Honesty is the best Policy- Single Parent

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 12, 2003

originally posted by sharppetal
[ my baby is my motive; irony pertaining to this nonexistent motive in the past when many phd's tryed to supplement with drugs and "sessions".
[/b]

i didn't get that, what do you mean?

i haven't seen any deleted posts about becoming a crna but i'll look again and pm you if it turns up with the reason for deletion.

ok, i just looked and none of the posts you have made are deleted. perhaps you didn't look back far enough. go to the post you made above this one and click on "search" and it will list all your posts. you should find it in there.

SharpPetal · May 12, 2003

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I seem to get a lot of that {misunderstanding } from my English teachers.

Anyway, I meant that after many years of psychologists, counselors, and various doctors prescribing me anti- something-or-another medicines to cure me from my mental illness(es), all that had to be done was have my daughter be brought into this world. SHE is what cured me. SHE is the reason why I am still alive right now. SHE is my Motive :) .

SharpPetal · May 12, 2003

BTW, I looked and realized that was the post that wasn't erased Canoehead. It was "edited" and a period was replaced. It was thought to be too personal, and now I decided to redo my question in hopes of getting additional advice.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 12, 2003

Cool. Hey, at least one question was answered. Sorry I don't know anything about CRNAs. Good luck.

yoga crna · May 14, 2003

I am not sure that I want to get involved with this, but I will give it a stab. You mentioned a history of mental illness and this is of some concern if you want to be a CRNA. There are a large number of CRNAs and anesthesiologists who have become addicted to narcotics and other drugs, because they cannot cope with the stress of anesthesia. It is a field for those who are well adjusted emotionally or mentally and who can REALISTICALLY cope with the isolation of the operating room and the fact that administering anesthesia requires a mental strength that is not seen in many other professions. You must be honest with the anesthesia programs where you apply about your past history. You may do fine in anesthesia, but you should understand in advance what it involves and be realistic on whether you can handle it. Please understand that I am very understanding when it comes to mental illness and have been an advocate for many patients, but I have also seen how difficult anesthesia can be for many personality types.

Yoga CRNA

SharpPetal · May 14, 2003

Are you referring to the actual process of becoming a CRNA, going through the graduate studies, or do you mean the actual career as one in having CRNA's becoming addicted because of the stress? At the risk of sounding naive, what is mainly stressful about anesthesia {again, do you mean going through school, or the actual job}?

BTW, it has been 2 years and am considered recovered by all means. I understand what you are saying though, but I am still thinking about it.

CRNA, DNSc · May 15, 2003

Yoga CRNA is absolutely right!!!! If you have had a problem in the past with addiction to drugs or alcohol I would urge you to very carefully consider if this is the field for you. School is a tremedous amount of stress but even after you finish school- practice can be very stressful. The anesthesia provider population is at 10x the risk for chemical dependancy compared to the rest of medical population. Unfortunately the chemical dependancy rate among student and residents can be even higher than that. The biggest part of the problem is access!!!!! Imagine the being the keeper of the "candy store" and having to resist every time you give a drug to someone else. I would recomend that you go to the AANA.com website and read the information about chemical dependancy and the anesthesia provider. Think carefully about putting yourself "in harm's way". :eek:

SharpPetal · May 15, 2003

That's not my problem trust me. I don't, and won't ever, have a dependency problem. Believe me. I am a better mother than that. That is the sole purpose why I would like to know if it's possible to do this program {part-time} and still have time for my child through and after CRNA school.

yoga crna · May 15, 2003

Petal,

I didn't mean to insinuate that you had a substance abuse issue. What I want to emphasize is that the entire profession of nurse anesthesiology is stressful, from the admission process, through school and for your entire professional life. Our battles are legend--fighting for our rights to practice, battles with the anesthesiologists, validating our safe practice and so on. Then we get to the operating room where just the process of administering anesthesia, constantly studying pharmacology, physiology, changes in surgery and then there is night call!! It can be done and there are programs that accept part-time students. It helps to understand and be able to handle the stress.

An interesting aside about raising a child and being a CRNA. President Clinton's mother was an RN who decided to become a CRNA so she would have a good income to educate her intelligent son. She went to anesthesia school in New Orleans and Bill stayed with his grandparents and only saw his mother on weekends when she could get free. She was always happy with her career choice. Also, the mother of Govenor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota was a CRNA.

YogaCRNA

London88 · May 15, 2003

SharpPetal

This topic of being a single parent and attending CRNA school was debated very heatedly on this BB at the end of last year. If you do some searching you will find it. You will get many views and opinions on the subject, and some of the "world war III" battles many of us were engaged in on the issue.

Qwiigley, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA · May 18, 2003

i agree with London. If you look back you will see the debate. I might add that most of the entries for that site were from people who had not been in CRNA school or they had huge support system. I am SWAMPED every single day. I don't have time to water plants, go to the grocery store, clean my house or do my laundry. All I do is write paper, study and do clinicals. If I didn't have my husband, I don't know how anything would get done. (I'm actually doing some laundry now!) I can't imagine knowing what I know now and having kids during this. Several people have kids in my program, they are all men and have wives at home to do most everything. NO FLAMNING me, everyone is entitled to an opinion, this is mine.