Current CRNAs - I am seeking advice, please help.

shoegalRN, RN · Feb 18, 2007

I'm not a CRNA, not even a nurse (current nursing student) but I have a good male friend of mine who is a CRNA and has been for the last 4 years now. He is 32 years old, single, and with no kids. He graduated from the nursing school I am now attending in 1996 and worked ICU for 2 years prior to applying to Anesthesia school. He was accepted and worked the first year part time as a RN and then was given a monthly stipend of 2000.00 per month for the second and third years while in Anesthesia school. The only thing was he had to work for the hospital that gave him the stipend for 3 years. He gradudated in 2003 and started out making 130K. He works 2 days a week (one full 24 hour and a 16 hour) and then he is also on-call every other week. He gets 150.00 just for carrying his pager and then gets paid approximately 100.00 per hour if he has to take an on call job. On his days off, he will go work at an outpatient eye surgical center through an Anesthesia agency (that one of his friends he graduated from Anesthesia school established) and he will get paid 100.00 for a guaranteed 6 hours of work and some days, he'll only work two of those hours and still get paid for the full six. Last year, he cleared over 160K.

Now, he is going back to school to get his PHD so he can become an instructor of Anesthesia and he will still be making the same amount of money.

The only complaint I have heard him make is about the malpractice insurance. It is expensive, but I think the salary outweighs that. He sometimes complains about the patients that he has to give epidurals to, but other than that, I can say he is very happy with his job.

I hope this information has helped you.

CavemanCRNA · Feb 19, 2007

I posted this advice for another question but it also applies here. We have been, and always will be around. With projected shortages well into the 2030's you definately have a secure career for awhile. However, all could change in a blink of an eye. When I graduated in 1996, the world was my oyster. I could choose any unit, hospital, or state I wanted. Two years prior, my wife had to take the scrappings others did not want. She graduated VP of her class, suma cume laude. Choose a career based on interest and desire not monitary compensation. Money will not comfort you when you experience frustration, despare, unemployment, or depression. Finally, Anesthesia is one of the fields of practice with the highest drug abuse and suicide rate in the medical profession.

wildfire2098 · Feb 19, 2007

Caveman - I see that you are basically implying with that response that I am concerned too much with money? I don't think that that is the issue, but I do wonder sometimes. You are a CRNA, maybe you could offer a reponse to my post? I'm surprised at how few responses I got. I'm just trying to figure out if it is right for me or not.

TDS2n · Feb 20, 2007

does anyone know if community college ADN to BSN routes are weighted equally to 4 year BSN programs, when being evaluated for CRNA school admissions? I'm in a similar situation. I have obtained an B.A. in something that doesn't really interest me and have considered going through an ADN program, with a possible long term goal of becoming a CRNA.

srna2008 · Feb 20, 2007

I believe you have to go through a university or 4 year college to obtain a BSN, you can just get your ADN from the community college. I may be wrong, but I have never heard of a community college offering Bachelors degrees

srna2008 · Feb 20, 2007

the previous post by me was an error, I misread the post I was replying to

I am in the Air Force Reserves and my vice-commander is an instructor at a CRNA school. I asked him this same question and he told me that a straight BSN carried more weight than ADN to BSN. Where I currently work, I know of 8 nurses that applied and 5 got in. All five went to the same nursing school that I did and got BSN, the 3 that didn't get in all had ADN and bridged to BSN. They all worked in MICU or SICU and a couple of them only had a little over a year of experience. I hope I can follow in their shoes, I will apply for the first time this fall.

HillaryC, RN, CRNA · Feb 20, 2007

I don't really know if there are real statistics on this, but I haven't heard of any difference between acceptance rates of BSN as first degree vs. ADN to BSN. I have a BA, then ASN, then BSN and got into both programs to which I applied. Since many schools don't even require the BSN (just BS in a science), I can't imagine where/how you got your BSN matters much. Just my :twocents:

CavemanCRNA · Feb 21, 2007

First and foremost, I was not implying that money was you primary concern. I think you were taking what I said too personal. To quote what you had said "I made this thread in hopes that folks who are actually working as CRNA's could tell me all the pro's and con's of your job as you see it so I can get a wide range of opinions, maybe even tell me a little about how it affects your personal life (schedule, stress, significant other, etc), and add any comments of your own to help me make this decision." I am a working CRNA. The pros of the job are: Increased responsibility and autonomy when taking care of the patient. Increased level of challenge. Increased scope of practice. Wide variety patient population e.g. peds, elderly, cardiac, obgyn, etc. Flexability in schedule. I can work day, evening, or night. I can work 8, 10, 12, or 16 hours a day, three, four, or five days a week. I can take weekend call and get extra weeks off a year.

Currently I ge 16 weeks off a year with 8 PTO weeks and 8 weeks off from weekend call. And yes, increased ability for financial independance. The chance to be a one income family. The chance to make as much or as little as you want. My friends in other industries do not have the chance for overtime. They do not get paid for the extra 8, 16, 24 hours of work a week. Cons are increased chance of drug abuse. You have all narcotics and sedatives at your desposal. You can not have an addictive personality in this profession. I know several people who are not practicing today due to addiction to narcotics. Some people even abuse the inhalation gas we use for general anesthesia. Increased stress. We hold people's life literally in our hands. We make split second decisions sometimes on little sleep that affect people's lives forever. We witness the joy of bringing life into the world and we witness the despair of loosing a loved one, a spouse, sister, brother, or even child. I personally had to turn off a ventilator and stop all monitoring on a one year old child after the CT surgeon found out we could not use the child's pulmonic valve in place of his aortic valve. I have children of my own. To do what I did hurt me inside as if it was my own son. As far as what I do affecting my wife and kids. They love it when I have so much time off, they hate it when I'm on call five days in a row. School was the hardest on my wife. If you decide to go to anesthesia school realize it is a physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, and financial burden for you and anyone else involved in your life. If the program you go to has several out of town clinical sites, then they will not see you for weeks on end. You study constantly for two to two and half years. Like you, I researched other fields. I did not have the dedication to stay in school and residency for 12 years after undergrad to become a doctor. I also looked at physical therapy, perfusion, and physician's assistant. I went to nursing school to become a first assist in surgery. It just happened that I met a guy going into CRNA school in the ICU I was working at as a PCA. He talked to me about it. In the end I decided it sounded exciting and challenging. Here I am today. Bottom line, your 26. You have some time.

Don't rush it. I have over 450 hours of college to my credit. I have a assoc degree, two bachelors, and one masters degree. I was 30 when I met my wife in nursing school and I didn't go to anesthesia school until I was 36. It took me a while to find what I like to do. But I could do this until the day I die. I love it. Good luck. Let me know if I can help you in the future.

Just a CRNA · Mar 2, 2007

If the anesthesia school grants an MSN as their degree, you must have a BSN. If they grant a Masters in Health Science or another degree title, many will require an RN with a Bachelors in a clinical science. If you have a BA and are considering a return to college for a nursing degree, check carefully. You may find that many schools have a bridge from BA or BS to BSN that is not any (or much) longer than getting an ADN.

wildfire2098 · Mar 2, 2007

thank you caveman, I really appreciate it.

MB37 · Mar 5, 2007

This is something I have wondered about too. I am also only a pre-nursing student, but with a prior BS. I should start an accelerated BSN program in May, and will graduate in August 2008. I don't believe that I will be content simply being a staff nurse forever, so I would like to plan on furthering my education. I am married, 27, no kids yet, but would like to have a couple after getting the BSN. Does anyone have experience with going to CRNA school as a mother? My husband has a decent job, but not one that I could afford to not work or recieve a stipend while in school, especially with 3+ mouths to feed. As I haven't even had any clinicals yet, I think it's silly to have a set career goal simply based on the starting salary for CRNAs. However, I also don't want to rule it out only because I don't have any experience. Sorry, this is rambling...I would like to keep my options open, and as long as I can maintain a competitive GPA, would like to find out more about what a CRNA really does.