Question from a Cali RN making good money.

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Specializes in CVSICU Nurse.

So, I am an RN in Northern California and have recently submitted 3 applications to CRNA schools. All of the schools would require a large move to another state across the country because of total cost of attendance and living. I have a reasonably high chance of getting interviewed at most if not all of the schools I have applied to. My stats include: 1.5 years ER, 2.5 years CVSICU, 3.89 GPA/3.9 Science, CEN, TNCC, CCRN, CMC, and CSC.

After applying to all of my schools a few weeks ago, it is really setting in that I have a reasonably good chance of getting in. I am becoming nervous because I currently have it really great as an RN in California and it is much better than the job I left 1.5 years ago in Nevada and I now have mandatory patient 2:1 or 1:1 patient ratios. I make a $130k base salary and currently make $175-$180 working 4 12hr shifts/wk with additional opportunities to do more if I were up to it, and a practically guaranteed 4-6% pay increase/yr. I am 33yo and married with 3 kids(9, 7, 3). My job is very easy, I like working with post op open hearts, and the pay far exceeds national standards even with cost of living considered. I understand that CRNA is a wonderful financial decision for most nurses in the country who make $60-$80k busting their butts in a job they can't stand. I guess I just feel incredibly ungrateful and though I really do think I would enjoy being a CRNA much more than my current job, it's hard to justify uprooting my family, accruing $150-$200k in debt, lost income for 2.5yrs, stress on myself/wife/young children. I know three people currently in CRNA school and have a real understanding of what it requires and I know that I would be able to do it if I set my mind to it. It is not an easy decision to make when I have a great job, live in a beautiful place, and have a family. This would be a much easier decisicion if I hated my job and didn't have children. Also of note, I don't really have much desire to become an NP. Anyway, I know this is a lengthy post but I have been flooded with these thoughts and have been very anxious regarding what would be best for me and my family. If there are any current CRNAs, SRNAs, or aspiring CRNAs that could offer any insight I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your time and input.

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Specializes in ICU.

If you plan to stay in Cali forever, and LOVE your job, then stay doing it. You're right, it wouldn't really make much sense. Take a look on Gaswork (ignore recruiter posts, bc they always over-inflate the pay) and see how much CRNAs are earning in Cali. One post I saw said per diem rate was $125/hr but that's without benefits of course.

However, if you plan to ever live in pretty much any other state...CRNA all the way. Oh and for reference my base salary starting as an RN in FL was $48k in 2014...so to me it is soooo worth it.

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Specializes in CVSICU Nurse.

Thanks for the response. Yeah most states really screw over their nurses. They are way underpaid and overworked without safe patient ratios. If i lived in a place where I knew triple+ my income by becoming a CRNA and gtfo of an awful workplace, it would be a pretty easy decision. My situation in Northern California however, isn't so cut and dry. I guess we'll see. I assume that if I get an interview I will go just to make sure and to talk to administration and some SRNAs but I am hoping some people on this board who have been-there-done-that could offer additional insight.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Why not just go to Samuel Meritt or National? Your stats are great.

https://allnurses.com/student-registered-nurse/is-it-still-990029.html

I started this thread years back because I asked similar questions as a RN in Southern California. Got accepted to an out of state school,, but decided it wasn't worth it for me personally to move for potentially not much financial gain. I ended up deciding I would only go to CRNA school if I didn't have to move. I ended up getting into a local program and am currently attending. I was 30 with no kids when I started though. more than half of my classmates DO have kids FWIW.

While I made great money, the deciding factor for me was I didn't want to be a nurse in my 40s-50s having to call some 26 year old resident in the middle of the night for a tylenol order. Having to do the "yes sir, no sir" thing with physicians was getting old. My other option was administration, but it seemed there was no longevity it. I also knew I had to advance my education, and it just so happened that hemodynamics, pharmacology, and physiology sparked my interest. The idea of only dealing with 1 patient at a time (which you do when you recover fresh open hearts anyways) was appealing as well. So, naturally, after shadowing I gravitated towards anesthesia.

In northern california, It's not unheard of for CRNAs to make 300k+, especially at kaiser (one of my classmates here in southern california is a per diem Norcal Kaiser RN who talks to the CRNAs up there when he works during break and he says some even make 400k with OT if they're motivated). Of course they never leave though.

With that being said, the money may or may not be there when you graduate. A job in Northern California may or may not be there when you graduate either. You may have to move, and you have to be okay with that. If you like where you're at then stay. If you want a career change into a role that's much different from nursing, has more autonomy, requires more critical thinking, doesn't require you to empty foleys or clean up feces, and want to be at the head of the bed as the go-to person, then anesthesia is where it's at. Be prepared for a very very difficult 3 years though.

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Specializes in CVSICU Nurse.

I totally understand about not wanting to take orders from a 20-something as an older and experienced nurse in the future. I currently work in a Cardiovascular Surgical ICU and have a pretty decent amount of autonomy. We are very protocol based and have tons of prn orders for our choice of vasoactive meds. We make a lot of our own decisions based on those protocols, especially on night shift.In my last CVSICU you couldn't even titrate Epi without an order

. We have surgeons that trust us to not abuse those orders and to use them in order to optimize hemodynamics and even to decide to extubate. We even do VADs and heart transplants which is really awesome. It takes a huge amount of knowledge that encourages constant learning. So i guess for me the autonomy thing isn't as big of a driver. Sure i have deal with a-hole docs sometimes but it's fairly rare.

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talks to the CRNAs up there when he works during break and he says some even make 400k with OT if they're motivated). Of course they never leave though.

Wow. Imagine making that kind of money combined with the amazing benefits that Kaiser offers their employees. I bet the anesthesia department turnover is a big fat zero. They'd all stay forever.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

The amount you've learned in CVSICU pales in comparison to what you will learn in CRNA school. The word pales might even be an understatement. Being autonomous and following protocols are not interchangeable. Making decisions based off protocols means you're just following the protocol.

Ask yourself this though: If your managers, cow orkers, protocols, doctors, hospital policy, or whatever changes, and you no longer have your "autonomy," will you still be happy as a bedside RN? It sounds like you've already made your decision though, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with staying a bedside nurse. The world needs them!

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Specializes in CVSICU Nurse.

I think you're absolutely right and i have spoken to many SRNAs who at about 1 year into school talk about how they cannot believe how much they have learned. Becoming a CRNA is a definite role change and allows true autonomy. I'm just kind of playing Devil's Advocate with myself here try to make a solid case for both sides. There is a huge chance I will decide to go to school and having sorted through all of this will help make that decision more solid. Thank you for your honest input. It's nice to have a conversation like this for nurses in similar situations.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

If I could see myself being happy as a bedside nurse, and was in situation where I was on trajectory to meet my financial goals in the area I wanted to live in I honestly wouldn't do it. Not sure where in norcal you live, but if I made 200k/year and owned a house right outside of San Francisco and was living the lifestyle I wanted (traveling, having good times, not worrying about money, saving for retirement), and my SO was a RN making the same, I personally wouldn't do it.

However, that wasn't my situation before I started school. I was traveling and having good times, but not putting away as much as I'd like in retirement. While I did cool stuff in the ICU, things like patients asking for graham crackers while their neighbor was coding or as a rapid response nurse getting called to help pull over a 500lb corpse into a gurney would sometimes make me show up to work and wonder "Is this is really it? This is what I'm doing for the rest of my life?" Those are the things that burned me out on the bedside. I guess I developed compassion fatigue.

FWIW, my SO is in nursing school now. If she were a RN prior to starting, I would have just focused on saving $$ and having a good life outside of work, and I probably would have been content enough to stay a bedside RN. CRNA school sucks, and if you think you would be happy without doing it and if you don't think you will regret it later on then don't do it. If you think you will regret it later on then now's the time to do it since you're not getting any younger. The older you get the more responsibilities you will have and the harder it will be to go back. They say the older you get the higher the attrition rate and the lower the 1st time NCE pass rate is. I'm not completely convinced that it's from a loss of neuroplasticity, or neurons no longer firing as quickly or anything like that, I just think they have more responsibilities outside of school which makes it more difficult to sit down and concentrate on reading a book for hours and hours.

I work a shift once a month in the float pool and each time I work I'm reminded of how thankful and lucky I am to be in a program haha

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If cost of school is the concern, apply for Kaiser's program. Simply the least expensive program out there for in state students.School loans would be minimal.

Also, starting positions for Kaiser in the Northern Cal are north of 200K, and that is with no OT. Add to that the free and comprehensive benefits they supply and your large family, for me, it would be a no-brainer.

Good luck with your decision.

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If cost of school is the concern, apply for Kaiser's program. Simply the least expensive program out there for in state students.School loans would be minimal.

But also be aware that program is exceptionally competitive OP.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

He sounds competitive enough for Kaiser. Only downside is Kaiser switched to a DNP and is now 90k. He would probably have a good shot at Samuel Merritt and not have to move as far.

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