I am in the process of interviewing to hopefully start school either this fall or January. My husband and I are going through our budget and finances, trying to figure out how much everything will cost.
From our calculations, we will have minimum expenses of $4,500 per month, NOT including my school tuition, books, and fees. We have been downsizing, liquidating and paying everything off. (No car loans, no credit card debt, and almost no mortgage, etc.).
One of our biggest expenses is day care. If my husband works full time, it might not be worth it. We are thinking of him staying home with our kids, who are 2 and 3. I will take out enough school loans to live off of and pay for school. However, that puts loans at about $150,000 for the entire program.
Has anyone else done this? Has anyone else taken out $50,000 per year just to live off of?
I think it would be unwise to go that far into debt. CRNA's do make good money, but I think you are grossly overestimating how much you can make and pay back. Lets say you go 150k into debt, average crna salary is 150k year. Guess how much you'll be taking home AFTER getting taxed to high heaven and paying malpractice etc.. About 100k. Then factor in interest, living expenses etc, you'll be paying on that 150k for many, many years.
I'm not a crna but I made 115k last year in acute dialysis as an RN and I can tell you that 100k+ a year isnt nearly as much as you think it is. Btw, my expenses are about half of yours. :monkeydance:
As a staff nurse I made $21.50 an hour . . . I think I'll notice a difference in my salary, loans or no loans.
I dont know personally if I would take out loans to live. I rather work and go to a program part time. The only loan I am taking is for the classes. That is $6000 a year. I prefer to work full time that way, I can make enough to cover all my expenses. My friend has three kids and working full time without taking loan to live. There are many options you can take before considering taking out so much money for loans just to live. Look around for a less expensive day care, see if you can qualify for government assistance on rent or day care. See if you can cut your expenses. Can you husband work in the home, like selling items on eBay or other ways using computer. Good luck
Please remember this is for CRNA school. Part time is not an option.
I did that and it back fired on me. I have never been one to quit anything in my life but anesthesia got the best of me. First whether you get loans or stipends you are going to be in hock when you get out but with the increase inpay you will be able to pay it off in ca couple of years if you continue to live modestly at first. However, anesthesia is a very difficult program and they do not even try to make it easy and when it came to giving up my soul and beliefs I had to stop, Now I am stuck paying back
$30,000 on a RN income (and that was just for 1 year). If you are going to do it make sure 100% what you are getting in to.. can you assist with sedation during an abortion or organ harvest (I couldn't) and the time it took away from my family was far too much.
This is a very interesting topic all around. I have thought about my own situation in comparison to some of the things I have been reading. I truly cannot think of having two kids while if I were going to CRNA school. The school part is stressful enough and to throw in the family factor and the financial factor is compounding the stress. There is no right answer, anything that you are passionate about and willing to sacrifice for an accomplishment is worth it in my mind. Looking at all avenues is the right approach. If you take a huge amount of money out and fail you are back at square 1 with a 50,000 loan at possibly a rate of 5%-9%, do the math on that compound by the time it will take you to pay that back at a staff rn salary. The kid factor your missing the younger years but if you wait you still will be missing a part of their life that they will really remember you not being around. Good luck.
It is not my belief that keeps me from wanting to participate with organ harvesting it has been my experience. I had taken care of a 17 year old in our trauma unit for 2 days before he was pronounced brain dead and then maintained him until the time for surgery so then the transplant co-ordinator asked me if I wanted to go back for the harvest. I stayed with the CRNA for the procedure and it seemed unreal to believe that they were cutting on the body without any anesthesia or pain med (what if we are wrong and they can feel the pain) Then when the major vessels were cross clamped the CRNA just pulled the the ett and all the fluids came down as the organs came out- to me that was when the patient died. I could never let a family member go through that knowing what I know now and do not ever want to be a part of it again but that is just me. If someone else can that if fine but I can't.p.s. Two days later I got to take care of the kid that received this kids kidney's...it didn't make it any better.
You should have thought about this prior to going to school. ? If a person is clinically brain dead how do are they congnizant or have the ablility to feel pain? Sedation would have been given for your sake not that patients. You need to think about what organ donation is all about. Yes someone life is lost for whatever reason but on the other had life is maintain or the quality of that patients life is improved. Being apart of an organ transplantation should be rewarding you are playing a role in hopefully rejuvenating that person life. Part of working in critical care is mental tenacity, in sense finding the balance between overly compassionate and totally disconnected of any feelings. You can't possibly deliver quality care if you become too intertined with you feelings and a patient you will lose your mind.
OK, it is 2006. A stay-at-home dad is as good as any mom-hands down! In addition, it is much better to get school over with while your children are young and probably won't remember much of you being gone. Elementary school is when things start to get busy, with all those after school activities etc....
That being said, I am 4 months from finishing CRNA school. My husband stays at home with our 3-year-old and they have the best relationship ever. Try not to focus too much on the money. When you graduaute not only will you be making great money, but you will have a job which will give you greater autonomy and satisfaction than you had as as RN. So it is not really all about the money anyhow. It won't take "30-40 years to pay it off" as someone said. Think about this.... if you maintained your same standard of living while you are in school (minus the tuition and books) and made 120,000/year afterward, you could pay off those loans in 3 years or less. Also, interest on student loans is tax deductible.
Also don't forget about scholarships, fellowships, grants and forgivable loans.... they are out there if you look- I know because I got them.
p.s. harvest cases are interesting
My thoughts exactly! I start crna school in August. I have 2 yr old twin boys and a 4 yr old daughter. My husband plans to stay home with our children for atleast the first 9 months when we have to relocate for the classroom portion of the program. We'll move back home for the clinical component. I think that if you have a dedicated spouse who is willing to do whatever it takes to see you succeed, your children will not suffer in the least. It says a lot about a mother of small children when she is not only qualified to pursue a career as a crna, but is also willing to take on the challenge of going to school while raising a family. Some might think that having children will be a hindrance, but those of us that actually have them know that they are also a major inspiration and a driving force to succeed!
Anyone know of what loan options are out there for living expenses? I need more money than the federal unsubsidized loans. I want to be able to borrow 40K but don't know where to look- Are there any that accept despite an increased debt to income ratio?
OK, it is 2006. A stay-at-home dad is as good as any mom-hands down! In addition, it is much better to get school over with while your children are young and probably won't remember much of you being gone. Elementary school is when things start to get busy, with all those after school activities etc....
That being said, I am 4 months from finishing CRNA school. My husband stays at home with our 3-year-old and they have the best relationship ever. Try not to focus too much on the money. When you graduaute not only will you be making great money, but you will have a job which will give you greater autonomy and satisfaction than you had as as RN. So it is not really all about the money anyhow. It won't take "30-40 years to pay it off" as someone said. Think about this.... if you maintained your same standard of living while you are in school (minus the tuition and books) and made 120,000/year afterward, you could pay off those loans in 3 years or less. Also, interest on student loans is tax deductible.
My thoughts exactly! I start crna school in August. I have 2 yr old twin boys and a 4 yr old daughter. My husband plans to stay home with our children for atleast the first 9 months when we have to relocate for the classroom portion of the program. We'll move back home for the clinical component. I think that if you have a dedicated spouse who is willing to do whatever it takes to see you succeed, your children will not suffer in the least. It says a lot about a mother of small children when she is not only qualified to pursue a career as a crna, but is also willing to take on the challenge of going to school while raising a family. Some might think that having children will be a hindrance, but those of us that actually have them know that they are also a major inspiration and a driving force to succeed!
:balloons: Well said! I am finishing up my first year of school with 6 year and 2 1/2 year old daughters! Yes, it can be done with an AWESOME partner! No, my children are not suffering....they see me daily! In the beginning, I thought that single people had an advantage.....I have since revised that thought.......I have a wonderful man who is doing laundry, cleaning my house, cooking us meals, doing homework with a kindergartener, potty training a toddler, and paying my bills! I have the advantage! When I get home and see my family.....doesn't matter if it was a good, great, or bad day.....I feel blessed! Not only that, but when your kid is telling everyone that they want to be a CRNA one day......talk about a conversation starter! Good luck to all!
It is not my belief that keeps me from wanting to participate with organ harvesting it has been my experience. I had taken care of a 17 year old in our trauma unit for 2 days before he was pronounced brain dead and then maintained him until the time for surgery so then the transplant co-ordinator asked me if I wanted to go back for the harvest. I stayed with the CRNA for the procedure and it seemed unreal to believe that they were cutting on the body without any anesthesia or pain med (what if we are wrong and they can feel the pain) Then when the major vessels were cross clamped the CRNA just pulled the the ett and all the fluids came down as the organs came out- to me that was when the patient died. I could never let a family member go through that knowing what I know now and do not ever want to be a part of it again but that is just me. If someone else can that if fine but I can't.p.s. Two days later I got to take care of the kid that received this kids kidney's...it didn't make it any better.
I'm not attacking you by saying this, but it is a shame that the misinformed are the ones that share their feelings on the issue of organ donation. I appreciate the responses of those defending organ donation and wish to add my own two cents.
Organ donors are legally and clinically dead before ever going to the OR. You were incorrect in your first post about providing sedation to organ donors....no sedation or anesthesia is provided for a reason: they are already dead. Yes, their heart is still beating, but they are clinically and legally dead as determined by law in all 50 states. There are strict procedures and guidelines that outline the declaration of brain death to ensure the safety of the patient. Every organ donor has to be declared brain dead by two seperate physicians that are not affiliated with the organ procurement organization in any way. Their decision is based on a bedside exam of neurologic functioning, but they of course have other diagnostic tools such as CT scans, EEGs and blood flow studies. At smaller hospitals that don't have nuclear medicine capabilities, EEGS are generally used in conjunction with CTs and bedside exam to determine brain death. If the patient has a clinical picture of brain death and they have a flat-line EEG, that is good confirmation of brain death (unless they are mimicking brain death....keep reading below). However, larger hospitals that have nuclear medicine generally do a blood flow study to see if there is any flow to the brain or brain stem. If their is no flow, that tissue is irreversably dead, meaning the patient is already dead. To declare someone brain dead the cause has to be known, i.e., gunshot wound to the head, MVA, CVA, etc., and things that can mimic brain death have to be resolved, i.e., drug intoxication, hypothermia, severe hypotension/hypovolemia, etc. That along with a crappy CT scan, no bedside neurologic function and no blood flow to the brain is as confirming as you can get that the person is actually already dead. So when you took that 17 year old to the OR, he was already dead. He wasn't able to sense or feel anything. Cross clamping the aorta and pulling the ett had nothing to do with his dying. He was already dead. Flushing the blood from the organs and infusing the preservation solution had nothing to do with his dying. He was already dead. His outcome would be no different on the unit...his ett would be pulled and his heart would stop beating. The only difference would be that several other people would die along with him...without his and his families generous gift of life.
If you could never do that or allow that to happen to a loved one of yours that has been declared brain dead for those reasons, you simply are uneducated on the whole process and that coordinator should be fired for letting you leave the OR so confused. I applaud you for being a caring nurse that is interested in the well being of your patients. However, think about the consequences that uninformed attitudes can make and try to become informed before influencing other people. There are 90,000 people on the national waiting list....5,000 of them die every year waiting. Every time I see a TV show or a movie that depicts donation un-justly it infuriates me. Little posts like yours do just as much damage....people (especially the uneducated) will take a medical professionals (you) word as gospel. That is why you need to be careful, lives can be influenced and lives can subsequently and indirectly be lost as a result.
Just so you know, I happen to be a coordinator for the Alabama Organ Center. I am a born again Christian and could not do what I do if I believed that lives were being sacrificed for others or that donors were suffering. Lumping donation in with abortion and suggesting that donors were alive and feeling during the recovery was just irresponsible for a health professional.
Anyone know of what loan options are out there for living expenses? I need more money than the federal unsubsidized loans. I want to be able to borrow 40K but don't know where to look- Are there any that accept despite an increased debt to income ratio?
There is a very informative thread on alternative loans. I'll bump it up so it's toward the top of the list. It's worth reading through.
I am in the process of interviewing to hopefully start school either this fall or January. My husband and I are going through our budget and finances, trying to figure out how much everything will cost.
From our calculations, we will have minimum expenses of $4,500 per month, NOT including my school tuition, books, and fees. We have been downsizing, liquidating and paying everything off. (No car loans, no credit card debt, and almost no mortgage, etc.).
One of our biggest expenses is day care. If my husband works full time, it might not be worth it. We are thinking of him staying home with our kids, who are 2 and 3. I will take out enough school loans to live off of and pay for school. However, that puts loans at about $150,000 for the entire program.
Has anyone else done this? Has anyone else taken out $50,000 per year just to live off of?
Expenses of $4500 per month with no debt? You guys must be living like Kings!
You're gonna need to become a CRNA just so you can support your current lifestyle!
Good luck to all!
apaisRN, RN, CRNA
692 Posts
As a staff nurse I made $21.50 an hour . . . I think I'll notice a difference in my salary, loans or no loans.