ADN or BSN to become a CRNA

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Hello everyone,

I am currently an undergraduate student pursuing a B.A. degree in history. I have finally decided that I would like to become a RN and would eventually want to work as a CRNA.

What option would be best to achieve this goal? I currently have a 3.85 gpa at my institution and am considering applying to accelerated BSN programs (2nd degree programs). After this I plan to work as an RN for a number of years before specializing. However, I heard it might be a better/cheaper option to get an ADN and then go for an ADN-MSN program in nurse anesthesia. Some of the programs that I have looked at require a BSN as a prerequisite though so I am not really sure what to do.

Thank you for your time.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

please see: ** read first: how to become a crna faq **

from american association of nurse anesthetists

questions and answers: a career in nurse anesthesia

requirements

the requirements for becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist (crna) mainly include

  • having a bachelor's degree in nursing, or other appropriate baccalaureate degree


  • registered nurse licensure


  • a minimum of 1 year acute care experience (icu, er for example)


  • the successful completion of both an accredited nurse anesthesia educational program and the certification examination.


what does a nurse anesthesia education program include?

a program will include 24 to 36 months of graduate course work including both classroom and clinical experience with:

  • the classroom curriculum emphasizing anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics and pharmacology as related to anesthesia.

  • the major clinical component providing experience with a variety of anesthesia techniques and procedures for all types of surgery and obstetrics.

all nurse anesthesia education programs offer a master’s degree. depending on the particular program, the degrees are in nursing, allied health, or biological and clinical sciences.

for more information about the nurse anesthesia profession and its requirements, please read the documents below.

aana
- nurse anesthesia education

starting with an adn degree, still requires nurses to obtain a bachelors in nursing or science related degree. most adn programs are 3 years in length if prerequisites are not met with wait list or lottery to enter.

for college graduates with bachelors degree, one can complete a face paced accelerated bsn program in 11-15 months. these programs are intense ...graduate crna course work is even more so due to hard science nature + didactic course work of anesthesia

aacn - media - accelerated programs fact sheet

choice is always on the student on what path they take to enter and advance though the nursing profession.

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Specializes in SICU, MICU, Med/Surg, ER, Private Duty.

i never heard of RN-MSN for CRNA course. I heard of that with other MSN programs, but not CRNA. its best to go the straight accelerated BSN program (second degree) since you already have a bachelors.. however alot of CRNA programs haves prerequisites of many sciences, that wasn't required in the bachelors.. (depends on which school you applied to) look for the prerequisits, and then go to the accelerated BSN... take the prerequists CRNA science courses, while ur getting your 1-2 years experience as a nurse in the ICU..

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What if i have my adn, and want to get my bsn at chamberlain. And then after gaining critical care experience apply to a crna program? is a chamberlain bsn good enough? has anyone does this?

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Get you BSN first. If you get ADN you will be wasting another 2-3 years. However, you can go that way if you can't find financing for BSN.

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i have to go the adn route attending hondros, and then i'll probably transfer either to chamberlain or indiana wesleyan. what do you guys think about those schools? is that okay for crna school? as long as they are accredited? and hondros is currently nlnac candidate.

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I have no information about the schools you mentioned. But make sure you go to an accredited school, not a candidate for accreditation school.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
Hello everyone,

I am currently an undergraduate student pursuing a B.A. degree in history. I have finally decided that I would like to become a RN and would eventually want to work as a CRNA.

What option would be best to achieve this goal? I currently have a 3.85 gpa at my institution and am considering applying to accelerated BSN programs (2nd degree programs). After this I plan to work as an RN for a number of years before specializing. However, I heard it might be a better/cheaper option to get an ADN and then go for an ADN-MSN program in nurse anesthesia. Some of the programs that I have looked at require a BSN as a prerequisite though so I am not really sure what to do.

Thank you for your time.

I think your best bet is to go with the accelerated BSN program. Like others have already said I haven't heard of ADN-MSN program for nurse anesthesia school.

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Specializes in Electrophysiology, Medical-Surgical ICU.

I also am a aspiring CRNA....but all the programs i checked outyou have to get your BSN first

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If you already have a BA in history, an accelerated BSN is a good option. You are right! Many programs require a BSN to enter an MSN . . . these are usually the programs that are within the colleges of nursing. Some CRNA programs are not housed within the colleges of nursing but many of them are. This may open up the number of CRNA schools you can apply to.

Find an ICU that has high acuity patients to gain experience. Do your homework. What 1 program will accept as "critical care" an other may not. Your best bet is an ICU with critically ill patients.

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Greetings (first post here :))

Can I get some thoughts on this scenario please:

I have a BS in Geosciences and I'm an older student (late 30s). I am currently finishing nursing pre-reqs and making A's in everything.

I am the sole financial provider for my family of four, but am wanting a career change into the medical field (it always was my second choice and now has been promoted :)). If I go for a BSN, the program would likely mean me having to quit my job to finish the 2 year program. However, if I go for an ASN, I can likely keep my job while working through the program.

One of the CRNA schools I am looking at (down the road obviously) is UAB. They say they take ASN nurses as long as they have a BS in something as well. This seems good news to me...however, does having only an ASN (and a non-related BS) put me in a disadvantage in finding a job in an ICU in our current workforce environment?

Also, do you think the schools like UAB that take ASNs favor BSNs and therefore would I be making it harder on myself to get in? (I will likely have a high GRE score as I made a 34 on the ACT 20 years ago and have always handled standardized tests with ease.)

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Keep in mind it's gonna cost 100,000 + and come down to one test of 100 ish questions if you don't pass it (the "new" test format has increased the fail rate 4x) you still owe the money and make 3 times less.

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