Jenny Finnell has an exciting episode in store for you because she is going to share an interview with one of the students who was recently accepted into Cedar Crest College. Current SRNA Erika joins Jenny during the NTI Conference to talk about her experience and what she is looking forward to becoming a CRNA. This conversation also reveals some of the questions you need to prep for your CRNA interview. So tune in and add more information to keep under your toolbelt!
Get access to planning tools, mock interviews, valuable CRNA Faculty guidance, and mapped-out courses that have been proven to accelerate your CRNA success! Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy here!
https://www.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/join
Book a mock interview, personal statement critique, resume review and more at https://www.TeachRN.com
Join the CSPA email list here! https://www.cspaedu.com/podcast-email
Send Jenny an email or make a podcast request!
Hello@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy.com
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Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Questions To Prep For Your CRNA Interview With Current RRNA Erika
I know how painful it is to have burning questions and not have the answers. CRNA School Prep Academy has played a large role in helping mentor you along your journey to becoming a CRNA. I also equally value every single one of you because you all, in turn, become mentors in the future. This is why I started Nurses Teach Nurses- Now called TeachRN! I know the power of mentorship and I have seen it change lives.
I believe every individual nurse has a role to play in mentoring future generations of nurses. Nurses Teach Nurses is the only nurse-driven marketplace for nurses by nurses. It was developed by yours truly. I have a passion for mentorship, and I know you do as well. If you are looking for mentorship or if you want to become a mentor, you can earn income while doing what you love, which is helping fellow nurses. Head over to TeachRN.com and learn more about how to receive or give the gift of mentorship. Now back to the show.
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Why Do You Want To Become A CRNA?
In this episode, we are going to do a little something different. We are going to interview one of our students who was accepted into Cedar Crest College. Congratulations, Erika. I am incredibly proud of you. I had the opportunity to interview Erika at NTI, which is the National Teaching Institute through the AACN. They will be going to Denver in 2024. I highly encourage you to attend this conference. It’s a great conference.
It’s a great way to connect with the AANA, programs as well as CRNA School Prep Academy because we will be there. Every year, we will have a booth. That is what we were able to do this 2023. We got to interview Erika who graciously shared openly & candidly answering some questions that I had for her. Let’s go ahead and get into the first question that I asked Erika. What is it about becoming a CRNA that excites you most?
I am most excited about what I’m going to learn about myself as a professional and the size of the anesthesia role, and I’m excited to continue the variety of cases. I come from such a large ICU. I’m looking forward to all aspects of it.
She was the most excited about seeing the variety of types of cases and what she’s going to learn about herself as a provider as she embarks on her CRNA journey. That’s a great insight that she is sharing with you to tuck away. I also think it’s great that she recognizes that there is such a variety of types of cases you will do as an anesthesia provider.
There is a variety of types of cases you can do as an anesthesia provider. Click To TweetIt drives me bonkers when I hear people say, “Anesthesia is boring.” That comes from someone who doesn’t even understand what a CRNA does and all the different types of cases that we can do. In one day, where I used to work, I could do an OB case, an open heart, a big vascular case, or I could be thrown into a peds case.
There is a lot of variety and different types of patient populations, which is unique because, typically, when you come from an ICU background, let’s say the medical ICU, you tend to see medical ICU patients only. You don’t tend to get surgical ICU or cardiac ICU patients. Everyone has a heart. Everyone technically in my books is a cardiac patient, but you are not going to recover a fresh open heart in the medical ICU.
In anesthesia, you do get to see a variety of types of patients. This depends if you put yourself in that work environment. If you go work at an outpatient surgery center, you are probably going to be very limited in the types of cases you see. If you go to a Level 1 trauma hospital, you are going to see a wide variety of cases. I always tell people that your career as a CRNA is what you make it, and you have to actively seek out opportunities for yourself to grow.
If you don’t get a lot of peripheral nerve blocks, find a place that will let you do nerve blocks. If you don’t get a lot of peds patients, find a place that will allow you to do peds. You have to actively seek these experiences out. They are not going to fall into your lap. I thought that was great that Erika recognized this. Let’s get into question number two, which is what skill of an ICU nurse will transfer into the role of a CRNA?
What Skill Of An ICU Nurse Will Transfer Into The Role Of A CRNA?
One of my strong suits is if we are, unfortunately, cardiac arresting or respiratory arresting a patient and if I am on cardiac as my duty, I’m very strong with closing that feedback loop. Reading back the orders and making sure if I am going to deliver a shock for a shot of a rhythm, if that is clear, I better hear that loud voice before I’m in charge of that. I’m very firm on that feedback loop by closing it firmly and to the point.
Erika had pointed out how she wanted to create a closed feedback loop of communication. Meaning that she is making sure that the communication is clear and concise, and that she herself has understood what the interpretation was by making sure she’s repeating back and making sure that the person who she is giving communication to equally repeats it back. There’s no question of what was said or what’s being done.
That’s great. If this is a question in your interview, this is a great way to answer it because it’s incredibly important to have good communication in the OR. That’s how mistakes happen. If they happen, it’s from poor communication. That goes for any type of medical environment, whether that’s being a CRNA or an ICU nurse. Communication is huge.
I can’t tell you how many times where a surgeon may muffle something at me. They have a mask on. They are obviously watching their operation, and I can’t always expect them to take their eyes off of what they are doing depending on what the case is going on, but you can say very clearly back loud and clear what you think they said and then that gives them an opportunity to correct you.
It has saved me so many times. It could be for how much heparin they wanted. It is re-reading the dose or the communication back to make sure that there’s no misunderstanding in communication. Sometimes the OR environment can be loud, people are chitter-chattering, and there’s a lot of background noise.
When they are asking you to do something and you don’t hear it clearly, that’s how mistakes can happen, and it’s from a miscommunication. Creating that open or that closed feedback loop is so vital to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. It is a great insight from Erika. The next question that we are going into is this. Are you a CSPA member, and what did you enjoy most about the academy?
How Has CRNA School Prep Academy Helped You?
I am a member. I came to Jenny’s booth at NTI in 2022. I was in my interviewing phase. There are all these emotional intelligence questions. That was a huge help for me to gain that confidence. I took hours a day sitting aside, reading it, and getting comfortable with questions. There are a ton of great resources online and I took advantage of all of it.
Erika loved the interview prep when she met us at NTI last 2022. She was getting ready to enter the interview part of her application, which is when she joined CSPA. She dove all in and spent hours every single day going through the care learning library and all the mock interview replays, going to live events, getting involved with the community, and asking questions. She felt that it helped build her confidence and so she felt prepared walking into her interview. If you are not a CSPA member yet, I highly encourage you to join. The last question that I asked Erika is this. What type of ICU nurse are you and what is your favorite aspect of your career?
What Type Of ICU Nurse Are You And What Do You Love About ICU Nursing?
I come from a large 32-bed. I am a NICU, SICU, and CTICU nurse. We do everything. I love being a jack of all trades. I love that variety, and I’m hoping that will translate well in CRNA as well.
Another repeated theme of variety is what Erika is seeking out. How that’s going to translate into the role of the CRNA is a great match. She came from a very unique unit where she got to see surgical patients, medical patients, CTICU patients, and she felt like a jack of all trades where she got to do it all. Advancing her degree to become a CRNA felt like she was going to take her career to the next level, where she was also going to be able to see a wide variety of types of patients and populations while taking her skills to the next level.
I hope you guys enjoyed this interview. I appreciate you. Thank you for reading. We will see you next episode. Erika, if you are reading, congratulations. I’m so incredibly proud of you. Let’s all give a round of applause for Erika and congratulate her on her future CRNA journey. You guys take care. We will see you next episode.
Important Links
Fast-Track Your CRNA Interview Prep with our CRNA Interview Crash Course! https://www.cspaedu.com/4wotmlds
Get access to planning tools, mock interviews, valuable CRNA Faculty guidance, and mapped-out courses that have been proven to accelerate your CRNA success! Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy: https://www.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/join
Book a mock interview, personal statement critique, resume review and more at https://www.TeachRN.com
Join the CSPA email list: https://www.cspaedu.com/podcast-email
Send Jenny an email or make a podcast request!
Hello@CRNASchoolPrepAcademy.com
