At a Crossroads, please advise.

[IMABSNRN]

I understand that, naturally, the SRNAs will be biased but I would appreciate some counsel, as I'm at a very difficult place right now, careerwise. I understand your time is valuable so I will try to be as brief as I can.

I am a RN in a LTC facility in a management position. I'm going stir crazy, to say the least. Day in and day out it's pile after pile of boring paperwork and QA projects. I love the hours (7a-3p)but the work is mind-numbing and hard to take. It's so bad I've begged them to let me push a med cart again, but no, they want their RNs in management at this place. Not only that but benefits suck and I've got a disabled, spouse with pre-existing conditions and the older he gets the more expensive I see it becoming.

I applied and was accepted to an adult/gero nurse practitioner program for Spring 2010, but the more I look around the less promising this line of work seems. I'm not exactly fond of spending 20k for something I might not be able to even use.

Bottom line is that I know you should go into a field for the right reasons (which are supposed to be magnanimous and all that) but the bottom line is, I've got a large family, I'm their only means of support, I'm not a paperwork person and I would rather mop floors than stay where I am with this job. That being said, I was just contacted by a nurse recruiter ata large university hospital who has offered me a chance to interview for a position on the Burn Unit. I hear the bene's are good, but I wouldn't be able to start the NP program if I take this job. It just would not work.

I've got a bachelor's in nursing and a pretty good GPA (3.3-3.4ish) and I want career advancement. Naturally, I've been eyeing CRNAs. When I had the choice in clinicals to float where I wanted it was always to the OR, so I have a fair understanding of what they do. I just never thought of myself as having what it takes to be one. I guess desperation can wake you up to explore new possibilities because I'm wondering if I could ever have a shot at becoming a CRNA, thought I'd be around 40 by the time it was over...guess I'll be 40 regardless, hey?

The burn unit is critical care, do schools accept this as experience? If not, would it be wise to use the Burn Unit as a stepping stone to another critical care area that would be recognized by an anesthesia school?

I'm sorry to be a bother, but I am at a point in my life where I can't afford a 20k mistake. At the same time I can't bear where I am anymore.