I got into Wilmington.Ĭertificate nursing anesthesia programs were models of paternalism, in the more positive aspects of the word. All were certificate programs at the time. I applied to three schools: two in the Philadelphia area (Lankenau and Nazareth) and one in Wilmington. I had little savings and I didn’t want the burden of any more school debt. This is when I learned about nurse anesthetists and I started applying to anesthesia schools. So I was back at square one and I had to figure out what I was good at and what I enjoyed doing and that turned out to be critical care nursing. Needless to say, I didn’t get into public health school. That interview made me rethink my career choice. I went for an interview, got into a rather heated discussion about the goals of public health service with my interviewer (I only remember he said something along the lines of “A public health administrator is like a master puppeteer pulling the strings” and I thought he was the most arrogant and controlling person I’d ever encountered. I thought I’d go into public health and applied for a master’s program in public health at Columbia University. During that time, I realized I needed to get out of staff nursing. Mount Sinai had a pediatric ER and I transferred there. The medical and nursing care were fine but the work was stressful. The ICU was a renovated large room within the infant floor that lacked space and had a poor physical layout. I worked in the PICU for almost two years and it was a learning experience. At that time, Mount Sinai was in the process of creating a Pediatrics ICU and I became a core member of the first PICU staff. As a graduate nurse, I worked on the infant floor at Mount Sinai Medical Center. I practiced as a staff RN for four years before applying to anesthesia school. I moved here because I wanted to start a family (my biological clock was ticking) and NYC housing and child care costs were out of my league. Essentially, I have only worked at two places: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City and Christiana Care Health Services (CCHS).
I recently retired as a nurse anesthetist, having passed me exams for certification 37 years earlier (in 1984).