Archive for October, 2005
Valley Anesthesia Review
Posted by: | CommentsValley Anesthesia Review course for those that know is a great three day review for preparing for the CRNA certification exam given by the AANA. This certification exam is a very extensive computer controlled test prepared for the graduate nurse anesthetist. Unlike our physician colleges we cannot practice our profession of Nurse Anesthesia without national certification……you did know that physicians can practice anesthesia without Board Certification, we cannot.
One of the great things about going across the country for this kind of review course is that you run into old friends. Josette was here in Ohio for the review course. You may recall that she is from the nurse anesthesia program at Buffalo New York. It was so great to see her and meet her friends from their program. I did not take too many pictures while at the Review Course but what I have is uploaded to flickr.
Four of us from the University of Southern California along with another one hundred and fifty some odd other graduating students sat, studied and listened to the lectures and presentation given at the Marriott Airport Hotel in Cleveland Ohio this past weekend. Todd, Elisha Christy and I traveled together from Los Angeles to Ohio this past Thursday for the review course. The presentation of the review material was excellent and gave us all a plan of action for studying for the certification exam that will come up for us in another 9 or 10 months or so. That is plenty of time to get a really good handle on all of this material. The amount of information is exhaustive and is the summation of years of studying.
The best story I heard this weekend was about this Navy guy taking the review course with us. After completing his two and a half year program and thousands hours of clinical it all comes down to this one comprehensive exam. If he does not pass on the first try the US Military will ship him out to the front lines as a staff RN. OH MY GOD, can you imagine that pressure. At least we can get a second shot at the certification exam if we do not pass it the first time. Well, we will all pass and go on with our careers so that is not even an option. However, how would you like that kind of pressure on you after several intense years of studying……pass this exam son or to the front lines with you for two years. Actually, it’s not a problem.
Elisha and DG have been getting up at O’Dark thirty every morning to get our seats in the conference room. The first morning I got into the great hall which was almost as dark as the outside landscape here in Ohio to see a figure way down in front huddled over her books preparing for the start of the day. I thought that I was nuts to get there so early but I guess Elisha and I are of the same mind. You know, “The Early Bird………..catches the worm.â€
CANA Conference in Monterey
Posted by: | CommentsThis past weekend Todd and I drove up to the CANA (California Association of Nurse Anesthetists) Fall Conference in Monterey. After a long day in the operating room on Thursday we took off for the Central California sea coast. We had to be at the business meeting bright and early Friday morning to witness the goings on partly for a school project and also to get the low down on what is really happening to our wonderful state of California in the anesthesia world.
The conference was not all business meetings and lecture. Todd and I were able to get out Saturday for lunch down at the wharf in Monterey Cannery row district for a sea side munch-out. We both were off of our tofu diets for the weekend. Besides, the wives were not here with us on the trip and we decided to let loose a little, not too much just a little. There is always next week to get back on the program of exercise and healthy living but this was a weekend to relax a bit. Both of us have been under a lot of strain from the demands of clinical rotations and needed a bit of a break.
During the conference we were able to hobnob with some of the great names in California history of nurse anesthesia but mostly we were there just to soak up the atmosphere. As seniors this year I think that both Todd and I have relaxed a bit and are enjoying these conferences a bit more than last year. The attendance in the Northern Californian meetings this fall seemed a bit down from last year but the tides on the shores on Monterey remind me that these things go in cycles anyway so not to worry. This coming spring should really be a big CANA conference some where nice. From what I have heard the next CANA conference is going to be in Palm Springs so we have that to look forward to.
One of the great things for me at the CANA conference is all of the vendors and the booths that are set up. The book seller was there with the new editions of Barash’s Clinical Anesthesia Fifth edition as well as the new Stoelting Pharmacology and Physiology in Anesthetic Practice. These are two of the must have books in my library. The new editions at first glance look like good investments especially the Barash text which has gone through extensive review. Keeping an up-to-date anesthesia library can be a daunting task but while I am a student I have determined to keep the most current texts available to me. Later on during clinical practice I will have to see which texts and books I upgrade with new editions but for now I am committed to this upgrade process. These texts are so new that Amazon does not have them listed but you can see the links to the older texts in my Anesthesia Library list.
To view all of the pictures that I saved from the trip – well not all of the pictures but some of them anyway – you can see the Slide Show at flickr.
