Did you always want to be a CRNA?

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I am curious as to how many CRNA's went to nursing school simply to be CRNA's. Or did you decide to change while working as an RN...and if so, why?

A little on my background. I used to be a vet tech. Ended up getting into a surgery only position at a large emergency/specialty hospital, and I loved it. We did everything from exam, place IV lines, calculate and give meds, intubate, work as a scrub/first assistant, monitor anesthesia, and wake-up/extubate the patient. I really enjoyed it, but the pay and lack of respect (and the inability to move up), forced me to look at other careers. So many people told me to go into nursing, but I wanted to do surgery, so I became a surg tech. It is fascinating, but I want more. More of a challenge (I am feeling very underwhelmed and bored lately), more responsibility, more respect. The money is decent, but I wouldn't mind a bigger paycheck either. So again I am thinking about nursing school. But what I am really interested in is CRNA school. I find anesthesia absolutely incredible. I wouldn't go back, but I kind of miss my days running anesthesia on animal patients. I think I would much rather be a CRNA than an OR nurse (and definitely more than a floor nurse).

So how many people went to nursing school just so they could go on to CRNA school? Were you able to get right into an ICU after graduation, or did you work other areas as well. I would love to hear some backgrounds on the CRNA's in here. How you got to where you are now. And was it worth it??

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Specializes in MICU.

I am in the application/interviewing process right not to get into an anesthesia grad program. I went into my undergraduate nursing program not knowing that I would ultimately want to be a CRNA.

I have loved being a staff RN in the ICU. I would hope that if you went to nursing school just to be a CRNA you would also have a love for nursing at the same time. Otherwise you are not going to enjoy all of the classes that you have to go through in nursing school. All pts, including pts in the ICUs, deserve nurses who are excited and devoted to their jobs....not just doing it as a means to get somewhere else.

So if you want to be a CRNA...go for it. But, enjoy the process and learn to love other aspects of nursing along the way!

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Interesting. I really don't have anything to offer your question, but my GF and I are graduating BSN soon, but she really wants to get her DVM. She "likes animals more than people". I am generally inclined to agree.... Any comment?

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Specializes in CRNA.

I had been working in ICUs for 3-4 years and really liked it, but as I looked forward to advancing my career most of the options took me away from patient care. I really didn't know about nurse anesthesia, then I happened to pick up a broshure about nurse anesthesia, and thought 'this is it, this is exactly what I want to do'. It was in the mid80's when a lot of nurse anesthesia schools were being closed, and I actually got a lot of negative feedback about applying, a lot of 'nurse anesthetists are being phased out'. This was from other nurses, I went anyway and had multiple job offers at graduation without even applying. It was the best career decision I made, but I did not plan to be a CRNA when I went to nursing school.

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I am in the application/interviewing process right not to get into an anesthesia grad program. I went into my undergraduate nursing program not knowing that I would ultimately want to be a CRNA.

I have loved being a staff RN in the ICU. I would hope that if you went to nursing school just to be a CRNA you would also have a love for nursing at the same time. Otherwise you are not going to enjoy all of the classes that you have to go through in nursing school. All pts, including pts in the ICUs, deserve nurses who are excited and devoted to their jobs....not just doing it as a means to get somewhere else.

So if you want to be a CRNA...go for it. But, enjoy the process and learn to love other aspects of nursing along the way!

Thanks for your input. And I agree, you should enjoy what you are doing. I think being an ICU nurse is one I would really like. It would be challenging and rewarding. I would want to work with really sick/injured people. I had thought about ER work, but could only work in a trauma ER. I think I would get frustrated seeing people with silly complaints and not real emergencies. But I will definitely think about what you said.

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Interesting. I really don't have anything to offer your question, but my GF and I are graduating BSN soon, but she really wants to get her DVM. She "likes animals more than people". I am generally inclined to agree.... Any comment?

I, too, thought about becoming a vet. One thing you (and your GF) have to remember, is that you won't soley be dealing with animals if you get your DVM. Ask any vet, and they will tell you that you must like people as well. You don't just grab an animal from a room, take it to the back, and not even talk to the people. You will have to deal with emotional, sometimes angry clients. People that are resistant to what you say. You will have to talk to people about hard situations with their pets, life-long diseases, injury, even death. You will have to spend hours on the phone reassuring clients, explaining test results and procedures...and don't forget the mountains of paperwork! It is not an easy job, and I would say you only spend about 50% with animals.

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Specializes in Cardiac & Medical ICU.

I was initially interested in anesthesiology and was pursuing medical school until I met a CRNA one day. He told me about it so spent the next 3 years researching and reading about it and made the decision to pursue CRNA. I do like certain aspects of nursing but there are certain aspects that I am not in love with as well. This may sound weird, but I could never be a floor nurse and my whole intent of going through nursing school was to become a CRNA. If nurse anesthesia didn't exist, I would never have even gone to nursing school. Please do not get me wrong, I greatly enjoy patient care and interaction and I know that I'm in the process of becoming a great nurse but my real passion lies in the medical aspects of the science of caring for people. While most nurses are stronger in certain aspects such as flushing every hep lock, I'm more concerned and stronger in the patient picture and what is happening with them...their dx, their tx, their progress, etc.

I'm back to being torn between nurse anesthesia and medical anesthesiology. So to answer the OP, I would have gone to medical school if CRNA's didn't exist. However, CRNA is a great way in reaching my ultimate goal in life and that is to provide competent and quality anesthesia management to patients in need...:icon_roll

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I, too, thought about becoming a vet. One thing you (and your GF) have to remember, is that you won't soley be dealing with animals if you get your DVM. Ask any vet, and they will tell you that you must like people as well. You don't just grab an animal from a room, take it to the back, and not even talk to the people. You will have to deal with emotional, sometimes angry clients. People that are resistant to what you say. You will have to talk to people about hard situations with their pets, life-long diseases, injury, even death. You will have to spend hours on the phone reassuring clients, explaining test results and procedures...and don't forget the mountains of paperwork! It is not an easy job, and I would say you only spend about 50% with animals.

I just showed my GF your response and she said "Yep, that's why I am becoming a nurse, so I can understand people to treat their animals." Gotta love determination.

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Specializes in SICU.

i obtained my nursing degree solely with the intent of becoming a crna.

i had gone to college right out of high school and did not know what i wanted to do so i went into the us army to help me find some direction. i knew that i wanted to do something "medical" but i was resistant to nursing so in the army, i worked as an or tech/scrub and found nurse anesthetists to be the most happy and well-rounded individuals that i had come across (imo).

with that being said i went into nursing school with blinders on and found myself a bit overwhelmed - i figured this would be easy compared to pursuing my masters... :eek: so anyway, i began part-time work in a tele unit as a nurse aid and unit clerk to get a handle on what nurses do and how the hospital works, i did an extensive nursing externship my senior year (800 hours), i pushed to get my directed study in an icu, and i took my first position upon graduation in an icu.

i am enjoying my time in the unit, but my goal is still to go on and become a crna. i can't see myself remaining at the bedside, but i have a great respect for those that do.

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