NP or CRNA College maybe I should forget about BSN

jcgcrna · Nov 8, 2005

By the time you would have graduated with your BsN, finished 2 years of post graduate clinical in either ER, OR, ICU...you'd be 46. With six kids, and 46: anesthesia would be a very difficult 2-3 years. I'd not suggest it. Family comes first and when you add 12 hour days in the anesthesia department plus study time = a absentee parent. I know of what I speak. Also, I have not seen too many folks complete anesthesia programs after age 40-45. Good luck with whatever you select.

Craig

Lisa CCU RN, RN · Nov 8, 2005

By the time you would have graduated with your BsN, finished 2 years of post graduate clinical in either ER, OR, ICU...you'd be 46. With six kids, and 46: anesthesia would be a very difficult 2-3 years. I'd not suggest it. Family comes first and when you add 12 hour days in the anesthesia department plus study time = a absentee parent. I know of what I speak. Also, I have not seen too many folks complete anesthesia programs after age 40-45. Good luck with whatever you select.
Craig

Well that was very discouraging. If one wants to pursue a certain degree, then they should despite their age. If not too many folks have completed a CRNA at 40 then let her be one of the few. On that note, since you asked for advice, I'd say go for nurse education. We need more nurse educators. If NP is of interest, then go for that. As far as the anethesia, to my knowledge, you only need 1 year experience and you must get your BSN first so there is no way around that. If you are truly interested in it, do it no matter what. Forty- six will come whether you go to school or not and you might as well get what you want; with six kids, you deserve it.

carveronica · Nov 8, 2005

Yes that was very discouraging. I just wanted to find the smartest route possible. I know that my children are first. I'm not trying to make them second best. I want to provide the best possible life for them. I will look into Nurse Education. I think I will still need the BSN right. I appreciate all the feed-back. This website has been wonderful. I really want to do better in my life. I really take my hat off to all the single women and men out there.

ThAiTiGeR · Nov 9, 2005

You might want to look into your nursing school's Master's program as some of them offer an RN-MSN in three years or less. Good Luck, and your age has nothing to do with obtaining your dreams, it's your drive!

KatieBell · Nov 9, 2005

If you do not want to be a bedside nurse, then the path to Anesthetist will be a looong one. Since you are most interested in education regarding health and sociology here are some options:

Look at becoming a Child Life Specialist- these people work in a variety of settings and in hospitals they assist children and families to understand the processes of being ill, and assist children to be children and reach developmental goals through appropriate play, discussion, etc.

Social Worker? You will work with people in a variety of settings. We have social workers in our ED- they assist patients with prescriptions, transportation, serious crisis- such as death and ICU type admissions, domestic violence, etc.

As far as I know, these positions are requiring a BA or BS only, so you would get to working maybe a bit faster. though SW pay is not very good, I imagine it is better than Target.

GOOD LUCK

karmyk · Nov 10, 2005

Being a bedside nurse could be a great stepping stone towards becoming a nurse practitioner... You could work as a nurse and gain valuable experience, and you can do the additional school to further your education part time or at your own pace (some CSU Nurse Practitioner programs let you do that... some also do a whole bunch of your courseloads online).