CRNA job description/satisfaction

lmarti10 · Nov 29, 2013

I am debating to go back to school for ACNP or CRNA

Goose Xx, MSN, RN, EMT-P, CRNA · Nov 29, 2013

Have you shadowed a CRNA already?

I only ask because the day of a CRNA can have so much variance it could make your head spin. Variance could come from the types of cases, to the location of cases (ASC, hospital - OR, IR, GI, MRI and other out of department locations), length of day (call, no call, regular scheduled hours, weekends, no weekends), and practice types (CRNA independent, ACT supervised or medically directed, CRNA/MDA combined).

All that said, I can give some information.

I work in an ACT model at a large Academic Level I Trauma Center & Transplant Facility. I am responsible for my own preoperative care including assessments, labs, tests and medications. I am also responsible for designing and implementing my own anesthetic care plan. I am also responsible for my own PACU orders and care along with rounding on the patient the following day if. still in the hospital. I unfortunately do not do PNB's because we have specific team them does them so we can keep the OR's moving (35 ORs, 6 IR suites, 4 MRIs, 4 GI anesthesia rooms). I do place spinals and epidurals.

Depending on the staff that I am working with for the day, I will see them at induction and then they will stop in briefly during the case and then I may see them for extinction or in PACU. Some are more involved and some not so much. I have found it depends on their level,of comfort with your abilities and judgment.

I am scheduled for 4 10 hour days that usually start around 06:30. Some days are as early as 05:30 depending on early OR starts. So the schedule is loose at best. We can generally get out on time because we have a scheduled second shift of CRNAs and another shift that starts mid-day and ends at 21:00. There are also 3 12 hour shifts per day. But being a trauma center, I have been told in the past that there has been no one to relieve me so I am there for the duration. That comes with the job and I expect that to happen. That is part of what you get when you sign on for the profession. We also don't do weekends because we have a group of staff that work 7 10 hour ***** on then off for 7 days. So good scheduling has eliminated our need for weekends and call.

Being an Academic training facility, we have anesthesia residents. We still get big cases and are not banished to just do the menial work as some may put. Obviously the hearts are generally done by residents. We do crannies, vats, thoracotomies, I did a kidney transplant about a month ago. Most peds cases are done next door at the attached Level I pediatric facility. We don't do a lot of OB at our facility to start with and that is covered by a small regular group of Md's.

Hope that helps. Your best bet is to shadow a CRNA at a couple of different locations to see the variance between jobs.

And, It is the best job, I would do it all over again.

allnurses Guide · Nov 29, 2013

I work in an ACT model at a large Academic Level I Trauma Center & Transplant Facility. I am responsible for my own preoperative care including assessments, labs, tests and medications. I am also responsible for designing and implementing my own anesthetic care plan. I am also responsible for my own PACU orders and care along with rounding on the patient the following day if. still in the hospital. I unfortunately do not do PNB's because we have specific team them does them so we can keep the OR's moving (35 ORs, 6 IR suites, 4 MRIs, 4 GI anesthesia rooms). I do place spinals and epidurals.

That isn't by definition an ACT practice, if the MDA isn't doing all those things and charting them then he or she cannot bill for medical direction.https://www.asahq.org/.../Advocacy/State Issues/Anesthesia_Care_Team/en/1

That sounds more like a big hybrid practice with medical supervision which IMO is the better of the two.

allnurses Guide · Nov 29, 2013

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists at a Glance

"Nurse anesthetists at a glance".

lmarti10 · Nov 30, 2013

thank you for your response it has helped! I have shadowed a CRNA a couple of times.