I'm not sure that I know ANY nurses under 30 with any long term career aspiration who aren't considering this route. Over time, this will flood the market with more CRNAs and fewer floor nurses (actually in demand). There is still a lag, because of a training barrier. Nurses are not immune to healthcare economics, but they do tend to be salaried (both RNs AND CRNAs) to a much greater degree than physicians. This makes them much more susceptable to supply and demand. In other words, when the world has more CRNAs than it needs, Anesthesia groups will drive down the salaries quickly and precipitously. Also, the high salary is the downfall. When looking for new hires, if there is truly an overabundance of anesthesia providers, the CRNAs are demanding amounts of money that Anesthesiologists can afford to take. CRNAs at 200k may be attractive over MDs at 350k, but both at 200 will probably exclude the CRNA.
I am not saying this to disparage my colleagues in anesthesia in any way, but I believe that they are really in a golden age of the specialty. History really doesn't support the anesthesiologists making more than surgeons whose patients they put to sleep. This is sort of an accident, and there is a real risk for a decline in salaries. However, that decline probably ends up hurting the CRNAs, as they lose the attractive pricing advantage.
