wtbcrna

I wouldn't bother with joining any military branch until you at least have your BSN. Then even as a new nurse you are going to spend multiple years going from a new nurse to getting in ICU and then getting the required experience to apply to CRNA school. Enlisted to CRNA if done all through the military will take you approximately 10+ years. Please don't listen to the BS enlisted recruiters tell you. They lie, embellish, and generally are absolutely clueless about nursing and especially CRNAs. Now assuming you want to join the military not just have the military pay for school and be a CRNA the best route is probably get your BSN then get into a civilian ICU somewhere then apply to a civilian CRNA school and as soon as you're accepted apply for USAF, USN, USPHS or USA's HSPS program that will pay for your anesthesia school with a monthly stipend. You will then owe 3 years active duty time after completing the program. Once you get your BSN or applying for HPSP there are healthcare recruiters just for nursing officer candidates. You find them online and each military branches website or USPHS website. Do Not go to an enlisted recruiter unless you want to join as an enlisted.

The Navy, Army, and USAF all have CRNA programs for active duty nurse. The terms are all going to be fairly similar as are the bonuses, payback time etc. There is also hpsp scholarships by each branch that allows you to go to civilian program have the military pay for the CRNA program plus a monthly stipend and then do a 3 year active duty payback once you finish. I believe USPHS also has a similar hpsp scholarship program. The admitting criteria is determined by the branch and the school. There are two military CRNA programs USUHS and USAGPAN. The criteria is fairly similar to civilian programs with the addition of time on station requirements and other branch specific requirements. https://nursing.usuhs.edu/academics/DNP/CRNA https://armydnp.nursing.baylor.edu

1. Bodily autonomy arguments only work on things that only effect the individual not everyone around you. When a decision can effect everyone else that decision no longer is about bodily autonomy, but public safety. 2. Any vaccinated person can still become ill, but the risk of a vaccinated person becoming ill and passing on the illness is much less than someone who hasn't been vaccinated. 3. The COVID19 vaccines weren't unstudied. The mRNA vaccines have been studied since 1990. The COVID19 vaccines had to go through all the same studies prior to being approved as any other vaccines. Despite your disbeliefs the COVID19 mRNA vaccines have shown to be extremely safe and effective. 4. There are multiple studies showing unvaccinated children do worse in school and are less healthy than their vaccinated counterparts.

Yes, Texas Christian University. You can crunch the numbers, but with salaries averaging over 200,000/yr your debt could quickly be paid off. Many CRNAs work multiple places making an extra 50K+/yr on top of their normal salaries. There are also places like United States Public Health Service, Indian Health Service, VA, Critical Access Hospitals, and multiple programs that offer help paying off student loan for CRNAs.

Yes, financially it is worth it. Each person is different on finances, but there has been many CRNAs in similar situations as you. There are hybrid programs like TCU that front load all required classes that can be taken online allowing students to work while going to school a little while longer. There are also Spring breaks, breaks between semesters, holiday breaks at most schools that allow yo to work too. There are also military and USPHS scholarships, if you want to go that route too. I don't understand your timeline, if you're already a nurse. You need one year critical care experience, your RN, and a Bachelor's degree to apply to school. The schools are all a minimum of 36 months now. I don't understand why that would take you another 11 years.

The research has been conclusive vaccines are not causing an increase in autoimmune diseases. We know this by comparing vaccinated individuals and unvaccinated individuals. There is no increase in autoimmune diseases in vaccinated people over unvaccinated people. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine site has a whole critical analysis on autoimmune diseases and vaccines not to mention many other systematic reviews. The problem with autoimmune diseases increasing is likely largely d/t people living longer and being able to live long enough to pass on genes that would have not been possible even a few decades ago.

Type 2 diabetes developed less in vaccinated individuals than unvaccinated individuals. "Discussion In this cohort study, COVID-19 infection was associated with increased risk of diabetes, consistent findings of a meta-analysis.1 Our results suggest that this risk persisted as the Omicron variant became predominant, and the association remained even after accounting for temporal confounders. Diabetes risk after COVID-19 infection was higher in unvaccinated than vaccinated patients, suggesting a benefit of vaccination. Mechanisms contributing to postinfection diabetes risk remain unclear, although persistent inflammation contributing to insulin resistance is a proposed pathway. Study limitations include reliance on diagnostic coding, unaccounted confounders (infection severity indices), and insufficient sample size and statistical power for testing multiple interactions. Additional studies are needed to understand cardiometabolic sequelae of COVID-19 and whether COVID-19 vaccination attenuates risk of cardiometabolic disease.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2801415

The point/results of the article is that after looking at 1.1 million people getting the COVID19 vaccines and 9 different autoimmune diseases there was no correlation.

"Conclusions Autoimmune conditions requiring hospital care are rare following mRNA and inactivated COVID-19 vaccination with similar incidence to non-vaccinated individuals. The association between first dose BNT162b2 vaccination and immune-related sleeping disorders requires further research.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9008125/#:~:text=Conclusions,sleeping disorders requires further research.

Thank you for the post. There needs to be a couple of corrections though: CRNAs can and do work independently in hospitals all over the USA and US territories. That hasn't changed for over 150 years, and nurse anesthesiologists/anesthetists trace our history back to the Crimean War. The ability to practice independently had nothing to do with the temporary suspension of the CMS rules on Medicare/Medicaid regarding CRNA supervision. Almost half the states had already passed opt-out rulings allowing CRNAs to practice without additional hurdles for CMS patients prior to COVID19. These CMS rules never effected non-CMS patients, which often confuses people about opt-out rules. All CRNA schools are now a minimum of 36 months unless the SRNA/RRNAs (resident RN anesthetists) started prior to 2022 and will graduate prior to 2025. This is due to the Doctorate requirement that passed several years ago that stated all SRNAs/RRNAs will graduate with a Doctorate by 2025 and on. It takes a minimum of an RN with a Bachelors degree and one year of critical care experience prior to starting CRNA school. That makes becoming a CRNA a minimum of 8 years for most people, but in reality most nurses have 3-5 years experience prior to starting CRNA school. The AANA does have job site, but by far the most numerous anesthesia positions are posted on gasworks website. https://www.aana.com/membership/become-a-CRNA

The "profit" conspiracy falls apart when you consider for that to be a valid argument then every country's equivalent of the FDA would have to be paid off, along with thousands of researchers, and millions of healthcare workers. Vaccines are the only pharmaceutical product that has to undergo large RCTs compared to other drugs (usually about 10x more people have to be in a vaccine study compared to other drugs), and vaccines are the only pharmaceutical product that undergoes constant phase 4 studies/post marketing studies for safety and efficacy. Those studies are not usually done or paid for by the pharmaceutical companies. That means that even if a vaccine could get through the approval stage by falsifying data that would quickly fall apart during phase 4. With the COVID19 vaccines we had data being published within weeks of release that showed the initial studies from the Pfizer and Moderna were correct in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. It took tens of millions of doses to find out that the J&J vaccine had increased risk of blood clots and it took millions more to find out that myocarditis/pericarditis risks were slightly increased in adolescents with mRNA covid vaccines. Those types of rare side effects are not going to be found in normal clinical trials, because it is impossible to run a clinical trial that includes millions of people. Every company seeks to make a profit. A profit does not inherently make a product unsafe, especially vaccines which are held to the highest of standards.

I retired as a Major, but you can expect to retire as LtCol for most CRNAs. The blended retirement plan offers something between civilian 401k and military retirement versus traditional military retirement. https://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/blended-retirement-system.html

CRNA schools are 3 years not 4.

Just to clarify all CRNA schools are a minimum 36 months and nearly all of them are that 36 months in length. This was mandated starting last year when the requirement for CRNA school graduation moved to a Doctorate (technically required in 2025 and beyond graduates). There are variety of reasons the two programs are different and the intensity with much narrower focus is probably the main reasons that CRNA could be considered more difficult.

I do understand that vaccinated can get and spread the flu, but statistically a vaccinated person is less likely to spread the flu for various reasons(viral load, decrease chance of contracting the flu etc.). Also, you don't have to feel ill/know you have the flu to be an asymptomatic carrier especially when you are younger. I'm retired USAF. The flu vaccine was the least of my worries from the vaccines I received...LOL https://www.CDC.gov/flu/about/disease/spread.htm

You are comparing effectiveness of not getting the flu and ignoring the lower morbidity and mortality rates even if you do get the flu after being vaccinated compared to non-vaccinated. The majority of deaths from flu occur in unvaccinated irregardless of comorbidities. That doesn't even get into the argument of endangering patients by not being vaccinated. "What are the benefits of flu vaccination? Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination and selected scientific studies that support these benefits. Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu. Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor's visits each year. For example, during 2019-2020, the last flu season prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 7.5 million influenza illnesses, 3.7 million influenza-associated medical visits, 105,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 6,300 influenza-associated deaths. During seasons when flu vaccine viruses are similar to circulating flu viruses, flu vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of having to go to the doctor with flu by 40% to 60%. Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick. A 2021 study showed that among adults hospitalized with flu, vaccinated patients had a 26% lower risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and a 31% lower risk of death from flu compared with those who were unvaccinated. A 2018 study showed that among adults hospitalized with flu, vaccinated patients were 59% less likely to be admitted to the ICU than those who had not been vaccinated. Among adults in the ICU with flu, vaccinated patients on average spent four fewer days in the hospital than those who were not vaccinated. Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization. Flu vaccine prevents tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year. For example, during 2019-2020 flu vaccination prevented an estimated 105,000 flu-related hospitalizations. A 2018 study showed that from 2012 to 2015, flu vaccination among adults reduced the risk of being admitted to an ICU with flu by 82%. A 2017 study found that during 2009-2016, flu vaccines reduced the risk of flu-associated hospitalization among older adults by about 40% on average. A 2014 study showed that flu vaccination reduced children's risk of flu-related pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission by 74% during flu seasons from 2010-2012. Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with certain chronic health conditions. Flu vaccination has been associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who have had a cardiac event in the past year. Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of a flu-related worsening of chronic lung disease (for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring hospitalization). Among people with diabetes and chronic lung disease,flu vaccination has been shown in separate studies to be associated with reduced hospitalizations from a worsening of their chronic condition. Flu vaccination during pregnancy helps protect pregnant people from flu during and after pregnancy and helps protect their infants from flu in their first few months of life. A 2013 study showed that during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 flu seasons vaccination reduced the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection in pregnant people by about one-half. A 2018 study showed that getting a flu shot reduced a pregnant person's risk of being hospitalized with flu by an average of 40% from 2010-2016. A number of studies have shown that in addition to helping to protect pregnant people from flu, a flu vaccine given during pregnancy helps protect the baby from flu for several months after birth, when babies are too young to be vaccinated. Flu vaccine can be lifesaving in children. A 2022 study showed that flu vaccination reduced children's risk of severe life-threatening influenza by 75%. A 2020 study found that during the 2018-2019 flu season, flu vaccination reduced flu-related hospitalization by 41% and flu-related emergency department visits by half among children (aged 6 months to 17 years old). A 2017 study was the first of its kind to show that flu vaccination can significantly reduce children's risk of dying from flu. Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.” https://www.CDC.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm

When people knowingly take on a career to take care of others and then they willingly endanger those same people in their care "self-determination" of not being vaccinated for non-medical reasons is a non-sequitur. Choosing not to get the flu vaccines, because you get the flu is the equivalent of choosing to not to wear a seatbelt because you got bruised from a seatbelt during a crash.

The USN and USAF send their CRNA students to USUHS. It is competitive, but has a high acceptance rate as long as you meet all criteria. I'm not 100% sure if the AF still does, but the USAF did have direct entry program for civilian nurses to join the USAF and go directly to USUHS after basic training/COT. https://nursing.usuhs.edu/academics/DNP/CRNA

I retired from the USAF January 2022. I think the best way to describe the difference the USAF would be like working for a small to medium size community hospital and the Navy would be like working for a large hospital in a large city. That's purely anecdotal, but the Navy hospitals tend to be much larger as the Navy is much larger service. I did the majority of my anesthesia training at a Navy hospital.

An infant is constantly exposed to antigens in quantities that far exceed what is in vaccines. Vaccines don't overwhelm the immune system. https://www.sciencealert.com/study-refutes-anti-vaccination-myth-vaccines-overwhelm-immune-system

When people say they want to discuss both sides they often mean they want to talk about conspiracies and pseudoscience articles/websites. I would say people have lost faith in vaccines because of misinformation from people that do not understand the science and wish to demonize vaccines for whatever goal. We are currently seeing a global drop in vaccine rates for this very reason. The smallpox vaccine has always had some of the worst side effect profiles and still does to this day. Smallpox is still a requirement for all military personnel and certain first responders.

"Numerous studies have examined many different vaccines. To date, none have consistently been shown to cause autoimmune diseases. In some studies influenza vaccine was shown to cause GBS at a rate of one case per million vaccine recipients. But, this should be viewed in light of the fact that natural influenza infection causes GBS in 17 per million people infected. So, in a sense, influenza vaccine could be viewed as preventing a more common cause of GBS.” https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccines-and-other-conditions/vaccines-and-autoimmune-diseases

"Q. Why should my newborn receive the hepatitis B vaccine if I know that I am not infected with hepatitis B virus? A. Before the hepatitis B vaccine became a routine recommendation in 1991, every year about 18,000 children in the United States were infected with hepatitis B before they reached 10 years of age. Half of those 18,000 early-life infections were not contracted during birth from an infected mother. Instead, they were caused by exposure to someone who, knowingly or not, was infected with hepatitis B virus. Because the hepatitis B virus is present in such large quantities in the blood of someone who is infected, it can be transmitted through quantities of blood not able to be seen with the naked eye, such as from shared toothbrushes or washcloths. Because a large number of people infected with hepatitis B are unaware they have the disease, it is extremely difficult to be confident we can avoid the infection through our own actions.” https://www.chop.edu/news/newborns-and-hepatitis-b-vaccine

There shouldn't be any non-CRNA making decisions for CRNAs on BONs. I know it routinely happens, but nurses rarely have any idea about CRNA practices and/or education. Any nurse that has never worked outside of ACT practices shouldn't even be allowed to have any dealings with CRNAs on BONs IMO.

Vaccine safety and effectiveness is always being researched. Vaccines are the only pharmaceutical product that has to undergo constant phase IV/post-marketing testing for safety and effectiveness. Aluminum adjuncts have been exhaustively tested. The whole argument against aluminum always skips the basic premise that aluminum is the most common metal in the Earth's crust. We eat, drink, and breathe in aluminum constantly. By the time we are adults your bones and tissues have more stored aluminum than in all vaccines combined. We are here to do no harm to our patients and one of those ways is by decreasing the risk of spreading infections. That can be by proper hygiene/washing hands, wearing masks/PPE, and being vaccinated. Herd immunity does not mean that a vaccinated person cannot get measles/influenza etc. Herd immunity decreases the overall spread of infectious illness. Measles has a 90% infection rate (the effectiveness of two doses measles vaccines is 98%) and the measles virus can stay active in the air for two hours after the infected person leaves. Assuming that herd immunity didn't work and in college campus where a 1,000 people came into contact with 1-2 being infected you would about 20 to be infected. Instead at most we rarely we see 2-3 become infected and that is mainly d/t herd immunity. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26004568/ https://historyofvaccines.org