Why so Interested????

MoLee228 · May 13, 2009

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...

nursingdude78 · May 15, 2009

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?

Qwiigley, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA · May 29, 2009

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

tfleuter, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2009

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...

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.

XIGRIS · Jun 4, 2009

Believe it or not, CRNAs actually LIKE giving anesthesia.

Me too

hallcrest · Jun 13, 2009

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.

CRNA2007 · Jun 17, 2009

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

The number 1-3 reasons are: 1. money 2. money 3. money. The position is for the most part that of a technician since anesthesia has become so very safe due to advances in monitoring, medications, and understanding of the physiology. Virtually 99% of the time, one can give virtually identical drugs to a patient and have an identical outcome. Most of the time it can be terribly boring, but I have known many CRNAs that read journals, newspapers, crank up rock music on their iPods, etc in order to reduce the tedium. There is very little patient interaction compared to a ward nurse, and many CRNAs like it that way (patients who are under general anesthesia rarely complain about their bowel function, their family mistreating them, etc). Oh, and by the way, $120K is less than the 10th percentile for CRNA salaries in most markets. Some CRNAs make $200-250K.

NRSNFL · Jun 24, 2009

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.

Scooby484k · Jul 2, 2009

NRSNFL, great response! I'm in total agreement with you, also considering jumping onto the anesthesia wagon at some point. I'm in an ICU, a bit sick of all the paperwork/double-documenting and constantly playing the middle man (while being underpaid), and frankly missing the detail-oriented, specialized activities that I thought I'd be doing more of when I started here. The ICU can be great at times, but I need more of a challenge. Autonomy is fantastic, too. We'll see if I decide to make the jump into CRNA school -- it's a huge time, financial, and mental investment, and I can't say I'd make it just for the money... although I won't lie and say it's not a nice reward for putting my nose to the grindstone.

KimQCRNA · Jul 8, 2009

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...

Wow......you are so right. There's nothing similar between CRNAs and NPs.......and the money's great, you'll need it to pay back what you spend on school and missed time from RN work.....but that's not the main thing. Money won't make you happy. The work is what I love. The physiology, the pharmacology, the big one for me was AUTONOMY.....not asking some intern for a Lasix order when I as the ICU nurse knew what the patient needed........so that was a huge motivator for me. Also one patient at a time.......most of my life was in the ER where we had an infinite number of patients.........more incoming at all times and the older patients NEVER LEAVE......at least not for hours and hours......so just one patient, no matter how sick, was always attractive to me.

On a side note, and this is kind of sad.......when I finished anesthesia school and was being wined and dined by different groups, finally took a job, the respect with which I was treated was amazing. I didn't realize this until after graduation. I was a nurse for 20 years before going back to CRNA school and I wouldn't trade a minute of my nursing experience. But I know how badly hospitals treat nurses......its like being married to an abuser....then the CRNA world is like finally having a loving respectful spouse. That's the best analogy I can come up with with only one cup of coffee on board....

But people that only go into anesthesia for the money are missing it....and there are people that do this. I wanted to take my nursing care to the next level and for me, anesthesia is the best form of nursing. Patient advocate, vital signs monitor, more than what Paindoc said as "just a technician"...you have to use your brain, give hemodynamically altering drugs at appropriate times, have multiple skills, and use all the knowledge and skill God gave you every day. I can't think of anything I'd rather do......and patients are generally much more appreciative of our skills....we are very popular.....and especially OB patients love us......when the labor becomes more tolerable, we are their best bud.....

Just some thoughts.......God bless all;)

boynurse2 · Jul 16, 2009

That's true that admin treats you like a credit card bill as a regular staff nurse but there's more to the story. I worked 10yrs before starting anesthesia school and thought everyone loved anesthesia. Not so. In the OR it's always our fault no matter the circumstance from the circulators to scrubs to the surgeons and even anesthesia techs. There are a lot of jealous people who think they should be doing our job. They are better than us and hate that we are making a killing (or going to). But for some reason, the doctors deserve good pay but not anesthesia.

The income has shrunk and so has the job availability currently. There is an anesthesia group in Nashville that use to pay for schooling once a student was accepted into school but not currently. Starting pay in Nashville and Atlanta is humming around 110000 if you actually find a job. Locum tenums (PRN) is non-existant unless you go over an hour or more away.

I love practicing anesthesia. It's an enjoyable career. After I pay off nearly 60,000 in school tuition and over 150,000 family living expenses because of no work with school, then I will enjoy the income.