Excited, Anxious, and Lost

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Mar 2, 2017

Oh sheesh - not another wanna be CRNA. Honestly, perioperative nursing is pretty cool, but not that cool. I guess that the motivation is financial, right? It may surprise you to know that there are other nursing jobs associated with the same income. You may want to do a bit more exploration. There is no fast track to CRNA... as potential patients, this should be comforting to all of us. You will need about 2 years of ICU RN experience, a stellar GPA and significant intellectual horsepower to qualify for admission. I don't know of any CRNA students who were able to work during clinicals due to the scheduling requirements - so unless you have a financial benefactor, you'll also rack up some daunting student loan debt.

NPs do not do surgery. If you want to do surgery, you need to become a surgeon... or a PA supervised by a surgeon - because in some states, they are authorized to do minor surgical procedures. RNFAs (in some states) can close (stitch up the patient) after the surgeon is finished.

Nurse, physician and other clinical informaticists serve as the liaison between IT and clinical services. These are critical jobs in US healthcare - with literally millions of dollars riding on their decisions and abilities. Informaticists serve in a lot of different roles - some are very high level such as data architects that support critical operations. YES - the graduate education is a requirement for higher-level jobs, although many nurse informaticists begin their careers as the 'go to' superuser on their unit. Health care / medical / bioinformatics are very specific degrees, that would not be very relevant or marketable to other industries.

An NP is an RN, I know quite a few NPs and all sorts of MSNs who work in direct care staff nurse jobs... I hate the demeaning term "Floor Nurse". Staff nurses DO NOT prescribe meds, no matter what their educational background. Medication management and administration in acute care is a process with many checks and balances to ensure patient safety. In many areas of the country, we're seeing a lot of mediocre NP programs - employers are not lining up to hire them. Nurses with doctoral degrees (PhD, EdD, DNP) are becoming more common in health care, particularly in senior administrative roles.

NPs in acute care settings work in collaboration with physicians and are regulated through medical staff. They are normally associated with a particular group of physicians or service line. In my organization, some of them are working with our hospitalists to ensure consistent levels of care for acutely ill patients. The Medical Governance (usually medical executive committee) would grant prescribing privileges as a part of the credentialing process. These medically credentialed NPs are not considered part of nursing staff.

nursingsprettycool17, BSN · Mar 2, 2017

Oh sheesh - not another wanna be CRNA. Honestly, perioperative nursing is pretty cool, but not that cool. I guess that the motivation is financial, right? It may surprise you to know that there are other nursing jobs associated with the same income. You may want to do a bit more exploration. There is no fast track to CRNA... as potential patients, this should be comforting to all of us. You will need about 2 years of ICU RN experience, a stellar GPA and significant intellectual horsepower to qualify for admission. I don't know of any CRNA students who were able to work during clinicals due to the scheduling requirements - so unless you have a financial benefactor, you'll also rack up some daunting student loan debt.
NPs do not do surgery. If you want to do surgery, you need to become a surgeon... or a PA supervised by a surgeon - because in some states, they are authorized to do minor surgical procedures. RNFAs (in some states) can close (stitch up the patient) after the surgeon is finished.
Nurse, physician and other clinical informaticists serve as the liaison between IT and clinical services. These are critical jobs in US healthcare - with literally millions of dollars riding on their decisions and abilities. Informaticists serve in a lot of different roles - some are very high level such as data architects that support critical operations. YES - the graduate education is a requirement for higher-level jobs, although many nurse informaticists begin their careers as the 'go to' superuser on their unit. Health care / medical / bioinformatics are very specific degrees, that would not be very relevant or marketable to other industries.
An NP is an RN, I know quite a few NPs and all sorts of MSNs who work in direct care staff nurse jobs... I hate the demeaning term "Floor Nurse". Staff nurses DO NOT prescribe meds, no matter what their educational background. Medication management and administration in acute care is a process with many checks and balances to ensure patient safety. In many areas of the country, we're seeing a lot of mediocre NP programs - employers are not lining up to hire them. Nurses with doctoral degrees (PhD, EdD, DNP) are becoming more common in health care, particularly in senior administrative roles.
NPs in acute care settings work in collaboration with physicians and are regulated through medical staff. They are normally associated with a particular group of physicians or service line. In my organization, some of them are working with our hospitalists to ensure consistent levels of care for acutely ill patients. The Medical Governance (usually medical executive committee) would grant prescribing privileges as a part of the credentialing process. These medically credentialed NPs are not considered part of nursing staff.

yeah no i don't actually wanna be a crna, like i said i just wanted information lol. idk if you noticed but i really only mentioned crna in one line, out of my whole string of questions there. i just like options. sorry if i came across as a deameaning newbie or whatever. also i don't know any words to describe med surge nurses other than floor nurse, that's really the only word i've ever heard. would it be better that i say bedside nurse? or did you use the term staff nurse? is that more acceptable? again i'm sorry if i come across as ignorant. it's because i most likely am lol. i'm only 19. i jumped into this thing fresh out of highschool with no prior work experience. but okay thank you for clearing all of that up. do you have any information on any of the educational tracks i asked about ?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Mar 2, 2017

At this point, you don't know which direction you want to go with your nursing career. My advice is to graduate, pass NCLEX, and start working as an RN. If you want or need to further your education, then go for your BSN. After a long discussion with yourself, if you decide that a MSN is needed to meet your goals, then pursue it. Many people have aspirations to be an NP, CRNA, etc while in nursing school or after graduation and once they start working their goals change and decide against an MSN degree.

Excited, Anxious, and Lost

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