Maybe interested in CRNA career?

Nursing Students SRNA

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I am thinking about advancing my nursing career. A few friends are wanting to do a FNP program. I was initially into it but have talked to many people with their FNP who cannot find jobs that are worth it (ie: bad hours, too many hours per week, pay isn't much better than a RN after taking the amount of hours into effect, etc.). I am not sure I really want to do it either. So I am not real jazzed about the concept. If I go through a master's program, I want the job to be a significant financial gain, not $20,000-$30,000 but with 50-60 hr work weeks. I work great hours in a hospital and love my job. I feel like it better be something worthwhile for me to give up what I am doing now.

A few people told me to do CRNA because the financial gain is huge. I am just not sure I would enjoy this. School seems like it is really hard and time consuming. I am concerned about being able to pay for school and working at the same time. I would have to do loans but we are a 2 income household so I need to work. Also, I don't have ICU experience. I have worked in OB, pediatrics, and newborn special care nursery for 7 years. Would this make me an automatic no if I applied? Is the job fun? What is the job market like?

Any advise would be helpful :) Thank you!

Specializes in Anesthesia.
I am thinking about advancing my nursing career. A few friends are wanting to do a FNP program. I was initially into it but have talked to many people with their FNP who cannot find jobs that are worth it (ie: bad hours, too many hours per week, pay isn't much better than a RN after taking the amount of hours into effect, etc.). I am not sure I really want to do it either. So I am not real jazzed about the concept. If I go through a master's program, I want the job to be a significant financial gain, not $20,000-$30,000 but with 50-60 hr work weeks. I work great hours in a hospital and love my job. I feel like it better be something worthwhile for me to give up what I am doing now.

A few people told me to do CRNA because the financial gain is huge. I am just not sure I would enjoy this. School seems like it is really hard and time consuming. I am concerned about being able to pay for school and working at the same time. I would have to do loans but we are a 2 income household so I need to work. Also, I don't have ICU experience. I have worked in OB, pediatrics, and newborn special care nursery for 7 years. Would this make me an automatic no if I applied? Is the job fun? What is the job market like?

Any advise would be helpful :) Thank you!

Your kidding right?.... Try doing some research and shadowing if you are serious. http://www.aana.com There is whole section on how to become a CRNA.

Specializes in CRNA, CCRN- Surgical/Cardiothoracic ICU.

Shadowing a CRNA is a definite must if you want to commit nearly 2.5 years of your life to the schooling. And a very important requirement is one year or more of ICU experience. The profession isn't just about the money. You are essentially the person keeping that patient alive during procedures. You must be extremely diligent in watching that monitor and titrating and pushing drugs. It is a lot of scientific knowledge and critical thinking. Find someone to shadow and see for yourself if this is something that interests you. Good Luck!

No I am not kidding. I am merely wondering. Obviously this is in the beginning stages. That is why I am asking for advice. I have done some research and looked at many sites but am wanting personal advice. Some people I talk to say they like the job and think it's easy. Some say it's really hard and they don't enjoy it. I even talked to someone who is CRNA but doesn't work as such because she hates it. So I am just looking for more advice of the same. Reading online information isn't the real world. I want to know the real world. I will try to shadow some at the hospital I work at. I talk with the CRNA's during C-sections and watch what they do. I like the idea of a very specialized area of expertise. Yes it's a lot of information but it relates to a very narrow field which I like. I am steering away from the broadness of something like FNP. I just worry about acceptance due to my lack of ICU experience. My GPA is 3.9 so that is not a problem. I wonder what the experience was for other people in the class you all were in.

Specializes in Anesthesia.

You need one year of acute care experience per COA requirements. That is part of that online information I provided in my 1st post. Your experience won't be accepted at most schools. CRNAs have one of the highest job satisfaction ratings in nursing.

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