Reasons NOT to be CRNA

angel337, MSN, RN · Oct 29, 2006

Why do you need to hear bad things about the crna profession?? To make yourself feel better? If you are not doing as well in your classes as you thought you would, just accept that and try to do everything in your power to achieve what you need in order to become a crna. This is just the beginning. You have a long road ahead of you in order to complete your career milestones. Be patient and don't beat yourself up. You'll get there.

mspcrna · Oct 29, 2006

You have an interest in becoming a crna? I had a strong passion for it many years ago and followed my dreams. I have no regrets what so ever. I have been a crna since 1979. Yes the road is hard and requires a strong investment in time and money.

It is worth it 100% to make the transition. The work, the hours, and especially the income make the effort wothy of your time and dedication.

Marc

Focker, CRNA · Oct 29, 2006

You should shadow a couple crnas and determine for yourself if you think there are any drawbacks to becoming a crna. There is probably a reason noone has told you any negative aspects to becoming a crna: besides the money, time, and work it takes to get through school, there arent that many.

Trauma Columnist · Oct 29, 2006

CRNA is an advanced practice role for nurses. I am not a CRNA, but am a CNS (another APN role).

I agree with others that prior to choosing an APN role, you need some type of experience as an RN and then some shadowing time with a CRNA. It would be a real drag to go through all the work of getting into CRNA school and then you decide it is not for you.

To be honest, you need some RN experience before deciding on an APN role. Otherwise, you do risk the possibility of being "locked into" one role over the other.

To MSPCRNA - just curious, what is your educational background? The military? A couple of years ago while working in the ER, I had the good fortune to meet a wonderful nurse who was a CRNA who had her training during the Vietnam era - she was absolutely someone who I really admired and did a great job too. What impressed me most was that she was a nurse first, then a CRNA. I think CRNA's bring to the playing field more than just anesthesia, they are nurses too!

Terpole · Oct 29, 2006

angel337 said:
Why do you need to hear bad things about the crna profession?? To make yourself feel better? If you are not doing as well in your classes as you thought you would, just accept that and try to do everything in your power to achieve what you need in order to become a crna. This is just the beginning. You have a long road ahead of you in order to complete your career milestones. Be patient and don't beat yourself up. You'll get there.

I don't need to hear bad things about the CRNA profession. I don't need to feel better (I don't understand where you were coming from with this). All I want is other people's opinion on the other side of the fence. Of course, it really has no bearing on my own opinion, which matters most to me. If people think there are no drawbacks, then there are no drawbacks for them. It's just that simple. Hey, if you love your job, you love your job. And I'm not worried in the least bit about becoming a CRNA now, I'm worried about becoming a good R.N. All I'm asking is, what DON'T CRNAs like about their job.

angel337, MSN, RN · Oct 29, 2006

Lionheart said:
I don't need to hear bad things about the CRNA profession. I don't need to feel better (I don't understand where you were coming from with this). All I want is other people's opinion on the other side of the fence. Of course, it really has no bearing on my own opinion, which matters most to me. If people think there are no drawbacks, then there are no drawbacks for them. It's just that simple. Hey, if you love your job, you love your job. And I'm not worried in the least bit about becoming a CRNA now, I'm worried about becoming a good R.N. All I'm asking is, what DON'T CRNAs like about their job.

what i meant by my post was to encourage you not to be discouraged, because i got the impression that if you heard bad things about the crna profession you might feel that maybe it's not worth striving for. especially after you mentioned that you were not doing as well academically as you wanted to. the sky is the limit. you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Brian_SRNA · Oct 29, 2006

ALOT more goes into picking a canidate for CRNA school than just GPA...trust me! Do your best...take some classes to boost your GPA, and really do well on your GRE's. Also, as a side note, schools love to see you accomplish some intro grad classes to see if you can handle graduate work.

Best of luck.

TraumaRus, I like your point about being a NURSE, not just a specialized nurse.

Brian

KsMICT · Oct 29, 2006

Though I'm not a CRNA (yet!) can I assume that the day-to-day business operations (i.e. billing, dealing w/ Medicare, etc) can be a bit of a drag- as they'd be for any medical specialty? Granted, most CRNAs probably work in groups so maybe they never have to deal with that too much. I have a parent who was a private practice physician and I know a LOT of time was spent with the above items.

NurseExplorer · Oct 29, 2006

apaisRN, RN, CRNA · Oct 29, 2006

The stress level and pressure are higher than most realize.

Trauma Columnist · Oct 29, 2006

Thanks Brian.

ApaisRN - you are right. However, most APN's have a much higher stress level than a staff nurse.