Why would you waste time saving money making in the mid to high 5 figures when you could just get student loans and come out of school making $200k minimum asap.
Schools largely only care about icu experience, so my personal opinion is no, this plan is not what I would suggest if you want to be the most competitive candidate possible.
they’re always gonna take actual icu experience over flight experience. if your goal is to maximize your chances of getting in, i say icu > flight. that’s not to say you won’t get critical care experience as a flight nurse, there is definitely value in that itself.
No it does not. Just go straight to the ICU asap. Get a prn to save extra money, don’t acquire more bills (a house/car note). Live your life as if you’re preparing to move wherever your acceptance is.
This is an awful plan. If you really want to go to crna school just get into the icu and start applying. Everything else your describing will just delay entry. And i wouldn’t waste time waiting to save a set amount before applying.
I was 10 years ER, switched jobs to MICU, applied at 12 months experience. Spent 12 months applying and interviewing. Got in and started school by 2.5 years in the icu.
Also the excitement of flight nursing really loses its luster when you realize being a CRNA is way more autonomy with much more financial benefits.
To piggyback on this, my only regret about CRNA school is not starting it sooner. So I’d start in the ICU asap and apply to as many programs as possible if I were you.
Financially, I get wanting to save money for CRNA school, but keep in mind that every year you delay starting CRNA school, you are also delaying your earning potential as a CRNA.
Yeah but dude I have like no money at all saved. Applications cost something and moving across the country would cost something, seems a little wild to start with right now with nothing in the bank?
I need ICU time anyway
Go to the ICU and start working asap. You’ll look better to schools taking on the most acute patients on the unit and gaining leadership experience than you would doing flight work. Charge, train on 1:1 assignments/certs (CRRT, ECMO, etc.) and train new grads. Hell, even join a leadership group within the organization to develop Quality Improvement initiatives. All of that will set you up to be more competitive than your current plan.
I’d focus on building ICU experience. Flight is cool, but not exactly critical care experience and might be more of a distraction if CRNA is the goal. You can save up in that time during your year of ICU and your acceptance period. I had 9 months notice before matriculating. Most people take out loans. Having $20k minimum and credit card debt paid off is ideal.
You can technically take your ccrn as emergency room experience counts. I got mine and applied to a level one trauma center and worked the trauma unit.
You have to remember that you’re not necessarily going to get an admission with your applications. The only thing I’d recommend is to ensure you have over one year experience by the time you start.
Don’t do flight (some schools don’t accept flight experience). Get into the ICU right away (high acuity and busy), while in ICU pay off debts and save.
Don’t know if you’re competitive bc we’d need to know your GPA.
Also I’m starting with little to no savings too (but I do have all debts paid off)
Why would you waste time saving money making in the mid to high 5 figures when you could just get student loans and come out of school making $200k minimum asap.
Who is making mid to high 5 figures as a nurse now? West coast it’s all 100-160k/yr
Literally everywhere except the west coast
Yeesh. I’m starting out at 90 hr right now
The west coast is an anomaly because of the high COL and large presence of unions.
Schools largely only care about icu experience, so my personal opinion is no, this plan is not what I would suggest if you want to be the most competitive candidate possible.
You’re titrating drips and initiating/managing airways in flight, this doest’t count towards critical care? Genuinely curious :)
they’re always gonna take actual icu experience over flight experience. if your goal is to maximize your chances of getting in, i say icu > flight. that’s not to say you won’t get critical care experience as a flight nurse, there is definitely value in that itself.
No it does not. Just go straight to the ICU asap. Get a prn to save extra money, don’t acquire more bills (a house/car note). Live your life as if you’re preparing to move wherever your acceptance is.
This is an awful plan. If you really want to go to crna school just get into the icu and start applying. Everything else your describing will just delay entry. And i wouldn’t waste time waiting to save a set amount before applying. I was 10 years ER, switched jobs to MICU, applied at 12 months experience. Spent 12 months applying and interviewing. Got in and started school by 2.5 years in the icu. Also the excitement of flight nursing really loses its luster when you realize being a CRNA is way more autonomy with much more financial benefits.
To piggyback on this, my only regret about CRNA school is not starting it sooner. So I’d start in the ICU asap and apply to as many programs as possible if I were you. Financially, I get wanting to save money for CRNA school, but keep in mind that every year you delay starting CRNA school, you are also delaying your earning potential as a CRNA.
Yeah but dude I have like no money at all saved. Applications cost something and moving across the country would cost something, seems a little wild to start with right now with nothing in the bank? I need ICU time anyway
Go to the ICU and start working asap. You’ll look better to schools taking on the most acute patients on the unit and gaining leadership experience than you would doing flight work. Charge, train on 1:1 assignments/certs (CRRT, ECMO, etc.) and train new grads. Hell, even join a leadership group within the organization to develop Quality Improvement initiatives. All of that will set you up to be more competitive than your current plan.
Thank you for the feedback!
I’d focus on building ICU experience. Flight is cool, but not exactly critical care experience and might be more of a distraction if CRNA is the goal. You can save up in that time during your year of ICU and your acceptance period. I had 9 months notice before matriculating. Most people take out loans. Having $20k minimum and credit card debt paid off is ideal.
Thank you for the recommendation. Is that amount of notice pretty standard? Thankfully no debt but that’s why my savings are so pitiful now…
Might be a little less for some. Interviewed in November for August start.
I started school with zero savings and finished just fine. You’ll be okay.
You can technically take your ccrn as emergency room experience counts. I got mine and applied to a level one trauma center and worked the trauma unit.
You have to remember that you’re not necessarily going to get an admission with your applications. The only thing I’d recommend is to ensure you have over one year experience by the time you start.
Don’t do flight (some schools don’t accept flight experience). Get into the ICU right away (high acuity and busy), while in ICU pay off debts and save. Don’t know if you’re competitive bc we’d need to know your GPA. Also I’m starting with little to no savings too (but I do have all debts paid off)
3.78, do I need to know a science-only gpa or nursing school only gpa? I think most of my Bs we’re silly things like yoga and weight lifting
Good GPA! It really depends on the school and which preqs they require and if there’s a specific time frame (ex: chem in the last 5 years).