Nurse Anesthesia and family?

brainfreeze · Jul 29, 2005

hello everyone! i admire all of you so much. nurse anesthesia is a dream of mine but i have a lot of things to consider. right now i am just about to enter nursing school and i need to know if anesthesia is a realistic goal considering i have a husband and 2 kids, right now ages 2 and 1. do any of you have families? and if so, do you get to spend enough time with them? i would love to do this, but i don't want a job that takes up all of my time! thanks for any comments :)

i just have to reply to you that if anesthesia is a dream of yours, i think it will be worth the initial sacrifice. i currently have a three year old and a one year old. i really had to consider how time consuming anesthesia school would be, but though you will be on call afterwards, most of the crna's i spoke with averaged working 38-42 hour/ week, which is exceptional when you compare it to time worked in other professions with similar pay. you really have to make sure your family understands the sacrifice and i think the reply from the srna husband was enlightening to how much of a sacrifice it would be. this next month i will be going to my first interview for anesthesia school at duke, and this decision to become a nurse anesthetist was not one i came to in haste. as my husband says, when i get "we" will be going to anesthesia school because he will be essentially a single parent. in reality, thougth, the reason that i am so driven now to become a crna is that it will improve the lifestyle of my family. the thoughts of sending 2 children through college on a nurses salary is frightening, not to mention that i really craved more autonomy than being a staff nurse afforded. i have heard of women with 4 children getting through and successfully becoming crnas so there is hope for us, too. don't let anyone discourage you, but be realistic at the same time. i know that i am way more time efficient now that i am a mother with two small children that works full time than i was when i initially went to college after high school. my maturity level translates into better time management because i want to see my kids and that means i don't procrastinate and study for a weekend straight.

sunnyjohn · Jul 29, 2005

Questions?

What countries recognise the CRNA?

In what countries can a CRNA practice?