Why

Autonomy, interest in anesthesia, enjoyment of pt monitoring, 1:1 ratio during cases, love of learning/knowledge, desire to continue working with critical pts while having the option to eventually work a more family-friendly schedule, desire to advance my education, previous success in hard science courses and pharm (plus 4.0 in NS), recommendations from MDAs I've met who would have been CRNAs instead if they could do it over, and obviously the pay isn't exactly a turn off. I'm still a new RN though, and I'm focusing on learning to be an ICU nurse at the moment. I haven't had the chance to do any shadowing of CRNAs yet, and I obviously plan to fit in several shadow shifts before I make any hard decisions about going back to school. I assume that once I've done more than just read and talk about the field, I'll either be able to write a longer, more complete list of pros and cons OR I'll have changed my mind and decided to pursue an acute care NP program instead. I think anesthesia is what I want, but I'm keeping an open mind for now.

MB73 put is PERFECTLY!!!

I haven't decided yet but anesthesia just FASCINATES me. You are tasked with one of the biggest responsibilities ever in having a patient's life in your hands and you are required to make critical decisions regarding their anesthesia plan so I know anesthesia is where I belong. As for CRNA, every aspect that MB 37 mentioned is exactly how I feel...

My confusion is whether I should pursue medical school and anesthesiology instead because of that looming cloud above my head that reads "What if?"...something I don't want when I'm 40 or 50 years old as a CRNA. Then again, from a financial perspective, CRNA makes a whole world of more sense than the medical route especially these days with our healthcare system...it's just a matter of how much financial strain is worth self fulfillment and I have yet to answer that just yet...when I do, that will be the day I am 100% committed on staying the CRNA route or opting for the medical school route instead...

MB73 put is PERFECTLY!!!

.it's just a matter of how much financial strain is worth self fulfillment

This is a big red flag, if nurse anesthesia will not give you "self fulfillment", then you will have a difficult time. You probably will work every day with anesthesiologists, unless you go to a rural area and there are lots of opportunities there. But if you work in an urban area, it will be a source of continually dissatisfaction. Don't "settle" for nurse anesthesia, it's a great professional with a long proud history of patient service.

This is a big red flag, if nurse anesthesia will not give you "self fulfillment", then you will have a difficult time. You probably will work every day with anesthesiologists, unless you go to a rural area and there are lots of opportunities there. But if you work in an urban area, it will be a source of continually dissatisfaction. Don't "settle" for nurse anesthesia, it's a great professional with a long proud history of patient service.

I appreciate your feedback and completely agree with you. There's just a lot of things going on in my mind right now so I hope you don't take it the wrong way...sort of a mid-life crisis if you will. I respect nursing and medicine for what they both are and have the utmost respect for EVERYONE in the healthcare setting. I'm just trying to find my nitch which has been the challenging part...at least I know that I'm meant to be in healthcare, just a matter of deciding where!!

so I hope you don't take it the wrong way...

I'm not offended, no worries there. I just think back to when I was in my anesthesia program. It was hard, much harder than anything I'd ever done before. Someone I was sharing a house with, (she already had a MSN), quit after 3 weeks. If I hadn't thought it was the absolute best thing possible for me it would have been even harder to stick it out through the ups and downs. And now that I'm in practice, there are a certain number of anesthesiologists who treat me as "less than" just because I'm a CRNA. If I believed deep down that being an anesthesiologist was better, then I think it would really bother me. Most of the time I just smile to myself and let them live with their delusions (sometimes I do get a little annoyed if I'm PMSing or something). It's water off a ducks back because they have their opinions, and I have mine. Anyway, I think you are in a difficult situation, I'd say go for med school if that is your true desire. Who knows, maybe you'll go a completely different direction than anesthesia.

Anyway, I think you are in a difficult situation, I'd say go for med school if that is your true desire. Who knows, maybe you'll go a completely different direction than anesthesia.

Thank you for your support and understanding...perhaps you are right but at the same time, there are so many benefits with being a CRNA at the same time. I'd dare say that those arrogant anesthesiologists who may think they are better than you are actually jealous of you at the same time. Jealous that they may not have the quality of life you do, jealous that you are accumulating financial freedom as they work hard to service their debt, jealous that you are able to do everything anesthesia-wise that they can but without all the years of school/stress/debt/time/sacrifices that they had to endure...yes, I dare say that some of them feel this way...

there is definately a rivalary between CRNA's and anesthesiologists. CRNA's are definately the ones that appear to come out on top in this scenario. They do have less debt to repay and have even less responsibility. I observed some anesthesiologists attempting to belittle CRNA's but usually the CRNA's handle them pretty well. In any event I am do not wish to pursue the MD route, CRNA is what I really want to do.

they do have less debt to repay and have even less responsibility.

i've never felt i had less responsibility than a md, i suppose in the legal sense in the act practice, the crna has less legal responsibility. when i have worked in the act setting, i still felt completely responsible for the care the patient received, and now i'm in an independent practice setting as many crnas are. as a licensed independent practitioner (lip) my responsibility is no different than if i had md behind my name. also, if you're not careful you can borrow a lot of money (>200k) to go to nurse anesthesia school. that's what some people coming out of programs recently are owing!

As an ICU nurse I became interested, thinking "what a cool profession." But then...I began shadowing a CRNA at Parkland Hospital in Dallas where I worked. A whole new world opened for me. A new feeling began to grow as I learned more about the role and how intense the job is. I developed a true, blue love for anesthesia. I am a VERY science oriented person, and had even considered a degree in biochemistry in the past. As I learned more about the science of anesthesia I was enthralled. Now I have such a passion for it that I cannot imagine ever getting any other degree, except maybe my doctorate in anesthesia in a few years!!