information about crna, reliable information please

[chelseaxlove]

Hello,

Id like to get some information on the career path of a crna.

Iv heard it takes no longer than 7 years to become a crna.

But i really have some questions.

How long does it take are what are the steps in becoming a crna.

Iv also been told while in process to be a crna , you become a rn.

If you become a rn, does that mean while your tring to be a crna , you get a rn's salary?

Or do you have to wait until your a crna to actually start making a salary,.

I know at this time the average salary for out of school studentss as a crna is 160,000. IS that still true?

And when you become a crna. Im not sure but again i heard you have to sign a contrac with hospital, or wherever to work certain hours a week but its usually no more than 40 hours a week. true?

And while your a crna , are you aloud to do other nurse things like go maternity to be like a housewive or to the pediatric unit?

Please answer, id appriciate it.:)

[medic7577]

The number one reason by far people gravitate to CRNA is $$$$$$$$$.....much higher than any other nursing profession. They also enjoy a position that does not require any patient ties or follow-up....usually they never see the patients again, or only see them for surgical procedures.

You are either grossly mis-informed or one seriously disgruntled anesthesiologist.

The vast majority of anesthetics they give are general anesthetics, so interaction with people is very minimal....they spend far more time writing vital signs on a chart than having to interact with patients. They serve a technicians role in the operating room, simply dialing up more anesthesia when needed, and tweaking the vital signs. 99.5% of the time their jobs are actually quite boring in the OR with monotonous routines that require little challenge.

If this is true, then why are so many anesthesiologists (as seen on SDN) feeling "threatened" by CRNA's???

Anyway, to the OP...Yes you have to be an RN. Yes you have to work as an RN (and yes you get paid) preferably in a high acuity ICU. The minimum is 1 year, but you will be better served with more time than just the one year. Don't worry about contracts right now. You really need to decide 1) Do you really want to be a nurse? (assuming you aren't already) 2) are you interested in working ICU? (some folks just can't hack it) 3) Do you really want to do anesthesia? (why are you interesed in it - have you shadowed a CRNA yet?).

On the money issue, most of us do not pursue this profession for the money. It is only one of the many facets and rewards of nurse anesthesia which hopefully you will discover as you research and learn more about it. I would suggest the book Watchful Care: A History of Nurse Anesthesia as a definite part of your information gathering process. As someone has said before "We stand on the shoulders of giants", it will give you a new respect for the sacrifices made by early nurse anesthesits and the work they did to keep the profession alive. Also, it will give you some perspective as to the motivation of the insulting post made by paindoc.

Best of luck in your journey!

later,

griff (pre-SRNA, by the way)

[paindoc]

The responses to my post are predictable knee jerk reactions by those that feel threatened. The money is definitely a motivation based on my discussions with scores of CRNAs over the years, and when one considers they make make 200-500% of what a nurse practitioner makes and up to 10 times what a floor nurse makes, it is not surprising they gravitate to CRNA...who could fault them for that? The fact that they are chained to an anesthesia machine with very little patient interaction other than pleasantries before the patients are rendered unconscious is not a condemnation, but an observation of fact. Nurses that enjoy making a difference in the lives of their patients by serving as a friend or counselor or confidant are typically not CRNAs, who would rather avoid the messy emotional bonding that comes with dealing with real people and their real problems on a continuous or long term basis. CRNAs are technicians first, part of an OR team second, and way way down the line is the emotional bonding that exists between provider and patient. Oh, some would fool themselves via justification of their existence by occasionally patting the patient on the hand, squeezing their shoulder, or looking into their eyes before slamming their lights out, but that really isn't bonding, is it? Anyone could serve that very transient role including the OR night janitor. So lets not attempt to obfuscate the true role CRNAs play in real life. The attempt to divert attention to the greedy anesthesiologists sitting in the lounge is misguided, but nonetheless accurate. Anesthesiology departments that are not composed of greedy functionaries have only MDA working in them and do not utilize CRNAs as the hourly employees they frequently are. But back to CRNAs....they have a GREAT lifestyle compared to most nurses, and are in general quality technicians- they should be proud of that fact. They are not luminaries in the field of the advancement of anesthesia since virtually all advances in the field over the past 60 years were made by those other than CRNAs....they are not prolific in research compared to physicians, do not initiate many relevant prospective randomized clinical trials, and are not known for their cutting edge prowess. But they are wonderful technicians that are extremely well paid for their efforts.

[rnto?]

I thought this was allNURSES.com. Having read posts on studentdoctor.net (and only posting in the pre-med forum), an obvious RN who posted in physician forums would be all but tarred and feathered. I think we should all stick to our own community forums. Otherwise they become a place where one profession bashes the other based on personal experiences, and defeats the purpose of a community of professionals sharing support, experiences, opinions, etc.

[stanman1968]

Other then this "The fact that they are chained to an anesthesia machine" you just descibed an anesthesiologist, they are however usually chained to the lounge.

[WannaBeRealDoc]

This actually brings up a great point that I have been curious about. Over the past few months I have heard countless surgeons and other docs mention that those who cant "hack it" or cant get into any other programs go into Anesthesiology. Why is this? Why is Anesthesiology considered the bowels of Medical School programs in the opinion of other doctors? I am also curious about the cutting edge research and randomized clinical trials you have taken part in PainDoc? I imagine things are pretty intense sitting in your pain clinic writing those scripts and doing injections and oblations. Im very interested in this field, that's why I ask. I dont understand how people can be so blind as to the responsibilities and skill of THE Anesthesiologist.

[vaccrn]

Where did you come up with stuff?

It is interesting to me that you have decided to single out CRNAs as non-caring folks who have absolutely no desire to form a bond with a patient, or their family. And you base this assertion upon the fact that we only interact with our patients when they come in for surgery? If you really knew anything about the various specialties within nursing you would realize that there are plenty of nursing opportunities that fall into the same category (nurses who have brief, but very meaningful interactions with their patients)- ER nurses, GI nurses, CVIR nurses, Flight nurses......just to name a few. In your world I would guess that any nurse who decides to pursue a career in any of these specialty areas, is uncaring and not capable of forming a bond with their patient. It is obvious to me that you really have no idea what you are talking about.

By your user name, it would appear that you are a physician. I would suggest that in the future, when you decide to go off on a tirade like this, you please include ER physicians, pathologists, radiologists, and anesthesiologists in your list. The physicians who specialize in these areas also have brief (sometime none) interactions with patients. Apparently, in your world, none of these physicians is capable of a compassionate relationship with a patient either.

If you really believe the stuff you posted......how sad for you. You have very much to learn about nursing, and medicine.

[KSCRNA]

They are not luminaries in the field of the advancement of anesthesia since virtually all advances in the field over the past 60 years were made by those other than CRNAs....they are not prolific in research compared to physicians, do not initiate many relevant prospective randomized clinical trials, and are not known for their cutting edge prowess. But they are wonderful technicians that are extremely well paid for their efforts.

There is a great deal of quality research that is done by CRNAs:eek: but you, the anesthesiologists, refuse to allow it to be published in the anesthesia literature. It is IMPOSSIBLE for a CRNA to be a 1st author in either Anesthesiology or Anesthesia & Analgesia. Why is this, because you are threatened? Don't sit here and preach unless you are willing to see the body of research that would be available because you have NO IDEA!!

Yes, CRNAs proudly do anesthesia on a daily basis. We take good care of our patients and we, not most anesthesiologists, stand up for their rights. I have seen anesthesiologists who did not want to wait for the patient to change just rip open the curtins leaving a totally exposed patient. If this is your idea of caring, then I am proud to pat their hands.

[paindoc]

Oh, I understand the truth hurts, but there you have it. I have worked for years in programs that had MDAs only, CRNAs only, and combinations, and with 30 years experience in clinical medicine, I know exactly what I am talking about, and have the vast experience to prove it, far more than most CRNAs on this forum. I have been involved in the development of 3 drugs for clinical use, 2 implantable devices for clinical use, and was the first pain physician in the country to do minimally invasive endoscopic discectomy and foraminoplasty. I have published numerous articles, have performed several original research studies, and am very familiar with the CRNA literature.

CRNAs should be proud to be fine technicians with limited patient interaction skills....just like anesthesiologists!

[11SAnurse]

paindoc, in your numerous years of experience, have you witnessed much rural health care. I ask this because I am planning on going back to a town of 10000 people to work at the 2 OR hospital there. In towns like this, you are 'forced' to interact with the patients because they are the people you go to church with, whose kids play with your kids, and basically you see them everyday. And when I say forced, this is not a bad thing because it makes following up on the patient good for both yourself and the patient. I know this because my father has been a CRNA in one of these communities for 35+ years.

Also, if you could answer truthfully, why all the hate towards CRNAs; every single post since Oct. 31 2008 has been about CRNAs. It is a role in healthcare that needed to be filled, and has been for a long time by competent individuals; in rural areas such as my hometown, were there no CRNAs, people would have to travel 1 1/2 hrs to get to the closest med-center.

As I have always said, this bickering is counterproductive; there is a role and place for everyone in healthcare--the main focus should be the patient, shoudn't it?

[stanman1968]

Just who is not a technician? We all are technicians to some to some degree.

[Tory NA]

I LOVE this site

[smiles04]

Ok lots of stuff on here. I think CRNA are awesome but they have probably been doing ICU or something close then decided to go back to school yea to them. Docs are becoming threatened by these nurses because they DEFIN know their stuff and could probably toss a few docs on their knowledge base. Now you can definitely make good money but a RN in management such as DON or CNO can rate the same pay by knowing to go get her MSN in hosp admin. The secret is to love taking care of people if you don't do not become a nurse. If you have always loved that even as a young person taking care of others than go for it and believe in yourself but I will honestly say with college in biological sciences at first that was nothing compared to the stress time money and energy I devoted to being a nurse and it was worth every bit because I love it. Ask yourself do you love it and what place and who do you want to care for. The sky is the limit. If you want to do what the docs do you can work with them and be a nurse practitioner if you like the clinic.