Do you ever regret becoming a CRNA?

[J&B-RN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

I am currently working as an RN with one semester left to get my BSN. I have geared my entire college career towards becoming a CRNA. It has been my dream for years! I love the OR, love the autonomy, and love the salary of CRNA's. But after working as a nurse for the last year and a half I have come to realize I don't much like doing the same thing every day. I worked in a LTC facility and the Med/Surg floor and found both place to be monotonous. I love the ER and ICU for it's variety and occasional adrenaline rush moment. While I want more than anything to be a CRNA I am wondering if anyone ever gets there and gets bored...? Isn't it kind of the same thing day in and day out? Sure you might have a patient code here and there, but do you ever wish you had considered a job with a little more hands on, in the action work? I am worried that I will get there, love it for a couple years and then start to get bored like I have with some types of nursing. Has this happened to anyone??

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Boring days are good days in the OR...lol. There is something seriously wrong if you are having even an occasional code in the OR even in Trauma only hospitals like Baltimore Shock Trauma. The fatality rate r/t anesthesia is somewhere between 200-300k patients. Being a CRNA is more intellectual than what most people realize. Meaning, that most of work goes on your in your head. You should be constantly differentially diagnosing every problem, thinking ahead, and staying vigilant. The only way to really know if CRNA is for you is to spend some serious time shadowing CRNAs in different environments.