cessnadriver

My comment was NOT funny but the original one was? Consider yourselves fortunate you do not have a moderator on your forum as the CRNA forum does. I am sure they would not stand for this CRNA hating. I would like to say CRNAs do not think poorly of NPs... We actually do not think of them much at all. I wonder why there is no NP bashing in the CRNA forum?

If the language is Spanish, that can be quite useful. If you speak a language spoken by a population of local immigrant groups such as Vietnamese, Bosnian,Serbian, Pashto, Urdu, Chinese ( both Mandarin and Cantonese), that would be quite useful. We have an entire department at our hospital staffed by people who speak these and other languages. Contrary to what non CRNAs think, not all of our patients are rendered insensate. And we have quite involved conversations with them Pre and post op. When I anesthesia for an awake craniotomy, it is my job to talk to the patient while his brain is exposed and operated on.

Hmmm Nice thread... now for some fireworks.... any CRNAs on the forum ever get involved in NON-BRAIN DEAD organ donation? And I am not talking about living donor organ removals. This may take a while to post as it has to be moderated so the flow of discussion may not be smooth.

No we would not be happy with that reaction.

Yes ALL schools require a certain number of sub arachnoid or spinal blocks. epidural blocks, central venous catheters, arterial catheters not to mention peripheral nerve blocks. You will be sticking needles into someone several times a day.

Compassion? I answered your question. It was of a yes or no nature.... the answer was NO. You might wonder how I came up with this answer? From being a didactic and clinical instructor in a CRNA program who, in addition has sat on more admission boards than I care to remember. So, as you can see I have the bona fides to formulate a well researched answer... and it remains, NO. I am sorry I cannot change reality to suit your perception of it. I also appears I am the ONLY CRNA who answered your question. Please do not take offense at answers you ask for if the answer is not what you want.

Wow, pretty insulting to CRNAs... I would wonder how NP would feel if that same question was asked and the answer was. " If you have mediocre grades and a room temp IQ... NP"? Some of us CRNAs have actually developed quite good personalities.

In a word... NO.

Things do not go wrong very often at all. We do not get paid the big bucks to sit and do eventless anesthesia.. we get paid the big bucks to handle those emergencies. the airway, bp, tempurature, hct, heart rate are all under your control for the most part. Surgical complications are not. No disrespect to the last poster... but this is a CRNA forum, where people come to ask CRNAs questions OR other CRNAs seek information from other CRNAs. 2 weeks in an OR as a nursing student,does not qualify you to answer this question. You do not know enough about anesthesia to have a valid opinnion on this subject.

Negotiating for a salary if you are a hospital employee is difficult as best. The hospital pays what the hospital pay scales says it can pay. These salaries are updated by the hospitals to insure no one in the area is paying more than anyone else.. It is how RN salaries are determined for the most part as well. The compensation comittee of the hospital is usually staffed by some RNs from mgmt who knows nothing of your worth... and HR people who want to keep costs down. Hospital will actually do a survey of nearby institutions to make sure they are not overpaying. How this is not illegal is beyond me. As a hospital employee you will be trated as every other nurse is usually treated..and hospitals are not known to treat nurses of any speciality as adults.. traditionally its a VERY maternalistic culture. If you want to negotiate a bit on salary ,I would suggest you look into any private practice anesthesia groups in the area..Not only will you probably make more.. you will be valued as as asset and not just another nurse employee.

I am not a huge fan of the AANA for reasons I will not go into here, but can be found on other forums. The AA issue is a direct result of the absolute contrarian attitude of the AANA dealing with the ASA. The AANA would not budge an inch... soo the ASA did an end run around them.. viola AAs. The AANA is protecting the rural solo practitioner at the expense of the large hospital ACT " stool monkey". In addition, the AANA is unresponsive to concerns of their members on issues dealing with the image and treatement of CRNAs on the net, again not to be covered here but can be found on other forums.

I have no idea in what alternate universe a CRNA would get yelled at. But, I can tell you it does not happen in my world.. PERIOD. And furthermore, it will not happen to any student I am training. I would disagree with the poster that said it was the second best job after MD. I would not take a cut in pay to be a pediatrician or GP. I think it is the best job in the hospital. If someone will base a decision on what career they will choose based on what they saw in one day.. maybe CRNA is not really for them.. it does not sound like they put much thought into that decision.

I understand reimbursment for CRNAs as I have been a CRNA for many years. My question is now.. WHY are not NPs reimbursed 100% of the physician rate ?.. Are PAs? If not, why not? are not all APNs equal? I was informed in this forum that NPs could practice autonomously. If they can do this I would expect reimbursment to be done on exactly the same model as that used for CRNAs.

RedCell gave EXACTLY the right answers... And I would like to echo the EVILNESS of Demerol. It is an emetic with SOME analgesic properties. In addition who the hell gives IM pre op meds on the floor? In the 21st century???? IN a developed 1st world nation?

There is almost NO reason NOT to use lidocaine before starting an IV.. The lidocaine will accoplish several things. 1. Attenuates the pain of the 18 or 16 Ga catheter or even 20 ga. 2. The patient has no idea how you do anesthesia.. if you are very skilled or not.. the ONLY thing they will actually see YOU do as a CRNA, is start the IV. They will judge your abilities based on that interaction. 3. Vascular tone is determined by innervation... local anesthestic inhibits nerve transmission by its action of ,IIRC , Na channels. You interrupt the nerve transmission and you get vasodiliatation. Remeber the person you are starting the IV on is not only dehydrated... NPO..... and nervous...adrenal output. 4. On the occasional true " difficult stick" if the first one does not hurt.. they are more amenable to letting you try more than one. Not to be rude.. but.. if you do not do anesthesia you should not be giving advice to an SRNA.

Originally Posted by HotDrew Honestly, I am applying to CRNA school and couldnt imagine going through all the drama for the salaries of some NPs. I wanna make bank, and I fully intend to celebrate with a new BMW when I'm done! YoYoYo waddup homey.. To what school will you be applying?? I sit on the admissions board for a school... I hope you apply here... Two things you posted will prevent that if I ever interview you... Your ATTITUDE.. and the fact that you want a BMW... that shows an utter lack of knowledge about cars.

My next question is about compensation. On every web site I can find, it appears the annual salary for an NP is between approx, 75K and 85K with 82K being the 75th percentile. Why so low? Are you billing directly ( For those of you in autonomous practice.) Or is the depressed income a result of overproduction of NPs? What mechanisms are in place to prevent over production. Do you comptete with PAs for positions? With autonomy you would expect you salaries to be on a par with CRNAs. What are the reasons they are not?

By all means play the race card. Use any advanatge you have. In addition using it to get admitted it, after you are admitted to school the threshold for dismissing you will be much much higher than those admitted on merit alone. Nothing strikes fear into a program director like a dismissed student lawyering up claiming racial discrimination.

If you do not like care plans, and the writing of careplans would dissuade you from CRNA school, by all means find another career... The careplans you made in nursing school were NOTHING compared to the ones you will write in CRNA school. And they WILL be looked and and they will be critiqued daily.

So it is possible , in some states at least, to contract with a rural hospital to provide whatever the NP speciality is on a sole provider basis? You could replace a physician in the ER if you were an ER NP, peds, FP etc? Condidering the static CRNAs get form anesthesiologists who would like to limit solo practice. How did you deal with opposition form the Subspecialty grous ie ER physicians, pediatricians etc. Were there lawsuits involved, such as restraint of trade or how was this done? Has it affected salaries much. In the CRNA community a rural solo practitioner can expect to make approx 100% more than an urban counterpart. Do you bill directly to insurance companies? Has Medicare approved payments?

Hello all, I have been informed in another thread by a PA that NPs can now practice independently. As the thread was approved by a moderator I assume is an NP or CRNA, this appears to be the truth. My not knowing this caused me to make a misstatement about NPs. My question is now that you can practice without a collaborative agreement, ie independently, how has this affected the price of you professional liability insurance. And will " Captain of the Ship" doctrine of legal defense still hold true for those of you not independent paractioners? Thank you in advance for any replies and information.

I was not aware there were independent practice NPs. I stand corrected. This is something new I would presume.

12 to 18K a year depending on history, location etc. If you get it day to day... expect to payabout $90/day for minimal coverage. Almost every employee will pick this cost up, either by a policy or in large institutions, self insurance. You are correct to think we are not covered under the physicians. We are held to exactly the same practice standard of care as a physician. And in being so, are unique in the advanced practice nurse role.

In reality, no one is going to hold the original BA GPA against you. Much more important is the hard science GPA. A track record of good grades recently will hold a lot of water with the adcom. In reality, nursing course grades mean a lot less than hard science grades. You will never use nursing theory in anesthesia. Hard science grades are a pretty reliable predictor of the ability to pass the certification exam. Q: What do you do if you find and English major on your front porch? A: Pay for the pzza. I also have a BA in English.