Why so Interested????

I'm still a student but I became interested in becoming a CRNA after my endo and OR observation experiences. I've always been interested in surgery and i definitely like the autonomy and skill involved.

Believe it or not, CRNAs actually LIKE giving anesthesia.

I am hesitant to admit to classmates/instructors that I want to become a CRNA because so does most of the class, and I know for a fact that most of them are in it for the money. I would endure the extra school and debt even if I made the same as a regular RN, because I am so fascinated by it and truly think it is the RIGHT career for me. I know I will be happier as a CRNA than as a floor RN.

I know for sure when someone is only looking at the money when they say, "I think I want to be a CRNA, or maybe a NP." They are soo different...I would NEVER want to be a NP! They are just looking for an advanced practice role that pays a lot. I pretty much always roll my eyes when I hear that one...

I may be mistaken, but I thought Perfusionists only made around $60k and on top of that they have a hard time finding jobs? Is this right?

personally, I gor bored with Level One Pediatric ICU and Trauma. Not much else to go up to. Need a challenge.

Or perhaps they realize they won't really know what they want to do until they are out in the field working as a nurse. Why should anyone have to pin down what they will be doing before even graduating nursing school?

I'm a pre-nursing student who also has aspirations to become a CRNA, but am open minded enough to entertain the thought that I might find something else that appeals to me along the way. For now, I am the research so I can make sure I am taking the necessary steps to prepare me for enrollement into a NA program. I don't want to do something that may ruin my chances down the line, or make things more difficult then they already will be. As a side - I decided I wanted to get into something anesthesia related before I even knew what a CRNA was due to the experience I had as a vet tech. Man, how surprised I was to find out that meant I was going to have to go through an additional 2-3 years of schooling, but at least the salary would compensate for that!

The only time I have been annoyed with someone saying they wanted to become a CRNA was a particular student who said he knew one that was making $5000 a day and was a millionaire, so he knew thats what he needed to get into as well.

Me too

i'm a first year nursing student. although, nursing is a second career for me. on the first day of class an instructor asked for a show of hands of how many individuals in our class of roughly 200 planned to continue to at least a master's level of education. i was shocked to see about 75% of the class raise their hand. so many people say they want to be crna's but then made sub-par scores on the first 2 exams. sub-par as in "C"
anyways, i'm really interested to see how people's plans will change as the reality of the demands of education play out.

Couldn't have said it better triple star this quote. Thanks Pain Doc

Well, I'll go out on a limb, as a nurse on an ortho/neuro floor.....with anywhere from 6-8 patients (including general medical patients as well). I'll be skipping my happy *** to the ICU for my ICU experience to prepare me for CRNA. I do love bedside nursing, I love interacting with patients (not really their families though to be honest).....so I'm ready to get to more acute, complex cases and I guarantee after 2 years in the unit with my certification in hand, I'll be mass applying to anesthesia schools. Why? 1) Money....at least I'm honest people. I think nurses are underpaid as it is with the responsibility we carry. 2) Looking more at the patients clinical and physiological states, and upping the critical thinking. I feel at times on my floor we have dumbed ourselves down to medication monkeys and paper pushers where we really aren't "thinking for the patient" because we are so busy just finishing crap so that administration doesn't ride us rather than truly spending time with patients (in and out of the room if you know what I mean) and understanding fully what is going on with them.
Thanks for all you post here, I appreciate it, and enjoy learning from your questions/situations.