SuziQ1978

What about the state income taxes? That keeps me away from California. No Thank you.

When you are on call, even though you are technically free you are tethered which causes it to be a lower quality of life for some people. Versus working 7-10 hours a day and being on call once a week. I don't know. I guess if you know that you aren't gonna get called in, your anxiety disappears. I personally prefer just working straight shifts that I am used to. I am not sold on the whole CRNA thing myself yet if I gotta be on call but I know in the cities there are plenty of practices that are all shift work. She's geographically limited to two states/areas where her family is. She has looked.

I know for a fact that there are rural CRNAs who have independent practices that are "CRNA only" that are making 350-450k. So you guys can stop saying that all you are making is 220K and being on call 24/7. Maybe those CRNAs weren't at rural access hospitals but they were rural enough to block MDs from joining and have 'CRNA only practices". Let's be honest on that one. I am sure there are plenty of those practices. Some of those hospitals do not hire the CRNAs as we all know. While there may be a lot of "hearsay" from my friend, I also have CRNA friends who keep me informed.

Sounds exciting. What is a typical day like? How many hours are you actually working versus being "available" on pager? I mean if one is making 220-250 and not working too much but constantly on pager that may suck more, than just working a regular 7-10 hour day regularly. I don't know how much you all are working. At her 100 bed hospital it was fairly busy but not bad but now she works a lot in the West Coast and is sick of the big city and would like something like what she had at the 100 bed hospital, maybe slightly slower. She hates the city life.

I am talking about the multiple less than 100 bed hospitals that she has called that have told her that they don't use physicians. Only CRNAs. So how is this not blocking if the hospitals won't even consider her because they have a contract with CRNAs? I don't think they are smaller than 25 beds but they have been less than 100. And when she looks at practices they say "Independent CRNA only practices". Those dots connect just fine.

No, you said I have worked in only one type of practice. I said no, I have worked in two types of practice. ACT and Doc only.

Forget the money. A 25 bed hospital sounds boring as heck. I mean how complicated a case are they doing there? How many cases is someone doing there? It sounds completely and utterly boring. Twiddling my thumbs kind of money. I know she wants to slow down some, but she doesn't want to be bored out of her mind. So she has been blocked by CRNAs who simply got there first before she did. WOW!.

Nope. I have worked in a couple of hospitals in my town and one of them has CRNAs whereas most of the others only have docs. I have dealt with both but mostly docs.

Thanks. Will do. Good night.

Interesting. So if you are saying that they are hired by the hospital, then you are right. I know she has contacted hospitals that are less than 100 beds, but not as small as 25 and has been told that "we don't work with anesthesiologists just CRNAs" I could work for 220. She was looking for more like 300K.

Maybe it is complicated, I give you that. But we may be talking of different scenarios. I am saying in a situation where the CRNA didn't call for help until it was too late. Not the CRNA going rogue and doing their own thing. I would assume the doc would put down the anesthetic plan to cover themselves and then hopefully get dropped. In that scenario, the doc and the CRNA's would both be held liable no?

So what are these CRNAs in independent practices making? I mean is 300K reasonable? My friend is not looking to make a mil. Just looking to get closer to her family members spread amongst a couple of states. Living in the country is cheap. If CRNAs are making 200-250K in the city as salaried employees I don't see why they can't make even double that when no one is skimming off the top and giving them a salary. I suppose that if docs in the cities are getting subsidies from the hospitals then the CRNAs could very well be asking for and getting subsidies too. Are they not? Does rural passthrough make it mandatory for the CRNAs to be hired by the hospital? The docs and CRNAs are all billing the insurance companies, and getting reimbursed the same, but yet talk about how cost effective and cheaper they are. Would you call that honest or disingenous? CRNAs are only cheaper if they are on a salary not billing the insurance themselves, but are keeping many MDs from the rural areas while saying that MDs don't want to be in the rural areas so CRNAs are left to fill the void. Well I have seen second hand how they are kept away. Look, I am thinking of CRNA school because I am in my forties and my friend tells me that the MD route will not give me a good ROI compared to the CRNA route. I am all for it, but I also see her frustrations. My CRNA friends in the ACT model only complain about certain jerk docs. For the most part, they are happy and are treated well.

I would venture to say that most anesthesiologists and CRNAs get along just fine. But apparently some people on here just want to focus on the negatives that docs just want to keep CRNAs down and Docs want to turn every practice into an ACT practice, etc BS. I am an ICU/OR nurse (full time ICU) and am thinking of CRNA school. My best friend I grew up with went on to medical school and I got my RN degree. We have a group of friends who are RN/CRNA/MDs. We all get along great. Don't be disheartened. The real world is probably not as bad as this board. I don't understand why nurses would let the MDs take over the practice if that's the case. How did this happen? Was the AANA around then?

Oh Gosh. The CVICU, my worst nightmare. Not because of the patients as much as because of the surgeons. Talk about Egos. Good luck. I work in the Neuro ICU and love it. Would consider the MICU to learn more pathology. Never the CVICU.

Didn't know this. Not what I have heard from my friend. She has had friends who work in the couple of ACT hospitals in town been involved in lawsuits involving CRNAs who didn't call for help when they should have and ended up in a bad outcome. Whatever the case, at minimum both the doc and the CRNA are liable in a bad outcome in an ACT model correct? Not only just the CRNA who is in the room the entire time.