Your Opinion Please

Don't go by what one person says. Shadow, or follow a couple of CRNA's, and I'm sure they will tell you there is sufficient patient contact, where you are pretty much taking care of the patient in their most vulnerable time period. I don't know how you mean 'social butterflies.' which field are you referring to? Anywho though, CRNA's are the leaders of the critical care environment, and are generally very respected persons in the nursing field. They are looked up to for knowledge, education, and clinical awareness because they have assessed and implemented changes for patients in a matter of seconds.

I'm not a CRNA, but I'm sure that some CRNA's get upset when nurses say it's not a good field to get into because there isn't much patient contact. It's not that there isn't patient contact. You just don't spend most of your time conversing with the patient. you get a short time period to get to know the patient, and during that time period, you should attempt to get to know the patient as well as one can for the responsibility a CRNA holds in the OR.

While talking to my preceptor the other day I told her that my long-term career goal was to become a CRNA. She strongly advised me against it stating that I would not be happy because there is no patient contact. Do people who are extroverted and consider themselves "social butterflies" feel stifled and feel that they are in the wrong field? Also, what personality characteristics do you have that help you in your work?