I am graduating highschool this month and will be starting college in July. I am still deciding what I would to major in and becoming a CRNA has interested me. Here are some questions I have:
1. What are the typical work hours?
2. I have done some research, but just to make sure...is it majoring in nursing then 1-2 years working as a nurse and then go on for more schooling and exams from there?
3. Best places to work. (Meaning different states/countries)
4. Starting pay and how I should expect after 5 yrs 10yrs 15yrs
5. Is the job enjoyable?
6. What fields are the best. (Not sure how to ask this but, does working around heart surgery or something serious marke more money than say someone who works with small surgeries like hernias?
And if you have any other input on CRNAs please let me know.
Thank you!
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
1. "Typical work hours" depend on where you are employed. The only places that use CRNAs where I am are private elective surgery centers, which means the schedule could be generally 7am - 7pm, depending on the schedule that day.
CRNAs in a hospital setting may have days like this, make have overnight call, may have daytime call, may have in-house overnight OB call; it's up to the employer.
2. Path to CRNA is a BSN, usually one year in critical care (which often requires at least a year of experience), then a two year Master's program specifically for the CRNA.
3. "Best" is subjective. So, you'll need to weigh personal lifestyle, CRNA job market, cost of living, and salary to find what's best for you.
4. I do not know incremental salary averages. http://www.crnasalary.com/ says that entry is about $115k and that average is about $175k. You can visit indeed.com and salary.com to learn more.
5. Again, this is subjective.
6. Unless you get a job at a specialized surgery center or specialty OR, you don't get to pick specialties. You are assigned to a physician or a room and stay there through a 5 hour heart surgery and then four 30 minute simple cases. You may be able to do additional training for something like pediatrics, but I don't know for sure, and unless you end up at a Peds hospital, you will be working plenty of general cases, not just Peds cases.
How you get paid, again, is up to the employer. You might get straight salary if you are employed by a hospital or you might bill per procedure or per collections if you are independent or part if a small group.
I have seen people trained an anesthetists in Dental Surgeon offices with nothing more than an LPN license. Of course, that will not pay like a CRNA. But yes, you have to go get your Bachelors in Nursing from an accredited college. I think they typically expect at least 1 year experience in a critical care unit to let you into the CRNA schools. Alternatively, you can go the lab tech route, get your Bachelors in Bio, and apply for training as an anesthesiologist assistant. However, you might as well just go on to get your 4 yr med school degree and then go on to specialize in anesthesiology and make the real money.