26 yr old male considering a career in nursing (RN to CRNA) Advice please?

veggie530 · Jul 28, 2013

Esme12 you make it sound pretty rough. I know it won't be easy, so I appreciate your words of wisdom. Wouldn't CNAs do more menial tasks? I want to be in an ICU/ER, so hopefully the tasks won't be too insignificant : )

Yes... but... you aren't stepping into an ER or ICU job with no experience unless you have very good networking or you're an Iraq/Afghan combat medic, in addition to other stuff.

OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

Menial? Insignificant?
Yikes.

My thoughts exactly.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

For a bit of historical perspective: When I was first teaching, 95% of my students wanted to be "mother-baby" or peds nurses. This number is not an exaggeration; some of the older instructors can confirm that they had the same experience. These students were truly shocked, some of them, to discover that they would have to study other things in nursing school, take care of elders and adults and psych, and so on. And a good thing, too, because :news flash: 95% of those years' students did not work and are not working in those two areas today. If they were, who would be working the other ones?

So too with the current fad of "I'm working one year of med-surg and then I'm going to NP school" and "I'm working one year of critical care and then I'm going to CRNA school." Correction: You will work wherever you can get a job-- did I mention there is no nursing shortage and a lot of new grads spend their first year out of school job-hunting, not building a resume?-- and you might apply to an advanced clinical program after a year of work, and they might be interested in you with just one year of clinical, when you aren't really out of the "novice" category, if there aren't a bunch of more experienced RNs with better-articulated career plans applying that week.

So there is zero guarantee that you will be accepted into one, but I can guarantee that the 90% of you who plan to do this will not, repeat NOT, be NPs and CRNAs. Life has a habit of happening while we are busy making other plans. Keep your mind open. You might fall in love with that oncology floor and decide to take the ONC certification, and go on to specialize in gyn oncology. You might be surprised to find yourself loving ortho surgery, or cardiac rehab, or acute stroke unit, or find that working float pool perfectly meets your needs at the time.

First things first, though, so do what you need to do to finish your BSN and get a job in the first place. Then let us know in a year how it's going.

(Sorry I couldn't make the italics go away)

mmcc26 · Jul 28, 2013

I am 26 years old also, just started nursing school, and while I don't intend on pursuing CRNA, I also have some "lofty" goals for myself. I just wanted to let you know I seriously questioned if my age would be a problem in making things happen, and I've found one of the greatest things about this field is that there really is no age limit. You can always go back to school for more education and continue climbing the ladder.

If it's what you want, go for it. It's attainable. Good luck!

veggie530 · Jul 29, 2013

I am 26 years old also, just started nursing school, and while I don't intend on pursuing CRNA, I also have some "lofty" goals for myself. I just wanted to let you know I seriously questioned if my age would be a problem in making things happen, and I've found one of the greatest things about this field is that there really is no age limit. You can always go back to school for more education and continue climbing the ladder.
If it's what you want, go for it. It's attainable. Good luck!

Having lofty goals is great, so long as you keep your mind open to all the possibilities.

Goals can change with circumstances and experiences.

loriangel14, RN · Jul 29, 2013

I have a feeling this OP won't be back.

jeroboam · Jul 29, 2013

I became an RN in my late 40s. It's never too late to return to school. By the way, I graduated from my accelerated BSN program with the highest GPA in the class ... we "older" students tend to be more motivated than the younger ones.

I work in the OR, so I work with CRNAs every day. At my institution, the starting salary for a CRNA is about 125,000 per year. It's a very challenging and rewarding job, and I encourage you to pursue it.

roser13, ASN, RN · Jul 29, 2013

Are there any benefits to being a male in this profession? Will I catch a lot of crap?
Thanks in advance to everyone providing feedback! Much appreciated.

No to Question #1.

Hell yes to Question #2, due to asking Question #1.

This is one of my pet peeves. Men who look at the traditionally-female field of nursing and (without any logical thought process that I can think of) decide that perhaps possessing a different version of genitalia will give them an edge.

I mean, where does that presumption even come from? I seriously don't get it. OP is obviously extremely naive and has much to learn about the real world of nursing, but who/what gave him the idea of male superiority/advantage to begin with? :no:

jeroboam · Jul 30, 2013

No to Question #1.

Hell yes to Question #2, due to asking Question #1.

This is one of my pet peeves. Men who look at the traditionally-female field of nursing and (without any logical thought process that I can think of) decide that perhaps possessing a different version of genitalia will give them an edge.

I mean, where does that presumption even come from? I seriously don't get it. OP is obviously extremely naive and has much to learn about the real world of nursing, but who/what gave him the idea of male superiority/advantage to begin with?

The presumption comes from the real world. Where I work (in the operating rooms of a huge, well-known academic medical center), there are, routinely, complaints about male surgeons who supposedly "mistreat" (i.e., aren't nice to) female RNs and scrub techs but don't dare do the same with male RNs and techs. And in fact, this is true. It's even true with the female surgeons.

We male RNs share the locker room with the male surgical staff ... we get to know them on a different level. There's a camaraderie. The female surgeons, plainly stated, prefer guys in the OR. I suppose that many of them have so long struggled coming up the surgical ladder that they try to be "manly" but that's pure speculation. I only know that I, and my male RN colleagues, have no problems with surgeons whereas the women seem to have plenty.

So I would say that someone else is naive here. I consider being male in my profession to be a big advantage. I don't abuse it. But I enjoy it.

PMFB-RN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

[quote=roser13;7453624This is one of my pet peeves. Men who look at the traditionally-female field of nursing and (without any logical thought process that I can think of) decide that perhaps possessing a different version of genitalia will give them an edge.

who/what gave him the idea of male superiority/advantage to begin with? :no:

*** Being male does give us an edge. I suppose the idea may have come from those of us men who have been in nursing to know that indeed, being a male in nursing does offer some advantages.

They aren'[t "official" advantages but they are real. In ther area iof physician / nurse relations being a man is an advantage. I am pretty sure that the dean and others of my nursing program bent the rules a little to get me in since they hadn't had any male students in a couple years and none were entering that class. My friends who are nurse managers and hire nurses tell me that they have a preference for male nurses as they take far less time off and are more reliable (less day care and sick kids issues etc) on average.

Xsited2baNurse · Jul 30, 2013

Is the field becoming overpopulated? Will I have issue finding something? Is 26 too old to begin a new career in this?

-It's tough finding a job as a new grad; however, the jobs are there--even for a lot of us "measly" ASNs. Nonetheless, you actually would have a slight edge over other applicants if you went straight for your BSN. So, if you can, do that. And no, 26 is not too old. I'm currently 25, will be graduating from my nursing program this week in fact, and will be turning 26 in the Fall. Also, in my nursing program, there are people in their 40s who are going for their RN with hopes of going on to become nurse practitioners. Go for it!

Is it worth the hard work and dedication to studying? I will be broke, and very busy, from now until I land an RN job...

-That's very subjective. I feel as though it would be. If you have your heart set on being a nurse, then the three to four years you spend prepping for it will be more than worth the payoff in the end.

Are there any benefits to being a male in this profession? Will I catch a lot of crap from females?

-Humans worldwide have male preference. Rarely is there not a benefit to being male. And you'll probably get some sort of smack from somebody someday. But, let's be honest, there's always at least one person in any social setting who's gonna give you crap about something, regardless of your gender.

How is the stress factor? I heard the reason there are tons of out of shape nurses is because they wear themselves out at work and have no energy when their shift is over.

-That sounds like a big whopping tall tale a lot of nurses tell themselves to make themselves feel better about being too darn lazy to get up and get out to the gym :roflmao:

How is the pay? I've heard decent, however I've also heard starting off it can be rather disappointing.

-It depends upon where in the country you go to practice. In NYC, for instance, I've heard that starting salaries are about 63k/yr. That'll get you a nice tuna can to live in out there. However, in some places like Houston, where the starting wage is about 27ish/hr (base pay), you're most likely gonna be able to get a nice middle-class house, in a nice middle-class neighborhood, and have a nice middle-class car.

I understand becoming a CRNA is like going through med school for nurses, and this excites me as I know I am an intelligent person. I am anxiously looking forward to the challenge. With that said, is this a realistic goal?

-Yes. And that's really all there is to it: Yes, it is realistic. Thousands have already done it, so what would prevent it from being out of your reach?

Thanks in advance to everyone providing feedback! Much appreciated.

-Np :)

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

The presumption comes from the real world. Where I work (in the operating rooms of a huge, well-known academic medical center), there are, routinely, complaints about male surgeons who supposedly "mistreat" (i.e., aren't nice to) female RNs and scrub techs but don't dare do the same with male RNs and techs. And in fact, this is true. It's even true with the female surgeons.
We male RNs share the locker room with the male surgical staff ... we get to know them on a different level. There's a camaraderie. The female surgeons, plainly stated, prefer guys in the OR. I suppose that many of them have so long struggled coming up the surgical ladder that they try to be "manly" but that's pure speculation. I only know that I, and my male RN colleagues, have no problems with surgeons whereas the women seem to have plenty.
So I would say that someone else is naive here. I consider being male in my profession to be a big advantage. I don't abuse it. But I enjoy it.

Because men behaving aggressively is ambition and drive. Females behaving aggressively is being catty and mean. It is all about the discrimination about women that still exists. Female surgeons have been beaten and abused by the male counter parts ALL through med school......and still harbor that need to belong to the big boys club.......personally I have found female surgeons prefer women scrubs so that is a personal preference at your facility.

Male surgeons don't act poorly against the male OR RN's because they don't/can't deal with the aggressive response but still had an immature need to feel superior over women in this "male dominance" posturing to prove their dominance and self worth....not their fault really it's evaluational ingrained behavior.

The best surgeons I have ever worked with as respectful to all nurses.