CRNA vs. RN

[CallMeDoctor2b]

Hello everyone! I am new to allnurses, so please be kind. :)

I want to go to medical school for sure, but I'm not sure what I want to be for sure. I was going to be an Anesthesiologist, but after seeing how much they had to pay for malpractice insurance-the numbers scared me away.

So I started researching medical careers, and nursing seems appealing to me. I think I want to either be a RN or a CRNA, but I would MUCH prefer to be a CRNA. The problem is, is that I live in Indiana, and from what I have heard, there are absolutely no CRNA's out here because the Anesthesiologist's hate them (which to me seems totally ridiculous)...

Could I go to school in Cincinnati, or somewhere else close, and then come back and be hired here?

If that fails, then I would like to be an RN or something else with higher pay. My concern is, is the pay. I've seen that it averages 40-50k. Do you get paid more with more experience? What is the starting salary?

And what schools would you recommend? I've also read that if you attain a bachelor's degree, you can get paid around 6k more per year. Is that also true?

[kaydensmom01]

Certainly.

So, does this mean that most four year programs are actually six years in length due to their pre-reqs?

I only ask because if there is no discernible difference between the two and four year programs why would one choose the two year over the four year? And if there is a set of two year pre-reqs for each program then that would mean a MSN is actually eight years?

What I am saying is that an Associate Degree of Nursing program actually taking four years is not unique. Look at different schools, the amount of pre-req's that you need for each will vary, therefore varying your time. There are not many nursing schools that accept you without pre-req's and that you start nursing classes right away and complete in two years.

The four year programs that you are referring to, BSN, will normally require longer time than that-unless the BSN nursing classes are completed at 3 years or less. What I am trying to emphasize is there are not many schools that accept you right into their program without doing classes prior, therefore the time in the program is not the only time that it takes to complete a nursing degree. It all depends on the classes required for that school, how you do on COMPASS testing, and how you decide to complete co-req's.

In my area pre-req's and co-req's (because you do not get accepted without completely some co-req's such as a&p and chem) can and often do taken= about 1.5 years or longer. The BSN program has other pre-reqs that you must complete before applying to the program, more than what the ADN program does. I graduated with my ADN in May, I have taken 6 classes between summer and this semester and 3 other classes while in my ADN program required for the BSN program that was not required for the ADN program and then I still have my RN-BSN nursing classes left.