Off the clock

[JLV5646]

I have been in MICU for 3 years and looking to further my career. Becoming a CRNA is an option I would like to explore...On the other hand, I look at the NP's and PA's who I work with on the unit and they are so miserable with their balance between work and home life. They work approx. 96 hours/ week sometimes, while also flipping back and forth between night shift and day shift:eek: . They spend more time at work, than they do at home. I don't want that to be me. I want to make sure that if I go through with becoming a CRNA, I will be able to enjoy time with my family and have time for my family. Do you? Having said all that I'd like to ask you all, who are CRNA's, some basic questions regarding work and life.

Do you have time for your family?

How many hours/week do you work?

What dept. do you specialize in?

Do you think it is feasible to start the CRNA program with a 2 year old?

Was CRNA school worth the debt school put you in? and approx. how much debt?

I really would love to hear your response and personal experience. Thank you.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

CRNAs schedules are varied. You can usually work as little or as much as you want with the caveat that you may have to move to find the job you want.

Most CRNAs don't specialize. I do everything right now except for cardiac thoriac and chronic pain management.

People start NA school with small children all the time. It is unlikely you would even be the only one in your class with small children. The most important thing is to have supportive family while going to school.

I am military trained so I didn't have financial debt I had indentured servitude for 4.5 years after school.

[CRNAGuide2016]

Do you have time for your family? Yes, at our hospital we get to choose what shifts we want to work for the most part. Some CRNA's work 5 days a week 7-3:30, some work 4 10's (7-5:30), or 3 12's (this is getting more and more rare nowadays in Anesthesia as we are salaried and this is giving up 4 hours a week for free), and I choose to work 2 8's (2 early days) and 2 12's (2 late days) with one day off per week. I also like to sign up for call shifts (voluntary where I am employed), which means I do one 8 hour day shift and two overnight 16 hour shifts (3p-7a)- this sounds rough but most of the nights aren't busy after 11pm (we have anesthesia residents who do the night cases and the CRNA fills in a second OR if needed for a trauma/urgent or emergent case). I can sleep most of the night while on call and I get my post call days completely off.

Also, my chief is extremely flexible with our scheduling (in advance I can request a Friday and a Monday off and get myself a 4 day weekend without having to use PTO). Also most hospitals offer at least 4 weeks of PTO if not more. We get 5 weeks PTO and another week to use for Continuing Education. Some hospitals request that the CRNA uses his/her PTO in week long increments but my employer allows us to simply request a few days off here and there if we want to. I travel a lot! Work hard, play harder!

How many hours/week do you work? On average

What dept. do you specialize in? This question is a little confusing. Most CRNA's specialize in Anesthesia (j/k) which means covering the main OR and off sites (endoscopy, OB, MRI/CT, Interventional Radiology, Cath Lab, Electrophysiology Lab, etc). If you're asking what kind of anesthesia I enjoy- I enjoy Ortho Trauma, Neuro and Plastics but I also very much enjoy having varied cases and varied patients so that I never become bored. Some CRNA's have a "home" and asked to be placed in certain specialties whenever possible. Some of the larger hospital systems (Duke, MGH, etc.) have teams (Ortho, Neuro, Vascular).

Do you think it is feasible to start the CRNA program with a 2 year old? Absolutely- I know many people who have done this. It is never going to be easy. You are going to feel stressed, you are going to feel at times like a bad parent, and you are going to get frustrated- but so will the students that don't have children- it's the nature of the level of commitment required to complete the program. And when you're done, you will be able to give your children everything they need in life and you will love your job!

Was CRNA school worth the debt school put you in? and approx. how much debt? Worth every penny of my 200K debt (I mentioned in another post that I went out of state for my Accelerated BSN $$ and to a private University for my MSN $$)

Hope this helps!