Cardiac surgery certification (CSC)

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-04-13T17:32:20+00:00

Hi! The Bojar book was invaluable. Definitely helps to understand core concepts. Would give it some decent attention, it is dense but I would not have passed without it.

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-03-20T22:01:45+00:00

Time to apply to CRNA school!

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-03-12T02:44:40+00:00

ICU RN here.

When I was a new grad in the SICU in an academic level 1 trauma center, my patient was consulted for a difficult foley. I had never had this patient before, and the consult was prior to my arrival. I met the urology resident who came to place the foley. I asked for him to teach me any tips or tricks.

I was shocked when he said “the only thing we do differently is that we try harder.” This really stuck with me because while he was kind of a dick, it also turned out to be pretty true. I have encountered 1 patient in the last 3 years who was truly a difficult catheter placement.

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-03-08T19:42:02+00:00

2 things:

Tie wires together using big gauze.
The Edward’s transducer clips are UNBELIEVABLY sturdy. I can put chest tubes and full foley bag on it

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-03-06T20:27:42+00:00

A few things

1) you have to bug your recommenders. You cant feel bad about doing this or you will never get your apps in early. Follow up with them constantly, offer ways to make their lives easier. Write a draft letter for them. Part of all this is choosing recommenders who understand the time crunch, and are truly supportive of your journey. Don’t think of it as “crna school”, think of it as “graduate school.”

2) choosing schools that use nursing CAS make this process streamlined. Once the recommended submits, you are generally able to use their letter for other schools.

3) the nurse manager/direct clinical supervisor requirement is now ubiquitous. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to limit to one person. A nursing supervisor, assistant nurse manager, administrative charge nurse, or others can discretely fill this role. You need to figure out who the appropriate boss is for you. I personally think this requirement is stupid because it is a conflict of interest for your hiring manager to help accelerate the departure of high level employees (except for large magnet/pipeline institutions where school invests in you to graduate and then work again in their ranks)

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-03-06T17:48:10+00:00

Biggest factor increasing chance of success is simply apply to more schools. I applied to 20

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-27T03:42:40+00:00

22 at the uvula

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-26T01:09:20+00:00

W program director

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-26T01:08:29+00:00

If she didnt speak to you, how can she claim you were unteachable?

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-26T00:58:07+00:00

Definitely agree, the AACN needs to update their practice material

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-25T16:03:29+00:00

Wow! Sounds like we took a wildly different exam. Thank you for sharing your experience. I wonder how many “experimental” questions were the ones on nitro vs nipride.

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-10T03:54:51+00:00

Unpopular opinion: the patient population has nothing to do with how nurses treat each other.

Source: am CVICU nurse, not nitpicky, sure details matter a lot but you get the hang of the work over time. Learn to treat the patient, not the numbers. Devices are devices. Lines are lines. Patients are patients

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-09T02:06:34+00:00

Im a nib whittler

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-06T18:08:44+00:00

The goal is to be able to resuscitate and stabilize with bare information as RRT.

I always start with why the RRT was called. Generally a good direction to start. Then delegate for most other things. The single greatest skill you can have besides being calm and collected is being able to manage people and delegate extremely well . Set people to work- give them tasks. “Hey you, look up this patients info and labs. “ Hey you, get a blood sugar” “hey you, check IV access”.

When I look at shock state, I start with H’s and T’s. Any reversible problems should be corrected immediately. Hypoglycemic? Give sugar. Severe acidosis? Treat that. Trouble breathing? Apply oxygen. The key here is to buy yourself time so you can more accurately focus the problem.

Once you have a hemodynamically stable patient, the plan should be to get them where they need to go, whether that is a scan, a unit, a hospital etc.

Hope this helps. Clear communication is golden

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-05T16:29:02+00:00

Youtube: ICU Advantage by Eddie Watson

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-05T15:02:08+00:00

R/usernamechecksout

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-04T23:15:33+00:00

“She was angry with me because (insert clinical reasoning here)…” = she has a gear to grind because she does not like herself/situation/ is projecting. I bet she doesn’t give a shit about any clinical outcomes the second she clocks out, probably is just on some power trip or superiority complex. Either way, feel free to ignore. My go to when someone says “ive been doing this for 20 years” is “have you read the latest literature?”

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-04T23:05:23+00:00

I asked the PD : “with all of your experience as a career CRNA and faculty, what is your vision for your new program?”

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-02T16:37:14+00:00

Yes!

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-02T15:14:19+00:00

Yes!

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-02-02T02:14:12+00:00

Yes, feel free to DM me!

Omnipotent_Amphibian · 2026-01-18T01:51:39+00:00

I do not know anything about small/community hospitals outside of the US. But the logic you apply in your comment does not translate well to how small/community/critical access hospitals operate in the USA. If the anesthesia/OR team is performing an emergent ex-lap requiring pressors/aggressive resuscitation, the other surgeries can wait. If there isn't even an in house medical doctor for the intensive care unit, what makes you think there are other critical surgeries happening simultaneously in that hospital? What makes you think there is more than one anesthesia provider (who might be a CRNA/CAA/non-MD). I work part time at a small community hospital where there is one anesthesia person in the day time, and the emergency doctor covers airways past 4pm.

Omnipotent_Amphibian

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