Why a CRNA??

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Why a CRNA??

Hey there everyone. I wanted to know WHY you all chose or are choosing a career as a CRNA. I know there's the $$$ issue but else?? What specifically inspired you? What do you LIKE about the Profession??

Just wondering

Matt

I think it would be nice to work in a professional organization that seems to have their act together or should I say more together than general RN's. I like that fact that most crna's join AANA.

I find that nursing in general gets walked over by admin. and puts up with way too much BS concerning work conditions and pay. The crna's seemed to get compensated much more fairly than reg RN's even though some have complained to me that they stilll don't make enough when compared to MDA'S. However, it is much better than bedside nursing, for example when I worked in the ER the ER doctors were making on average 4-5 times my hourly wage. I realize they take on most of the liability and have much more training but do you wonder why people are not going into nursing? I have many friends that are residents and staff and I am not saying they don't deserve to be compensated well, all I am saying is that nursing needs to be compensated better. Well off my soap box, and hey, these are just my humble opinions.

Thanks everybody, its good to hear from you all

matt

I was just wanted to hear what everybody else likes about their chosen profession. There's a hospital merger going on and the group here are very frustrated with the events. I lots of complaining going on. I just wanted to hear some fresh views.

Thanks again you guys are awesome

So I was wondering what makes nurse anesthesia school so hard? Is it the amount of information you are receiving at one time? Is it the difficulty of course content? Are you feeling like you will fail at any given time? Is it that difficult to understand the information you are receiving? Are there no objectives given? Please be specific. Is it the didactic sections? Is it clinical? Is it writing your thesis? Do people in the OR treat you like a filthy pulse ox probe? Why is it the hardest thing you'll ever do? Compared to what? kmchuch replied to this thread saying it was the hardest thing he as ever done and was answering a question about what he enjoyed about being a CRNA. Sounds to me it was the hardest thing ever enjoyed learning. I can buy that.

I agree, CRNA school is the hardest thing I've ever done and I'm 45 years old so I do have a few things to compare it to. Everything is hard, class material is tough, tests are often not reflective of what you've been reading. (the answer to that is there are lots of grey areas in anesthesia). Didactic days frequently start at 0800 and go until 1500-1600. You then drive to the hospital and get tomorrows assignment then go visit them if they are in house. Care plans are to be done on ALL patients in my program although they don't need to be as complete as they used to be. Clinical starts for me at 0400 since I need to start setting the heart room up by 0500 so I can put lines in and be in the room @ 0730. If only 2 cases are schedualed, I will probably be dropping the last patient off at 1600. Then I get my assignent for the next day, see yesterdays pts and go home to do care plans, study for classes which are still going on and maybe look up some new stuff about the cases I'm doing. Oh, I also am carrying the cardiac beeper for another 2 weeks, I go in for all lung or heart transplants whenever they come. We are also schedualed for 1 weekend shift a month, hopefully ift is not before a test but you never know, you don't get another day off to study. Remember you still can't get a second C in classes and you get evaluated daily by whoever is working with you. Tough? I'd say so.

Chris

The short answer to all the questions you asked is "yes." The content was huge and difficult, the hours could be murderous, the studying was mind numbing. Tests were not the only time you were tested. Generally, you are tested every clinical day by the CRNA you are working with, who pimps you with questions throughout the case. I can remember a couple of occasions that I have asked the CRNA (politely, of course) to wait on the answer to that question, but I really wanted to concentrate on whatever I was doing at the moment. Yes, I was pimped during induction, during emergence, and once during a code.

Like Dave, I went through later in life, so I had a few things to compare the program to, and I still say it was the toughest thing I have ever done. No, not the toughest thing I ever loved, not the toughest thing I ever "enjoyed learning." There were times I frankly hated it, and the only thing that kept me going was focusing on the end goal.

Now that its over, and I am a practicing CRNA, I am grateful for how hard I was worked. There are even times I find myself wishing it had been just a little tougher.

I can remember thinking some of the same things you have posted before beginning my program. Thinking those things is even kind of healthy, cause if I had thought about it the way I remember it, I might never have applied, and I love what I do.

Kevin McHugh

My brother is a CRNA and he thinks that his retarted undergrad was harder than anesthesia school. I guess because of how irrelevant the course work is in nursing school. Dimensions of proffesional nursing vs acid base physiology? I don't care how hard or the amount of time that is required. At least you are learning practical and relavent information.

The amount of information is overwhelming, and it is hard. This is not your learning how to read blood gases hard, the concepts are very advanced and require thinking. I think it is very mentally taxing to study so much. And then there's the issue of what the tests will be like. I took a test today on pulm circulation and gas diffusion and can recite the notes from class and the reading material and still have no clue where the instructor pulled those questions from. (yeah I know it gets harder than resp, but it ain't gonna be fun). So knowing the material doesn't guarantee a good grade (made a 93%, which is good, but I expected to know the answer to every question going in).

Anyway, we start clinical tomorrow so all these other people further in the programs should really be telling how difficult it is. I am only skimming the surface and have so much more torture to come.

I am becoming a CRNA so that I can go through the nursing equivalent of boot camp.

Here is an example of a busy day, today I was up at 0500 (read for 35 minutes), got to school at 0700, after a one hour commute, Read the material I did not have time to read earlier, for statistics, went to statistics/research from 1000 to 1200, lunch with my anatomy book, 1300 to 1500 statistics lab, 1500 to 2000 studied anatomy with a friend for a test tomorrow. During all this time, I am multitasking by thinking about the two papers I am writing, and how I really need to read the anesthesia content for tomorrow's class. (Which I was reading until I got on to update my blog). Tonight I will get on the anesthesia chat board at our school, and answer some of the posted questions, and maybe write some of my paper. I will be getting up for class, at 0530 and doing it all over again, except I plan to go to bed before ten tomorrow, as there are no more exams this week. BTW I have spent a cumulative 20 plus hours on Anatomy over the last three days. Oh, did I mention that I need to get ahead in biochem, that class is relentless. The material you need to learn so that you can form new ideas for the test is very tough. Anyway, you get the idea, and guess what, I don't have clinicals yet. We do all of our class work in the first year. The teachers and the class ahead of us tell us that the next two semesters are harder than this one.

OK, you people are starting to freak the crap out of me.

I have a new plan for the next several months. SLEEP.

I already feel that I am chronically sleep deprived after working nights for nine years. (Switched to days 3 months ago). I am going to log off and go to bed. Thank you for the insight.

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