r/srna

I am in CRNA school but am currently in an appeal process to be retained after failing a class. I am trying to be hopeful but am worried I won’t be retained. Are there programs out there that would take a RNSA like me? I went through a personal trauma and was offered no support from faculty after they were notified. There were also 8 students who did not pass this class which is unheard of for a program. What are my options other than appealing? I feel as though since that many students didn’t pass, it was a program issue. This is my dream career and I want to do everything I can to finish my degree at this point! Any tips are appreciated!!

I’m looking for honest advice from people who have actually been through these career paths because I genuinely feel stuck trying to figure out what direction makes the most sense for my future and long-term quality of life.

I’m 33 years old. I currently work as an ICU nurse with about 1 year of RN experience, and before nursing I worked as a paramedic for years. Right now I only have my ASN, so I still need to complete my BSN before I can even realistically apply anywhere for advanced practice programs.

Financially, I’m actually in a solid position overall, which is part of why this decision feels so important to me. I’m completely debt-free. I have about $20k sitting in a HYSA as a 6-month emergency fund and around $122k invested across my 401k, Roth IRA, and HSA combined. I’ve become extremely focused on retirement planning, investing, financial independence, and building long-term stability. I’m trying to think strategically and not make emotional decisions that could set me back financially for years.

At the same time, I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life feeling like I played it too safe.

One of the biggest things driving me lately is that I genuinely want to experience more out of life outside of work. I want to travel internationally, see the world, take multiple trips a year, and actually have the income and schedule flexibility to enjoy life while I’m still relatively young and healthy. I already know I don’t want my entire identity to revolve around working bedside forever.

That’s part of why CRNA keeps pulling me back in.

The compensation is obviously attractive, but honestly it’s more than just the money itself. It’s the idea of:

• Higher income ceiling
• Better benefits
• More schedule flexibility
• Working fewer shifts
• Greater long-term financial security
• Ability to aggressively invest and retire comfortably
• Having more freedom to travel and enjoy life outside the hospital

I know money isn’t everything, but realistically a CRNA salary combined with fewer workdays could completely change my quality of life and ability to achieve my personal goals.

But then reality hits me.

I still need:

• BSN completion
• More ICU experience
• CCRN
• Competitive application prep
• Possibly leadership/preceptor experience
• Shadowing
• Graduate-level science readiness

By the time all of that realistically happens, I’d probably be around 37–39 before even starting CRNA school, assuming I even get accepted on the first try, which I know is unlikely for many applicants.

And honestly? I don’t even fully know if I’m smart enough for CRNA school. That fear is very real for me. I know how brutally difficult those programs are academically and mentally. Sometimes I feel motivated and capable, and other times I wonder if I’m romanticizing it because of the salary and lifestyle.

I’ve also considered NP school, but the more I research it, the less convinced I become. I constantly see discussions about:

• Saturation
• Burnout
• Lower salaries than expected
• Regret over debt/time investment
• Lack of respect in some settings
• Poor job markets in certain specialties
• APP oversupply concerns

And if I’m being honest, I don’t even know what NP specialty I would truly want to pursue. I know one thing for certain: I do not want to stay in ICU or ER long-term. Bedside critical care is already mentally exhausting me, and I can’t picture myself doing high-acuity bedside nursing forever.

Part of me wonders if the smartest move would simply be:

• Stay RN
• Move into a procedural specialty like cath lab, IR, OR, GI, or PACU
• Maximize RN income
• Pick up strategic overtime/travel contracts if needed
• Continue investing heavily
• Maintain flexibility and lower stress
• Avoid massive student loans and years of school

Especially because I’ve realized there are ICU nurses making very respectable incomes already through overtime, differentials, travel work, procedural areas, and smart financial management.

I also wonder if there are other career paths I’m overlooking completely.

Healthcare informatics?
Medical device sales?
Perfusion?
AA school?
Industry roles?
Leadership?
Remote healthcare positions?
Something outside the hospital entirely?

I guess I’m struggling to determine whether CRNA is truly the right path for me… or whether I’m mainly attracted to what the career could provide financially and lifestyle-wise.

I don’t want to wake up at 45 regretting that I never tried.

But I also don’t want to spend the rest of my 30s stressed, buried in school, delaying life, and potentially sacrificing years of freedom if there are better paths for someone in my position.

If you were genuinely in my shoes at 33 years old, what would you realistically do?

The new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Nurse Anesthesia program at URochester, with a dual focus in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP), is a full-time, 36-month program designed for registered nurses seeking preparation in both nurse anesthesia and acute care management of adult and older adult populations.

That’s pretty much it. Just super excited to now be a part of the club!!

So I’m trying to study for interviews. Do you guys have any suggestions on books or online site with questions that you’ve used to look up and study?? TIA 😊

Hi all, was anyone able to waive their school health insurance with a plan other than a work plan?

I want to work part time first semester (virtual didactic) to preserve benefits, but the loss of flexibility is giving me a headache.

Please advise- ty!

i’ve been lurking on here for almost 2 years and finally got accepted! i am so excited but now the reality is setting in and im kinda terrified. i kept telling myself ill worry about finances once i get accepted and of course this is one of the most expensive programs… im embarrassed to say i really dont have that much saved and i have a year to save but even then it’ll only be 20-30k and the program is around 220k just for tuition. obviously i have to take out loans but i dont even know where to start with that. any advice would be greatly appreciated!! other questions i have:
what do students do for insurance?
how do you study properly?
i feel like i BSed my way through nursing school and never learned how to properly study and that definitely won’t fly for CRNA school. i also am so scared that im not smart enough to make it and then will end up with hundreds of thousands of loans on an RN salary. im lucky that i didn’t have any debt for undergrad and i paid off my car, therefore it makes me so nervous to take out this many loans but of course its worth it and ill be able to pay it back after.
i know everyone says to just enjoy your time, spend it with friends and family, take one last big trip and i’ll definitely do all that. i’m also trying to pick up extra shifts to save but there’s not a lot of opportunity shockingly which is an issue, im debating getting a per diem job but idk if it’s worth it for less than a year. anyway if you read this far and have any advice about loans, insurance, studying, and imposter syndrome i’d greatly appreciate it! sorry for the repetitive post and spiraling🤪

I start CRNA school this summer and I wanted to share my journey in case anyone is considering giving up after multiple applications. Believe me, there were so many times I was ready to give up. Every rejection made me question myself, but it also pushed me to improve with each application.

Background: I come from a high acuity ICU where I started as a new grad. I started applying to CRNA school with a cumulative GPA 3.36 and science GPA 3.2.

1st year applying: applied to 2 schools -> 0 interview invites. I knew it was a long shot given my GPA and only 1.5 years of ICU experience at the time. I spent the next year working my butt off. I worked up to charge, joined unit council, asked for more critical patients, and took CCRN & CSC. I also took two graduate level science courses.

2nd year applying: applied to 3 schools -> 2 interview invites -> 0 acceptances. I was so excited that all my work paid off and I was getting interviews. I was hesitant to pay for mock interviews so I went with the most affordable one I could find through TeachRN with a current SRNA. Unfortunately, my interviews went horribly. I was thrown off by many of the questions and did not feel well prepared at all.

3rd year applying: 4 schools -> 3 interview invites -> 3 acceptances. There were two things I focused on this round that I believe made these acceptances possible:

#1: I attended my state’s CRNA association conference as well as the AANA conference where I networked with faculty, program directors, and current SRNAs. These events are not cheap, but honestly so worth it. I gained so much knowledge about the CRNA profession, which provided me with a lot more content to talk about in my interview.

#2: I treated interview prep like my 2nd job. Some of my favorite resources were YouTube (Ninja Nerd & ICU Advantage), study guides from BecomingCRNA on Etsy, and Barron’s CCRN book. I highly recommend doing a mock interview with someone who is experienced and not just going with the cheapest option. I went with BecomingCRNA. I liked my experience so much that I did a 2nd interview with her as well.

If anyone is in the position I was in — discouraged, doubting yourself, or wondering if you’re ever gonna get in — feel free to DM me. I know how isolating this process can feel.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post on here because I am starting CRNA school this summer and I remember constantly searching through this reddit forum back when I was in the application process. I applied to 4 schools, got interviews for 2, rejected for 1 and accepted to my last interview.

I remember how stressful the application process for me. Working full time, studying for the CCRN and other certifications, doing leadership activities, balancing volunteer work and then on top of all that studying all the clinical and emotional intelligence questions for the interview.

It can be a lot. And I remember when I got my first rejection. It felt heavy. But, I learned a lot from the first interview. And what I learned from the first interview is actually what got me my acceptance in the second interview. So I just wanted to share on here my 2 cents that once you get that interview invite, focus all your energy on just interview prep (all the way from clinical questions to emotional interview questions).

A tip for clinical questions that really helped me is to say the bare minimum (to avoid getting yourself in a deep hole) and always know the "why" and "how" behind everything. And a great way to do that, is to practice in your daily life what you're doing and why you're doing it mentally. You're going into the patient's room, you ask them their name and date of birth. Why are you doing that? What information are you trying to get? Why do you pre oxygenate the patient? Why do you titrate this medication up or down? Why do you watch out for bradycardia with precedex? How does it effect your heart rate?

Because a lot of the information is in your head already but there is some sort of mental block that people have that prevents them from getting that information out of their head and out.

Anyways, I just wanted to write this post to say what helped me and if anyone has any questions please reach out to me!! You all got this!!!

Hi! I hope this is the right place to ask this question, but it’s been about 10 months of being in a surgical/ trauma/burn icu (new grad) and i dislike it. I dread going to work. CRNA has always been my dream I enjoy the pathology and disease processes, but the work environment, stress, and dealing with people in constant pain can be a lot. The crna I babysat for felt the same way, but I feel like i’ve only heard of people who love it or want that crashing patient. I know I need more experience, but I feel like i’m comprising my mental health in the process. I can’t tell if i’m having a transitional shock of working, or if this is not the right path/ icu for me. I recognize how important the icu is for crna school and know I can stick it out, but would like to hear others opinions.

I’m using Anki since first year, I built decks for anything, but at some point the maintenance became the big job. So I stopped using it seriously about two months ago and I used a couple, here’s what I tried:

1. RemNote

Closer to Anki, you write your notes and the flashcards generate from them inline. Better than Anki for people who want to keep the SRS logic but hate the separate app workflow. I used it for a week, is probably the most natural Anki evolution.

2. TurboLean

This is the one that actually replaced Anki for me, I upload my lecture, PDF, or video, and it auto generates flashcards and quizzes directly from your material withou a manual card creation, and the card are pulled from your actual content, so they reflect what your professor actually emphasized. The whole thing is one tool, so notes, flashcards, quizzes, summaries all in the same place. With Anki I was always context-switching between my note app, my PDF reader, and the deck builder.

3. Quizlet

Still the most widely used flashcard platform by a mile with shared decks for basically every subject, test modes, match games. If you're in high school or early undergrad and your subject has popular shared decks already, this can be useful. I don't use it day to day because I need subject-specific cards from my own materials,but for standardized tests or common courses can be a good tool

4. Mochi

This is clean, minimal, with a better UI than Anki, (doesn't feel like a 2008 relic) Import from Anki works fine. I tested it for a few weeks but it didn't stick for me because I still had the manual card creation problem, just in a nicer interface.

5. Readwise Reader

This is not a flashcard app but worth mentioning. You highlight stuff while you read and it resurfaces them automatically over time, so you just read normally and the review happens in the background. Pretty useful

I stopped using Anki but is not a bad product, the reviews were fine, and also the flashcards, but turbo is having everything in one place. I upload my lecture and I already have the summary, the flashcards, the quizzes, all from the same material. With Anki I was always in three different apps just to study one thing. If anyone's still grinding decks manually or found something better I'd be curious to hear it.

hi everyone!

one of my friends at work is leaving for school in a couple weeks and i wanted to send her off with a gift i think she may like or find useful!

any recommendations? :)

ICU nurse with 1 year of experience here. Working on CCRN, GRE, and shadowing. A big piece of advice I've heard is to learn the drugs I use at my job down to the receptor level. Do you guys recommend any books for that purpose? I have my pharm book from undergrad that doesn't have half of what I would like to read up on. General other resources I use are Barron's CCRN (not great for pharm but otherwise great) and ICU Advantage (love him I just need something I can hold and highlight and write notes in).

That’s really it. I graduate this year. Things are going fine just extremely busy and stressful. Very randomly without trigger, I have just been in a really bad place. I feel so isolated. my partner is so supportive I just feel like a complete drain of resources, all I do is take take take from my loved ones because of this season of life. I get married soon and I don’t feel I deserve it. I get sick thinking about it. Everyone asks me if we’re having kids someday and I just can’t even process that. People also constantly ask about job prospects and I am just too mentally wound up to even keep jobs straight, let alone apply and be my best self. I just saw my friends recently for a lunch date, I just feel like an alien. I even thought of how I could just easily end it with the access we have to paralytics. And yes I’m ashamed of that. And no I’m too much of a coward to actually do it. Sorry to bring the vibe down. Just wondering if anyone else feels like this. I know I need to get help I’m just really tired.

Currently in the grind of heavy front loaded diadactic and need some motivation.

Did you find that there were any unexpected perks upon graduation that made things just a little sweeter? I've never worked the OR so I've never seen that side of the world, reps, etc

Sorry edit: male here and I don’t ever wear hats or anything on my head

This thread is dedicated to potential applicants to Nurse Anesthesiology programs which will repost every monday who want to ask about:

• Are your stats competitive?
• Application questions?
• Experience questions?
• GRE?
• Volunteer work?

Please scroll back and look at old posts! They have lots of info to help.

NOTE: Posts outside of these threads will be deleted or closed and referred to these to avoid spamming the sub with the same questions.

https://preview.redd.it/fkjmoboi7jue1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4943ace11af5781268fb8be5c687b07cd796efa

Tuition for 3 years is $200k. I have been lucky enough to save $250k in a HYSA making about 3.5% interest each month. My car payment is $700 (3% interest rate, remaining balance is $40k). If I pay off my car, I have only a bit leftover after paying for tuition. I was thinking about working part time, but I don't know if I can handle both the rigor of school and work. I am moving back to my parents' home to save on living costs. But I won't have much of an emergency fund and extra money for APEX, SEE, textbooks, etc. I was hoping to not have to take out student loans, but I stupidly got a car before I found out I got into school. I am working right now up until school starts to save a bit extra money and picking up shifts here and there. What should I do?

I am consistently getting mid 60s-70s on smart bank and mock exams. I got a 498 on the SEE 6 months ago (only took it once for my program). Graduated last weekend and I just want to get it out of the way but afraid of testing too soon!! How did you know you were ready?!