From the ICU to CRNA School with Lessons from Nurses at NTI

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Starting your journey as an ICU nurse can feel both exciting and overwhelming — especially when you’re learning to balance patient care, critical thinking, and confidence in a high-acuity environment. From mastering hemodynamics to finding mentorship and clarity about your future goals, every nurse’s path begins with growth.

In this episode of the CSPA Podcast, Jenny talks with real ICU nurses she met at the NTI Conference. You’ll hear authentic stories about learning the ICU ropes, staying resilient under pressure, and how these experiences are preparing them for CRNA school and beyond.

These powerful conversations will leave you inspired and equipped with practical insight — whether you’re a new ICU nurse seeking advice, exploring critical care nursing tips, or preparing to become a nurse anesthetist.

Episode Highlights

• Real ICU nurse advice for new nurses entering critical care

• Tips for building confidence and efficiency as a new ICU nurse

• How to stay resilient and keep learning in a high-pressure environment

• Professional growth through NTI and nurse mentorship opportunities

• How ICU experience prepares you for CRNA school and career success

Want Guaranteed CRNA School Admission? Learn More about the CSPA Money Back Guarantee here: https://community.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/6-12-month-intensive

Get access to application & interview preparation resources plus ICU Educational Workshops that have helped thousands of nurses accelerate their CRNA success. Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy: https://community.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/join-cspa

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Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Meet AJ

Hey, future CRNA. Today’s episode is all about pulling back the curtain and letting you hear real nurses share their real stories. We’ve pulled together some clips from our free Q&A coaching sessions and in-person events so you can hear the questions nurses just like you are asking and the answers you didn’t even know you needed.

Whether it’s overcoming challenges, finding inspiration, or getting clarity on the CRNA journey, you’ll walk away feeling encouraged, informed, and ready to take the next step. Let’s get started.

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Welcome. I’m excited to have AJ here who is an ICU nurse. He’s going to share some insights on ICU nursing and how he’s navigated the transition into the ICU landscape. So welcome, AJ.

Thank you. Hi.

So the first question would be, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced as a new ICU nurse, and how did you navigate them?

Developing Speed & Accuracy

I would say one of the challenges I faced was balancing speed and accuracy. So I was always double checking, triple checking orders and making sure, looking at the work that has been done before me. And, I think, that was good, but in a way also it was slowing me down.

So, I spoke with my preceptors, mentors and more experienced colleagues. We worked together, and I was able to come up with a routine that worked well for me while at the same time ensuring patient safety.

I love it. Vigilance is what it sounds like. You’re practicing vigilance, which is great.

Yes.

And you’ve relied on your resources to kind of help you fine tune how you can keep that vigilance, but also have a process that allows you to have that efficiency.

Absolutely. Yeah. And, I was able to achieve that after some practice and reaching out.

Very cool. I love that. And I like the fact that you pointed out that you were resourceful enough to rely on those resources. The next question would be, looking back, what advice would you give yourself as a brand new ICU nurse?

That’s a good question. I would say, looking back, one piece of advice I would give myself is, that you don’t have to know everything on your first day of work. 

Confidence comes with experience and practice, and experience comes with the time that you spend in the ICU. So just realizing that you have the foundational knowledge, you have the theoretical aspect of things, the clinical skills will come with time and practice and jumping on those opportunities in the unit.

I love how you mentioned opportunities in the unit. Use them as growth mechanisms to kind of soak in like a sponge.

Absolutely. And just using every patient interaction as a learning opportunity. 

Okay. That’s great. What is one patient experience that reinforced why you chose ICU nursing?

I had a patient that came in with alcohol withdrawal and they were, I would say, in a pretty bad medical state. I saw the transition since they came to the ICU, all the way until we’re able to discharge.

You could see the appreciation on his face. He was very happy, and that just sort of reinforced the feeling of, the spirit of healthcare and just being there to be able to see that we’re achieving those successes.

I agree. You know, being in the ICU, what’s hard sometimes is that you don’t always get to see happy endings, but when you do get a patient who gets to transfer to a step down or out of the ICU, it’s always a really rewarding feeling that you played a part in that transition, where they can go on and hopefully live a healthier life.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Growing as a New ICU Nurse

Awesome. So, lastly, how do you continue to grow and stay resilient in the fast paced and high pressure setting of ICU?

Yes. There’s a quote, the president of the AACN mentioned yesterday, and I think it’s a quote from Maya Angelou. It says when you know better, do better. 

So, I think, as nurses, it’s incumbent on us to seek opportunities for both professional and personal growth. One way I do that is to attend professional conferences, such as this. 

I also actively participate in the local chapters of these professional organizations.

Another way also is, when I encounter a new patient condition or diagnosis, I tend to look up a little bit about the physiology, the pathophysiology, and then I try to ask, or engage some of the providers that I’m working with, to see the intervention that we are doing, maybe like the rationale why we are doing what we are doing.

So that way, I find myself constantly learning and growing in that capacity.

Right. I love that. So now on to kind of a bonus round. One last question here is, tell me about a hobby you have and what brings you joy.

ICU to CRNA: Looking back, one piece of advice I would give myself is, that you don’t have to know everything on your first day of work.

One thing that I really like to do is, I mean, I know it’s a cliche. Everybody likes it, but it’s to travel.

I would say in the last two years, I’ve probably been to maybe ten ten countries, so far. I really do enjoy it. And, I find myself more rejuvenated coming back and in the right state of mind to be able to do more and engage in whatever activity that I want to.

Okay. And what happens if you go on to pursue CRNA? What happens if you can’t do those things as much as you like to do?

I think it’s important that I’m living, so to speak, the life that I want right now. So, the moment I’m not able to, I’ll be able to look back and say, “Hey. You know, when I had the opportunity, I had the time, I was able to do it.”

So, I think, when the time comes for CRNA school, I’ll be able to make that sacrifice because I’m working towards a bigger goal. And I know that when I’m done, I’ll be able to go back, maybe travel even more frequently and, in a grand style, so to speak.

I love it. And by the way, that was a typical CRNA interview question, and you nailed it. So good job.

Thank you.

Meet Keondria

Hello, and welcome. I have Keondria here. She’s an ICU nurse, and she’s gonna share with you tips and tricks of becoming a new ICU nurse. Would you like to share a little bit about you and your background and where you started in the ICU?

Sure. I started in the ICU in 2017, in the neuro ICU. That was my first nursing position. Almost at ten years, I think. It’s eight years now.

As an ICU nurse, I do like to help and teach different things to the younger nurses coming to the unit as well.

Awesome, well, thank you for joining us. So what would you say are some of the biggest challenges you faced as a new ICU nurse, and how did you navigate them?

Overcoming Challenges as a New ICU Nurse

I would definitely say, the critical patients- assessing them as you see what is next. Like, I knew the basics. I knew the medications. But when it got to the point where the math is changing, what do you do?

And textbook wise, it’s like, okay. You might give a vasopressor or something like that. And, you know, you have to start from the basics. Give the fluids, reassess, passive leg raise.

Like, what is the actual issue that is causing them to have a low pass? So it was basically understanding hemodynamics, understanding how to intervene and when to intervene, and, calling the provider, making sure you’re doing the right call before anything. Just implementing it, getting the right orders, and going from there.

I love that. I love how it’s just more about kinda troubleshooting, kind of thinking, like, why. Why is this happening? Yes, I love that.

Did you ever experience impostor syndrome self doubt early in your ICU career?

So I would say I experienced self doubt.

I had a preceptor that was not so friendly to younger nurses coming straight into the ICU. I did not have a master’s background.

So it was a learning curve, and it was like, you don’t know that, or did you do that right? So I definitely wanted to get into the book to make sure I was doing the right thing, reach out to my clinical nurse manager, educator, making sure I had the resources I need to support me in different decisions that I had going forward. So that would be my self doubt. 

So how I how I troubleshooted that was making sure I got the right resources that I needed.

Love that. So being resourceful and and really kind of looking for opportunities to find maybe various people in your unit who would be a resource versus the preceptor that you have.

Yes. Who was it that said “Eat your young”? I’m glad we’re going towards a positive direction, helping the younger ICU nurses come in and teaching them different things so they’ll learn more positively instead of having a negative aspect. 

And then how would you continue to grow and stay resilient in the fast paced setting of ICU?

Coming to NTI. I love it. Attending different conferences, attending educational seminars at work as well. We have impella training. We have IABP training. We have hemodynamic training. 

So signing up for those different things at your facilities actually help you stay current as well. Even if you do it all the time, there’s always room for learning. Those are things that help you stay on top of what’s actually going on and the actual clinical based evidence that’s being provided at this time as well.

Love it. Yes. And I think coming to a place like this, here at NTI, the networking is so critical, and it’s something that I know me, as a younger nurse, I never thought I needed to do to grow professionally, but you learn so much by meeting nurses from other units, from other parts of the country, and just kinda creating a network for yourself, like you spoke to earlier, support. 

Yeah. 

CRNA Interview Fun

We’re gonna end this with kind of a fun question.

Okay.

If you could be any kind of animal, what would it be? And why? I should say and why.

I would be a tiger. And I say that because tigers protect their young. They protect their cubs.

And then I would say they’re also feisty or aggressive to when it comes to things that they are very caring for. So my patients, I care for them. Gotta make sure I advocate for them the whole way. And then when the younger nurses come in or they have family, they have questions, I’m gonna make sure I protect them and make sure they’re learning the right things.

I absolutely love your “why” on that. I love that. Nice job. Thank you so much for sharing. By you giving back to the community like this, it’s so meaningful.

Thank you. 

Meet Rachel

Well, hello, and welcome. I have Rachel here. Welcome, Rachel. 

Hi. Thanks for having me.

Yes. I’m so excited to share Rachel’s ICU nurse experience. So the first question that I have for you today would be, did you ever experience imposter syndrome or self doubt early in your ICU days, and how did you deal with that?

I definitely did.

I was blessed enough to be offered a job in the ICU as a brand new nurse. So it’s definitely a lot at once. I was surrounded by super experienced nurses with twenty plus years of experience, and I obviously did not think that I would be able to take care of a patient nearly as well as they were able to.

But at the end of the day, I feel like the support that I had in the ICU; I was always told “Never be afraid to ask questions”. And I feel like that was very, very big. I feel like wherever you go, they’re very big on that. I feel like you will always get the support that you need if you do ask questions.

And at the end of the day, I was taught- as long as you always assess your patient from head to toe, everything about them, then you’ll never miss anything. 

I love that advice. And something that really stood out to me was you said “blessed”. And to me, that says that you had felt gratitude for that opportunity. A quote that stands out that I love, I think it’s by Billie Jean King, she’s a tennis player, is, “Pressure is a privilege”.

Yes.

It’s because you have an opportunity, and opportunity is growth. And that is a privilege to have that opportunity. I love that growth mindset, so thank you for sharing that. That’s awesome.

The next question I would love to ask is, what is one patient experience that reinforced why you chose ICU nursing and made all the challenges worthwhile?

What Makes ICU Nursing Worth It?

So I’m in a trauma, it’s a mixed unit. It’s a trauma neurosurgical ICU, and we’re the level one trauma center in Florida. So I had a patient, I’ve had many stories like this, but one in particular, I had a patient who was shot seventeen times, and he ended up walking out of there a few months later. I took care of him a lot.

And I had a conversation with him the day before he was supposed to be discharged to walk out, and he said he was so thankful for everything that we’ve done. And I told him, I said, “You’re the reason why we love our job”. So that made me feel so good. So those nights where I was in his room all day long, I pulled up a chair so I could chart while I was in his room because I couldn’t leave. It just made it worth it.

Amazing. I love that. Very touching. So I guess it brings me to, what do you like most about being an ICU nurse?

I tell people all the time, the thing that I love the most about being an ICU nurse is the mere fact that it’s hard. I take pride in having a really hard job. I feel like there’s meaning there.

I feel like at the end of the day if you work your butt off to help somebody, I just, I will never not find fulfillment in that. I find it makes me happy.

I love that. What resonates with me there is the challenge, that’s where you actually grow.

Yeah.

Discomfort is where you actually grow.

Yes.

And when you have a career where you face a lot of discomfort, you also equally grow.

All these questions are coming full circle. Yeah.

I love it. Oh my gosh. I love it. Actually… congratulations! Rachel has just gotten into CRNA school, so woo hoo!

I’d love to share your experience with CSPA and what’s next for you as far as what you’re excited about the most about embarking upon this career path.

How CSPA Helped

So I discovered CSPA months before I started my application process, and I had been working for years to get all the things done that I’ve heard of in the past that I would need to get done that would look good for school. 

And I was lucky to find out that, through your program, everything that I was doing, I felt like I was on the right track. So, I know you had those, those live sessions.

Yeah. Group Coaching Sessions.

I went to one of those and was able to speak with a faculty coach, and she really helped me put my mind at ease. I knew that I was doing everything that I needed to do.

And your website literally has endless resources, and that’s what I love. Everywhere I went, I was like, “Oh, there’s something else that I know that I can go through”, and it’s if anything, I told you yesterday, you’re over prepared.

So I love that. Especially with the interview process, I was able to create my own document with all of the things that the Academy provides you with. And if anything, I was more than prepared for the interview. So it made me feel really good going in there and walking out of the interview.

Woo hoo. Okay. Okay. This is a bonus question:

Okay.

ICU to CRNA: Attend small-group coaching sessions with CRNA Program Faculty inside CSPA

This is gonna be fun, but the hardest. If you could be any kitchen appliance, what would it be and why?

Any kitchen appliance? That sounds freaking good. Oh my goodness. That’s a hard one. I don’t even know. That’s a hard one.

Something not loud. I hate the blender, so definitely not that one even though I love some smoothies.Maybe I wanna be as sharp as a knife. Oh, okay. That’s the best I can come up with.

And then why would that be?

In a good way. Like, sharp, not in a physical way. In a prepared, intellectual way.

I like it. Yeah. That’s great.

I don’t think I can come up with anything there.

That’s great. That’s amazing. High five.

Thank you.

That was fun. Awesome. Those are just random interview questions that sometimes you get thrown at you and yeah, it’s meant to kinda figure out who you are a bit. You did great. That was awesome. Amazing. I’ve heard all kinds of things, like coffee maker.

Oh, that’s a good one, yeah.

Or refrigerator, and I can’t remember their reason why though. People always have, they pick random things and they explain, like, what their thought process is and then the whole point of that was just to see, like, what is it about that item. And you said, being sharp, like, intelligent, sharp. That’s perfect. Because you wanna be vigilant. You wanna stay up on your knowledge and that’s great. I’m so proud of you.

Thank you.

It’s funny because, like, I think just coming to an event like NTI in general, it kind of really brings that kind of person who really values it. Just a lot of emotional intelligence and a lot of growth mindset; I’ve interviewed other ICU nurses here with it too. I’m always just blown away. I’m like, this is so impressive.

I mean, you’re very impressive. You have that amazing mindset of just resilience and grit and just trying to turn bad things into good things. I mean, looking to take the good from all the bad because otherwise, it just defeats you. Right?

Yeah. I mean, I feel like, unfortunately, I’ve known too many people personally and myself. I mean, sometimes you just get to a point in your life, and I got to that point years ago, where it’s like you wake up and it’s like, I’m sick of feeling this way. 

You know? So you just want to wake up every day and you just want to make the best of it. And, you know, the more and more good you put out, I’m a firm believer in you will receive what you put out. So the more you do that and the more I practice doing that, the more I realize, like, that’s really true.

And that’s what you receive back. Interestingly enough, have you ever noticed this? I always heard that “You find what you look for”.

Yes.

And that comes to fruition when, like, for example, you pick out a new car that you want to buy. All of a sudden, you see them all over the world, and you’re like, I never saw them before. I decided I wanted one. Now I see it everywhere. 

It’s manifestation.

Same thing- if you manifest, you know, the good things and and finding peer support and mentorship, you will find it because you will train your brain to look for it.

I love this saying. I don’t know who said it. I heard it somewhere, but “Wealthy people don’t become wealthy by waking up every day in the mirror and telling themselves they’re gonna be poor. They woke up every day and they said, “I’m gonna be wealthy one day”. 

And they surround themselves with the right people. It’s all about who you surround yourself with, putting yourself around people who support you, encourage you, lift you up when you need it. 

That is the key to achieving really anything you want in life. It’s not off limits. You can do whatever you want. You just have to be resourceful enough to know and acknowledge when you need something.

Yeah. Like when I joined CSPA and was like “Help me, Jenny!”

Oh my gosh. Well you’re so amazing. I appreciate you Rachel. I’m so excited and thrilled for your future.

I’m so excited too. I can’t wait.

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Thanks so much for joining us! In this ICU Q&A from NTI, you heard real nurses share advice on critical care growth, building confidence, and preparing for CRNA school. From mentorship to mindset, these conversations remind us that every experience in the ICU helps shape your path toward becoming a nurse anesthetist.

Want more CRNA insights? Sign up for a FREE LIVE Q&A Session “Stand Out & Get In” to learn everything you need to know about getting into CRNA school.

Remember, every nurse’s journey looks different. Keep learning, stay resilient, and never lose sight of your goal — your CRNA dream is absolutely possible. Stay focused, stay curious, and keep moving forward. We’re cheering for you every step of the way, future CRNA!

Related Topics to Explore:

• CRNA Interview Practice Questions: Clinical & Emotional Intelligence with Answers
• What’s the Best ICU for CRNA?
• CRNA School With a Low GPA- Last 60 Credit Hour Programs
• CRNA School Costs: A Comprehensive Guide to Paying for CRNA School
• How to Find a CRNA to Shadow + Questions To Ask When Shadowing

Important Links

Join the Free CSPA Community! Connect with Aspiring CRNAs, Nurse Anesthesia Residents, practicing CRNAs, and CRNA Program Faculty Mentors who are ready to support you. Get real answers and expert guidance in a welcoming space that’s free from misinformation and negativity. You don’t have to do this alone! Join Now: https://www.cspaedu.com/community

Get access to application & interview preparation resources plus ICU Educational Workshops that have helped thousands of nurses accelerate their CRNA success. Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy: https://community.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/join-cspa

Want Guaranteed CRNA School Admission? Learn More about the CSPA Money Back Guarantee here: https://community.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/6-12-month-intensive

Get CRNA School insights sent straight to your inbox! Sign up for the CSPA email newsletter: https://community.crnaschoolprepacademy.com/email-sign-up

Book a mock interview, resume or personal statement critique, transcript review and more: www.teachrn.com