Becoming RN solely to become CRNA

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How many people do that? Is it advisable? Did you / would you?

Specializes in ICU-CCRN, CVICU, SRNA.

In school I had a hunch, but as soon as I got into critical care I was sure..The only things that were interesting to me were the lines, hemodynamics, technology and drip/pharmacodynamics..Im very introverted and patient care felt like a sidetrack from what I really liked..Soo..Im starting the program in few months and will see if my intuition was right..Nothing wrong with having goals and working towards them..oh, I forgot nurses are supposed to be pure and not have any aspirations besides bedside..

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

Lot's and lot's of people only go to nursing school as a pre-req for CRNA school. That is exactly why one of the hospitals where I work no longer hires new grad BSNs into it's Critical Care Nurse Residency for the SICU. The residency requires a two year contract after the 7 month program. Very few of the BSN grads were finishing their contracts before going off to CRNA school vs (so far) 100% of ADN grads finishing their contracts.

In my class of 9 there were 7 BSN grads and two ADNs (including me). Not one of the BSN grads finished their contract. 6 of the 7 went to CRNA school. The hospital and unit got tired of spending vast amounts of money training ICU nurses and not getting a return on their investment.

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Specializes in School Nurse.
In school I had a hunch, but as soon as I got into critical care I was sure..The only things that were interesting to me were the lines, hemodynamics, technology and drip/pharmacodynamics..Im very introverted and patient care felt like a sidetrack from what I really liked..Soo..Im starting the program in few months and will see if my intuition was right..Nothing wrong with having goals and working towards them..oh, I forgot nurses are supposed to be pure and not have any aspirations besides bedside..

Huh - this sounds like me. I am a people person, but I know what you mean by being interested in the lines, vents (only worked with them in the home care setting) and all the wonderful technology. In school I though psych was my thing so, after graduation, did a couple years of medical and surgical work to get me comfortable with that side of nuring, but with the idea that i would work in psych for my whole career. Took awhile, but realized psych really wasn't for me.

I've been doing school nursing for 6 years now, and it fits well because I'm a single mom, but budget fears have me looking in yet another direction. Critical care has interested me since I saw if from a parent's perpective - my first born was a 28 weeker so I spent lots of time in the NICU. But being a single mom with no day care options on the weekend I had to completely get out of the hospital setting. I have no ICU experience, but the hospitals in my area are hiring and my kids finally are old enough to care for themselves.

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"don't begrudge people from wanting a nice paycheck, but I don't want to work with CRNAs or MDAs that are just in anesthesia for the money. You can tell the difference in how they practice, and it isn't for the better of patients"

That is not necessarily true at all. Some of us feel that if we are going to work hard, it is just as easy to work in a well-paying job as it is in a not-so-well-paying job. I actually do like the actual administration of anesthesia. I do not have many warm, fuzzy feelings towards the patients although I am courteous and try to be reassuring to them.

A good work ethic and a dash of OCD (and pride in doing whatever job you are doing--whether it is making donuts or giving anesthesia-- I have done both) will drive you into doing the best you can for your own satisfaction and reputation, if nothing else.

Neither is wanting to make money a barrier to wanting the best for your patient. In fact, the better your patients do, the more likely you are to keep your job and keep making that money.

I like autonomy and do everything I can to be as independent as possible and furthering the practice of nurse anesthesia helps to preserve this.

I am surprised at the post that says it is common for CRNAs to have 200k debt, although maybe things have changed since I entered the practice. My hospital approached me when I was an ICU nurse and offered to pay my tuition if I went to anesthesia school. They had also paid 80% of my BSN.

Many of my co-workers have their student loans being paid back by our employer over a several year period, but I don't know how much the loans are. For 200k, you could have gone to med school.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
"don't begrudge people from wanting a nice paycheck, but I don't want to work with CRNAs or MDAs that are just in anesthesia for the money. You can tell the difference in how they practice, and it isn't for the better of patients"

That is not necessarily true at all. Some of us feel that if we are going to work hard, it is just as easy to work in a well-paying job as it is in a not-so-well-paying job. I actually do like the actual administration of anesthesia. I do not have many warm, fuzzy feelings towards the patients although I am courteous and try to be reassuring to them.

A good work ethic and a dash of OCD (and pride in doing whatever job you are doing--whether it is making donuts or giving anesthesia-- I have done both) will drive you into doing the best you can for your own satisfaction and reputation, if nothing else.

Neither is wanting to make money a barrier to wanting the best for your patient. In fact, the better your patients do, the more likely you are to keep your job and keep making that money.

I like autonomy and do everything I can to be as independent as possible and furthering the practice of nurse anesthesia helps to preserve this.

I am surprised at the post that says it is common for CRNAs to have 200k debt, although maybe things have changed since I entered the practice. My hospital approached me when I was an ICU nurse and offered to pay my tuition if I went to anesthesia school. They had also paid 80% of my BSN.

Many of my co-workers have their student loans being paid back by our employer over a several year period, but I don't know how much the loans are. For 200k, you could have gone to med school.

My experience is if you are just doing this job for the money then it is noticeable. That is my opinion nothing more nothing less. The debt varies widely, but 200k is not unheard of and that is from informal surveys of CRNAs on other websites. It is pretty easy to explain that much debt, if a nurse is trying to get enough loans to cover loss of salary, plus tuition and other school costs for 2-3yrs that figure is hardly unreasonable (60K-100K salary per year, tuition, plus expenses). Also, there are few hospitals that offer subsidies for SRNAs or loan paybacks right now which is typical when the economy is in a recession and the supply increases d/t too many new CRNAs with a lot of older CRNAs prolonging retirement. The hospitals/facilities that do offer these subsidies/loan paybacks usually have retention and recruitment problems which happens for a reason.

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Specializes in OR.

That is the main reason why I am going into nursing...to become a CRNA. My dream has always been (since around 2002) to become a CRNA. However, having said that, I am certainly open to other areas of nursing if I discover another area I enjoy more.

In my younger years (I'm 36) I worked every customer service job you can imagine for corporate America. At age 27, I went to college and got my AA degree because I didn't want to be stuck in jobs I hated (I realize hospital jobs are under corporate umbrellas too...but still, no comparison). Since 2003, I have been running my own home business as a medical transcriptionist (one-woman show) which has worked out well for me since my husband was working on finishing his schooling (Ph.D. in history). Now, it's my turn, and I'm excited all over again.

It was during a stint I had as a PCT in PACU/OR in 2002 that made me confirm my aspirations. As a 7pm-7am shift worker, I often had the opportunity to get to know the OR docs. There was an anesthesiologist, in particular, who was absolutely WONDERFUL in letting me shadow him when I had downtime. It wasn't unusual for me to watch him do a "blood patch" or intubate a patient for electroshock therapy...he was fabulous, and he told me step-by-step everything he was doing from medication and what was happening to the patient, to pointing out the affects (they put a blood pressure cuff on the ankle during electroshock to keep the medicine succinylcholine from paralyzing the foot so they can see the electroshock in progress...who knew?) and what to look for.

The blood patches were particularly spectacular to me...a woman came into the ER, headache SO bad she could barely walk. Turned out she had CSF fluid build up from an epidural she had recently (something like that...I'm not even in nursing school yet, so forgive me for my lack of proper language regarding this subject)...she was in a lot of pain. So, we got her up into the ER, the doctor prepped and draped her back, took blood from her arm and put it into the catheter in her back and shot it into the spine and WHOOLA, she had instant relief...headache completely gone. I was AMAZED! I was so relieved for the patient and so thrilled for her pain relief. Just fascinated that another human being could relieve such pain in an instant like that...like a miracle. Yes, I was hooked. The anesthesiologist, so eager to share his knowledge, knew I was considering CRNA as a profession; and yet, he was so enthusiastic to share a glimpse of what he knew. What's funny, months later, he ended up being my anesthesiologist when I had a cerclage procedure while pregnant :)

Anyway, my point? I see nothing wrong with looking at becoming a nurse as a stepping stone to fulfilling your dream. Afterall, others who came before you and went on to become NP's, and the like, basically did the same thing...they just took longer to really figure out which direction they wanted to go. :) If I decide not to become a CRNA, my other choice would be an OR nurse. I have applied to a BSN program here in town and I hope I am selected...if not, I will keep trying :) After all, we have to start somewhere.

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, SICU, MICU.
Lot's and lot's of people only go to nursing school as a pre-req for CRNA school. That is exactly why one of the hospitals where I work no longer hires new grad BSNs into it's Critical Care Nurse Residency for the SICU. The residency requires a two year contract after the 7 month program. Very few of the BSN grads were finishing their contracts before going off to CRNA school vs (so far) 100% of ADN grads finishing their contracts.

In my class of 9 there were 7 BSN grads and two ADNs (including me). Not one of the BSN grads finished their contract. 6 of the 7 went to CRNA school. The hospital and unit got tired of spending vast amounts of money training ICU nurses and not getting a return on their investment.

Shoot. Does this mean I shouldn't say that I want to be a CRNA on my ICU applications? I'm graduating from an ADN program in 4 weeks. I don't plan on entering CRNA school for at least 5 years, as I want to be solid on my critical care skills. I also loved my ICU rotation, and believe that I have a LOT to learn in the ICU. Although CRNA is my eventual goal, I'm looking forward to the process of gaining experience and providing excellent care while "putting my time in" in the ICU.

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Specializes in Mixed ICU, OHU.

I decided to look into becoming an RN, my mom is an RN as well, and I was reading her book of where an RN can go and I found CRNA which solidified my choice to become an RN. So, basically I am an RN so I can be a CRNA, but because of the description. I had no idea how much money they made at that time, it was an added bonus:yeah:

If I did not want to eventually become a CRNA, I would probably choose to stay in CTICU

Would I recommend someone going into nursing for that sole purpose? It depends on that person because they have to work as a staff nurse for some time and if that person is ok with that, then I say yes

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Shoot. Does this mean I shouldn't say that I want to be a CRNA on my ICU applications?

*** Well it depends on if you want to job or not. I have worked in several large hospital CVICU and SICUs in 4 states and in each there were complaints of spending so much time and money training ICU nurse who only stayed a year or two then off to CRNA school, or for some who could not get accepted back to whatever field they came from and abandoning of nursing all together. I know of cases of chiropractors who went to nursing school just to go to CRNA school and when they couldn't get accepted they went back to being chiropractors. Also a farmer, a logger, and a physical therapist.

Remember that it is very likely that your nurse manager has seen many new nurses come and go. While the idea of nursing school then ICU then CRNA school is relatively new to you, it will not be to the manager.

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, SICU, MICU.
*** Well it depends on if you want to job or not. I have worked in several large hospital CVICU and SICUs in 4 states and in each there were complaints of spending so much time and money training ICU nurse who only stayed a year or two then off to CRNA school, or for some who could not get accepted back to whatever field they came from and abandoning of nursing all together. I know of cases of chiropractors who went to nursing school just to go to CRNA school and when they couldn't get accepted they went back to being chiropractors. Also a farmer, a logger, and a physical therapist.

Remember that it is very likely that your nurse manager has seen many new nurses come and go. While the idea of nursing school then ICU then CRNA school is relatively new to you, it will not be to the manager.

Thank you so much for the advice! I'm definitely committed to nursing, whether or not I end up as a CRNA. I have loved my ICU rotations, and reading through the CVICU and SICU posts on the board reinforces that those units are where I will fit best. Is there a way to be honest that my eventual (10 year or so) goal is to be a CRNA, but I'm also just as excited about the journey (experience in ICU)? Or should I just leave it off and say that CVICU is my ultimate goal?

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Because of the prerequisites laid out by these programs, what choice do you have? Wanting to become a CRNA is not ditching the nursing profession. They have the same goals as any RN out there and that is to provide the best care for their patients. I have been throwing around the idea of becoming an CRNA myself. I currently work on a cardiac and stroke unit (IMCU). I enjoy what I do but CRNA is more appealing to me. Unfortunately these programs do require that ICU experience.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Thank you so much for the advice! I'm definitely committed to nursing, whether or not I end up as a CRNA. I have loved my ICU rotations, and reading through the CVICU and SICU posts on the board reinforces that those units are where I will fit best. Is there a way to be honest that my eventual (10 year or so) goal is to be a CRNA, but I'm also just as excited about the journey (experience in ICU)? Or should I just leave it off and say that CVICU is my ultimate goal?

*** I wouldn't tell lies. If asked directly then tell the truth. If not asked directly then keep it to yourself. If what you are saying is true (and I don't doubt you) you can honestly answer the questions of "Where do you see yourself in 10 years" without mentioning CRNA school since in 10 years you will just be applying to CRNA school.

That said I can tell you what is very likely to happen. After you get your BSN and several years of ICU experience and you have worked with CRNAs and seen the job they do you will start to ask yourself "What am I waiting for?".

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