CRNA vs. RN

Trauma Columnist · Oct 7, 2013

Moving to prenursing.

righteousjenn · Oct 7, 2013

As someone who wants to be a crna, I can tell you that pay should not be a factor in your decision. For one, you HAVE to become a RN to go CRNA route, secondly it has to be a BSN; you have to work and go back for a few years to even apply to get into a CRNA certificate program... You need physics, calc, more chem, etc. plus like 1500 hours of critical care(or acute care.. I can't remember right now) which is hard to get into that field fresh outta school. Soooo by the time you're even qualified to go CRNA route, I'm sure you would have made up your mind

Best_Name_Ever · Oct 7, 2013

I'm in Indiana, and I have to say that my facility employs a large number of CRNAs. So you might want to take a deeper look into that. I suggest you shadow a RN and a CRNA. The jobs are very different. Pick a career that you love. Don't be so concerned over the pay scale. You will be much happier.

kaydensmom01 · Oct 7, 2013

CRNA stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist; if you do not have a previous bachelor's degree then you must become a registered nurse first with a bachelors degree. You will then have to have at least one year of experience in intensive care. In school you will have to get meticulous grades in order to stay competitive because it is a highly competitive program to get in to.

Stephalump · Oct 7, 2013

I think it's already been mentioned...a CRNA is a registered nurse. A register nurse with a bachelors degree and a masters or doctorate. My area is currently hanging the masters programs over to doctorates.

Then you have to work as a nurse. In order to get into a CRNA program, you HAVE to have a minimum amount of experience in critical care.

You may not get into critical care right away. Maybe you will. Point being....you're going to have be an RN and WORK as an RN, and maybe you'll apply to CRNA programs and maybe you'll get it. Who knows.

So there's not really a decision to be made for years down the road other than...do you want to be a nurse?

loriangel14, RN · Oct 7, 2013

Also note that you don't go to medical school to become a nurse. Med school is for becoming a doctor.

Stephalump · Oct 7, 2013

Yes, and the pay range is accurate, depending on where you live. I've never heard of anyone making $6,000 more/year bc of their bachelors degree, but that doesn't make it untrue for someone out there.

I also wanted to add that I don't find it ridiculous that some MDAs dislike CRNAs. They got to school for 12+ years to perfect their "art." CRNAs go to school for half of that. Whether or not both are equally competent is up for debate (but not with me ), but you can't blame someone for holding their career and education to a high standard. Just take a peek at the thread on this site about hospitals hiring medical assistant to do the job of current RNs!

Long story short...you need to do some more research. Maybe some shadowing :)

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 7, 2013

I want to go to medical school for sure, but I'm not sure what I want to be for sure. I was going to be an Anesthesiologist, but after seeing how much they had to pay for malpractice insurance-the numbers scared me away.

*** That is silly. First if you go to medical school you will be exposed to many different types of medical specialities. It is very likely that you will find one that you love and will pursue that. Many doctors I know ended up in a speciality they never dreamed they would be in before med school.

Second anesthesiologists (MDAs) don't usually pay their malpractice insurance. It is provided for them as a benifit of employment. They make a LOT of money. All the MDA's who work in my hospital have super nice homes & cars, boats, houses in Florida etc.

So I started researching medical careers, and nursing seems appealing to me. I think I want to either be a RN or a CRNA, but I would MUCH prefer to be a CRNA. The problem is, is that I live in Indiana, and from what I have heard, there are absolutely no CRNA's out here because the Anesthesiologist's hate them (which to me seems totally ridiculous)...

*** OK couple things. One, what you heard about there being no CRNAs in Indiana is silly and untrue. Go here and see CRNA job listings for CRNAs in Indiana:

GasWork.com - Search - CRNA Jobs

Second CRNAs are cash cows for MDAs and in every hospital I have ever worked in they all worked well together.

Third you can't be an RN or a CRNA. CRNA stands for "certified REGISTERED NURSE anestitist". In order to be a CRNA you must first be an RN. You will also need a bachelors degree (doesn't need to be in nursing) or a masters degree, good grades and a minimum or one year of ICU experience as an RN. Two or more years of ICU experience will help you get admitted.

Could I go to school in Cincinnati, or somewhere else close, and then come back and be hired here?

*** Yes of course.

If that fails, then I would like to be an RN or something else with higher pay. My concern is, is the pay. I've seen that it averages 40-50k. Do you get paid more with more experience? What is the starting salary?

*** Yes RNs typical get paid more for experience. How much they start out depends on where you decide to work. Pay rates vary widely across the country. Highest pay is west coast, northers east coast. Lowest pay is the south then midwest. I have heard of new RNs starting pay from $18/hour up to $40/hour. If you decide to work in a higher paying area $60-$100K/year is pretty likely. Often the higher paying areas are also higher cost of living aeas, but not always.

And what schools would you recommend?

*** Best would be a state university BSN program. Avoid the high cost for profit schools. You will be better off to just get your BSN right away. New grads are having a hard time finding jobs and many hospitals are prefering to higher new grads who have a BSN. You might have a little easier time landing a job as a new grads with a BSN vs an associates degree.

I've also read that if you attain a bachelor's degree, you can get paid around 6k more per year. Is that also true?

*** Not really. The majority of places pay the same for any RN reguardless of their degree. Some places do pay more for a BSN but it is usually very little. The value of the BSN is in getting a job as a new grad.

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 7, 2013

As someone who wants to be a crna, I can tell you that pay should not be a factor in your decision.

*** I disagree. I think pay should be near the top of considerations. A few things are more important, but not many.

For one, you HAVE to become a RN to go CRNA route, secondly it has to be a BSN;

*** Not the case. Most CRNA programs admit people without BSNs but who have a bachelors degree in something else. You can also be admitted with a MSN and no bachelors degree.

you have to work and go back for a few years to even apply to get into a CRNA certificate program

*** There haven't been any CRNA certificate programs in years. They are all masters or doctorate programs.

loriangel14, RN · Oct 7, 2013

[** Not the case. Most CRNA programs admit people without BSNs but who have a bachelors degree in something else. You can also be admitted with a MSN and no bachelors degree.]

That's not true. You have to have that nursing experience under your belt first.

#NurseB · Oct 7, 2013

As someone who wants to be a crna I can tell you that pay should not be a factor in your decision. For one, you HAVE to become a RN to go CRNA route, secondly it has to be a BSN; you have to work and go back for a few years to even apply to get into a CRNA certificate program... You need physics, calc, more chem, etc. plus like 1500 hours of critical care(or acute care.. I can't remember right now) which is hard to get into that field fresh outta school. Soooo by the time you're even qualified to go CRNA route, I'm sure you would have made up your mind[/quote']
I agree! This struck a nerve with me. I personally have a very hard time with people who do it solely for the $.