[SueBee RN-BSN]

My career is not as a CRNA as of yet, but I can tell you they don't abandon nursing. While the nursing process is always used, CRNA's must continue their education, and leadership for the life of their career's. MDA's do not. Having worked with MDA's and Crna's, I must say the nurses are better providers of anesthesia. Better from pre-op assessment, quick in the OR when complications happen, and very professional in the PACU. I can't say the same for the MDA's. Nurses pride themselves on excellent work, and really desire good patient outcomes.

[Brad_RN_Student_PA]

Originally Posted by UTRN2005

I'm not denying that the pay plays a factor. But the OP didn't mention any benefit over the pay.

Personally, I like the autonomy, the higher level thinking, the prestige, and ,yes, the pay helps. But salary is not my only or even primary concern in my decision to return to school.

I agree. Not a CRNA yet, but that summarizes the reasons that I am pursuing. Thanks for humbling some of us!

[justif99]

Jeremy,
I've been a CRNA for a little over two years, and I can't imagine wanting to do anything else. I spent 4 years in my undergraduate work not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I went into nursing because I worked in the OR as an orderly and enjoyed it very much. After working in an ICU for 2 years after nursing school, I decided to become a nurse practitioner and enrolled in school. My wife nannied for a family where the mom was a nurse practitioner and the dad was a CRNA. She told my wife that I should do anesthesia and forget about NP. Her advice as a NP was: it's very difficult to find a job, hours aren't great, and you do the work that the MD doesn't want.
As a CRNA, you can find whatever kind of job you like, working easy or difficult surgeries, just doing OB, or doing a combo. You can work 40 hours a week or less, or more if you want. Right now, I'm taking overnight call and making much more money. You can definitely make $120K/year plus.
Anesthesia is like learning a different language...it's very difficult in the beginning, but once you've learned it, it's very easy. I feel almost no stress 98% of the time. The other 2% is why CRNA's are paid well.
Anesthesia is a wonderful career. I highly recommend it.
I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.
Justin

[hell000nurse]

^^
great reply! well put.

[SueBee RN-BSN]

Originally Posted by Brad_RN_Student_PA

I agree. Not a CRNA yet, but that summarizes the reasons that I am pursuing. Thanks for humbling some of us!

Prestige is one the worst reasons to choose CRNA as a career. Look at what hubris has done to the medical profession, to the nursing profession as a whole, and to patient care. CRNA is not equal to big shot. My firends who are not in the medical profession don't even know what a CRNA is, and some nurses don't know what CRNA means.

[Dakkon76]

Jeremy,

I was 26 when I decided that I was sick of being a computer programmer / systems administrator. I had set foot in a hospital all of about 4 times... and I dreaded seeing family members that were there because the hospital scared the hell out of me. I talked with a friend who was going into the RN program on his way to becoming a CRNA and after a few weeks of thinking about it I thought that was exactly what I wanted to do.

I'm now on my last semester of my RN program, working on my BSN through another college and will graduate a year ahead of a normal BSN schedule. I'm not bragging, but I've done extremely well in the hospital just because of my work ethic and critical thinking skills. I've had lots of clinical supervisors seek out my instructors and say how awesome I was, and now just 4 days into my preceptorship there are about 4 people, including the supervisor, trying to pull strings to guarantee me a job on the unit!

I absolutely LOVE everything about nursing so far. I was really worried about having to clean up crap, how I'd deal with emotional patients, etc... turns out I'm a huge patient advocate and I can't get enough patient interaction! All the while I've been set on CRNA, and I've talked with several CRNA's in the anesthesia group at the hospital and even shadowed them. I'd recommend typing in "anesthesia" in the yellow pages and seeing if anything pops up, if not... walk up to the OR room window and ask if there is a CRNA available. So far every single one of them I've met absolutely LOVES their job and after 4 years of busting my butt, being scared to death my first few clinical rotations... I'm still going hard and fast for CRNA!

I look back now, 4 years later and think... wow, I'm 30 and a little behind the curve. Then I think... wow, what would I be doing now... at 30... if I hadn't made the decision to go back to school!? I haven't regretted it a single second, and doubt I ever will!

[I_am_Julia]

How is being attracted to the financial asepct any different than being attracted to the "prestige"?

As long as one performs as they should in their position, it doesn't really matter why they chose the profession.

Originally Posted by UTRN2005

I'm not denying that the pay plays a factor. But the OP didn't mention any benefit over the pay.

Personally, I like the autonomy, the higher level thinking, the prestige, and ,yes, the pay helps. But salary is not my only or even primary concern in my decision to return to school.

[AnxiousStudent]

Originally Posted by justif99

Jeremy,
I've been a CRNA for a little over two years, and I can't imagine wanting to do anything else. I spent 4 years in my undergraduate work not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I went into nursing because I worked in the OR as an orderly and enjoyed it very much. After working in an ICU for 2 years after nursing school, I decided to become a nurse practitioner and enrolled in school. My wife nannied for a family where the mom was a nurse practitioner and the dad was a CRNA. She told my wife that I should do anesthesia and forget about NP. Her advice as a NP was: it's very difficult to find a job, hours aren't great, and you do the work that the MD doesn't want.
As a CRNA, you can find whatever kind of job you like, working easy or difficult surgeries, just doing OB, or doing a combo. You can work 40 hours a week or less, or more if you want. Right now, I'm taking overnight call and making much more money. You can definitely make $120K/year plus.
Anesthesia is like learning a different language...it's very difficult in the beginning, but once you've learned it, it's very easy. I feel almost no stress 98% of the time. The other 2% is why CRNA's are paid well.
Anesthesia is a wonderful career. I highly recommend it.
I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.
Justin

I really appreciate positive posts such as this. They remind me why I want to go into Anesthesia one day.

[deepz]

[quote=I_am_Julia;2133655]......As long as one performs as they should in their position, it doesn't really matter why they chose the profession.[quote]

Not to quibble, but if one is to master any endeavor, and they attempt to do so by doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, they ultimately fail. So, yes, it does matter why we choose this profession.

To truly succeed we must do the right thing for the right reasons.


grasshopper d

[MediHawk]

Originally Posted by SueBee RN-BSN

Prestige is one the worst reasons to choose CRNA as a career. Look at what hubris has done to the medical profession, to the nursing profession as a whole, and to patient care. CRNA is not equal to big shot. My firends who are not in the medical profession don't even know what a CRNA is, and some nurses don't know what CRNA means.

I feel that prestige plays an enormous role in the work that we do every day. There are many individuals that spent countless hours in school--i.e., physicians, nurse practioners, CRNAs, etc. and they deserve the respect they receive. These folks are not your run-of-the-mill LPNs or two-year RNs. People recognize this and the prestige is only one of the many rewards for being at the top of your profession. And, this is not a form of hubris since those who work hard at what they do are typically rewarded, and their patients are rewarded as well for being under the care of a committed, educated practitioner.

As for your friends, although they may not understand the role of a CRNA, let alone know the meaning of the acronym, the majority of doctors and nurses do recognize and understand the CRNA profession, as well as demonstrate their respect for the type of work done by the CRNA. This type of understanding, as well as the fact that CRNAs are well paid, is what elevates the prestige of this fascinating field.