I'll be starting my RN program come August with the hope of eventually becoming a CRNA at some point down the line. Earlier today I was talking with a friend of mine whose aunt is a surgical nurse in South Bend, IN. According to this friend of mine, his aunt said that CRNAs actually don't make very much money (relatively speaking), especially once you subtract out the cost of the malpractice insurance. The figure that she gave was around 105k/yr for a full-time CRNA. Now I'm assuming that since she's a surgical nurse of some sort, and she works with CRNA's on a daily basis practically that she knows what she's talking about.
However, when I go onto websites such as gaswork.com and whatnot, the base starting salaries they have posted for full-time CRNA's are quite a bit higher, and quite a few of the postings there even say that they cover the malpractice insurance. Am I missing something here? Do CRNAs actually "only" make 105k/yr after malpractice insurance is subtracted from their earnings (or maybe even before the malpractice insurance)? Is her information very case specific, and descriptive only of a small Midwestern city in Indiana? I mean, either way I'd be more than willing to become a CRNA just based on the information I have so far for it. But, I'd just like to hear some more feedback on this, particularly from those of you who are already CRNAs.
Thanks in advance for any insight you might offer!:)
Pay definately varies with location like with anything else, so do benefit packages. I work in a relatively rural hospital as a CRNA, my net income for the year is already over $100,000 and the group I work for pays my malpractice/healthcare insurance, I'm a W2 employee through a private anesthesia group that has a contract with the hospital in which I practice. In our group we have contracted CRNA's that are self employeed but contract through the group I work for, they make more $$ gross but are responsible for their own malpractice and healthcare insurance.
A few months ago, gaswork had a listing for Minnesota that would pay to relocate, paid malpractice and healthcare and was starting at $250,000....2 year contract.
I'm not a CRNA either, but I saw a listing for one in MN 3-4 years ago that was paying $200K/yr for 6 months of work.
I don't think salaries have anything to do with upcoming healthcare crisis...
How do you figure that? Salaries are usually a hospitals biggest expense. This is just a plain fact. It is one of the main reasons that healthcare tourism exists and why other countries can provide similar services much cheaper.
Healthcare costs are up because of other expenses and ridiculous fees that hospitals and some providers charge... How much an appendectomy would cost you out of pocket? What part of that cost is salary?
Healthcare costs are up because of other expenses and ridiculous fees that hospitals and some providers charge... How much an appendectomy would cost you out of pocket? What part of that cost is salary?
The cost alone for OR time is 30-120+ dollars per minute depending in the procedure. That does not include the preop or postop care. So an appendectomy that required no preop or postop care would be approximately 900-1800 dollars just to cover costs, but the surgeons costs also cover the preop and postop care. What a provider bills is rarely what is paid. It is big game between insurance companies, healthcare providers, and hospitals/clinics. Those hospital charges are what pay nurses and the ancillary staff salaries...
900-1800 cost plus profit, which could be double that (which is great compared to other industries) is fair I think. Although, I still want to know what part of that 30-120 per minute is actually spent on salaries. You have 2 OR techs making 12-15 an hour, Anesthesia making 100-200 an hour, OR nurse making 25-30 an hour, and the surgeon. If you add everyone's salary it is 4 dollars a minute maximum (not including the surgeon). So how do you justify that 30-120 a minute charge being spent mostly on salaries. Most of it is equipment, markups that are not seen in any other industry, and others costs...
And I agree with you, the payment system we have right now is unacceptable. It is unsustainable in the long run.
900-1800 cost plus profit, which could be double that (which is great compared to other industries) is fair I think. Although, I still want to know what part of that 30-120 per minute is actually spent on salaries. You have 2 OR techs making 12-15 an hour, Anesthesia making 100-200 an hour, OR nurse making 25-30 an hour, and the surgeon. If you add everyone's salary it is 4 dollars a minute maximum (not including the surgeon). So how do you justify that 30-120 a minute charge being spent mostly on salaries. Most of it is equipment, markups that are not seen in any other industry, and others costs...
And I agree with you, the payment system we have right now is unacceptable. It is unsustainable in the long run.
Location is everything, one hospital in Nashville starts at $105k, but pays the insurance. No call no holidays no weekends. But they pay time and a half and overtime is offered frequently. Locum work pays more but much more but no benefits or malpractice is paid. If you are willing to move anywhere salaries are as high as $300k, such as a recent job on Gasworks.com in Eagle Pass TX. Look at:
You may if you were going to get great experience to take you somewhere else or it was the only offer you could get or can't move. It is a shockingly low wage.
GM2RN
1,850 Posts
I'm not a CRNA either, but I saw a listing for one in MN 3-4 years ago that was paying $200K/yr for 6 months of work.