was smooth. It was rocky. The support from my professor and my director also helped a lot. They were unbelievably amazing. They were there for me whenever I needed anything. They were aware that I had a family and a newborn baby and they made the program so family-friendly and motivational that I knew that even though I was struggling at times or I felt like I was on fire, I could always count on their support.
- Choosing a CRNA school with a program that suits you
For me, as my program continued throughout the years, it became more clinical-based. Once in a while, though, there were some classes. So, it was more of a combination approach program. There are, of course, different types of programs out there. A lot of programs nowadays give you all the content upfront then you do clinicals strictly towards the end of the program. There are some other programs like mine that take an integrative approach as they have lectures and clinicals at the same time. Each type of program has its pros and cons so it all depends on you.
Hence, this is an important thing you should look out for when you want to apply to a CRNA school. You should check what kind of program it offers and see which is best for you because not all programs might work for you.
- Teamwork and using a great studying technique
Another thing I can say worked for me during in CRNA school was that I was very teamwork-centered. I tried to collaborate with one or two classmates that I was close with. We collaborated and worked together as a team. This was very beneficial. I also tried to apply some of the studying techniques I used when I was in nursing school and I found out that it helped me. I graduated, passed my board exams in flying colors and then went on to practice as a CRNA.
Life After CRNA School
My first couple of years as a CRNA was in a Level One Trauma Center. I had a broad range of clinical practice there before I then transitioned into a small community hospital. That was a better fit for me. So, when you do become a CRNA, I recommend starting with a job that is going to give you a wide range of experience. If you do decide you want to focus on a particular area that you love, you can do so. I, however, recommend that when you become a CRNA, you give yourself options to do as much as you can and then, you can go ahead to focus on a particular area in the future. It’s just like when you become a nurse and you go right into ICU when you graduate. You want to give yourself a wide range of experience before you then decide that you want to move into another area.
As a practicing CRNA, this is definitely what I recommend as I’ve seen how it will benefit you in the future. So, you sure want to consider this when you graduate and are about to start practicing as a CRNA.
Was It Worth It?
Definitely! Looking back now as a CRNA with many years of experience, I can say it was well worth it. It was worth all the stress and the tears in CRNA school because I’m now practicing and I love my job. I would do it all over again, a million times! So, I’m here to say to you that if I can do it, you can do it too.
I hope you have been able to pick a lesson or two or ten from my journey through CRNA school. It wasn’t easy but with the right amount of support and determination, I was able to graduate in flying colors and you can too! I’ve got lots of other helpful CRNA-related posts coming. Make sure to stick around for them!