I was looking through the med forums and stumbled upon this career called Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Apparently, the starting salary is about $140,000 with potential to reach $500,000. Supposedly, a $300,000 salary is not uncommon for this field.
Listen, I value SDN, a lot, but some of the information you come across just simply is not correct. This is a medical forum, dominated by physicians and pre-med students
.and while they may not admit to it, or like it, they simply do not know the truth regarding nursing, what it takes to be a nurse, nursing pay, advance practice nursing, etc. (they just think they know because they read it somewhere on this forum once or heard someone say something along similar lines once, or because they looked it up once and think they know everything know, they are MDs or wanna be MDs and think they are Gods gift to the world (cough, cough, Taurus, cough, cough). 300K as a CNRA is unheard of. It is not a common salary for this field and I would be hard pressed to believe you could find someone, or more than one person, working in this field, making 300K. It just doesnt happen. 140K is more along the lines of reality, and for someone that has a few years experience. Starting salary is closer to 100K and I would say max is generally around 160K. Of course you will have your exceptions, those who work in government and in certain prestigious private sectors will probably make a little more
but still not anywhere close to 300K.
The education is similar in length to a dentist's(BS, 1 yr job experience, 2-3 yrs additional schooling). The career is expected to be in high demand in the near future. I'm all for dentistry and was really set on it before i read some info about these nurses. Don't flame me because "I'm just concerned about the money, bla..bla". Im just curious whether you guys have heard about his career and its insane compensation potential.
Depends. Education can be 50K a year for at least two years, and in most cases, 3 years. I should note that to be considered for CRNA school, you must hold a bachelors in Nursing. Minimum requirements are at least a 3.0 GPA (but you wont be competitive unless its significantly higher) and also a GRE score > 1000 (again, you will have to do much better than the minimum to be competitive). You have to have LORs, specifically from the CRNAs that you shadowed as well as the personal statements and in some schools, you have to interview (not true for all schools). And in general, most schools require a mandatory minimum of one year critical care experience. Most require CCRN certification which requires a continuous amount of patient care contact in a specific field for a specific duration and the sitting (and passing) of a board exam. Furthermore, by the year 2015, all advance practice nurses (which included CRNAs) will be required to have their DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) which will be at least another year of schooling (and a thousand or so more clinical hours to add to your already 2K hour pile DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE 700HR ONLINE BS THAT SOME SDN POSTERS WOULD LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE EXSITS. IT. SIMPLY. DOES. NOT. END. OF. STORY.). So unless you are planning on applying, and soon, you will not only have to get your Masters in Anesthesiology, you will also have to obtain your DNP in order to practice as a CRNA. I should also mention how incredibly competitive this field is. Heck, regular nursing school is now really competitive. I was waitlisted at my state school over 4 years ago with a 3.2 cGPA! And in some states, the wait list is first come first serve, rather than GPA dependent
Such is the case in Colorado where the waitlist on average is 5 years!! And this is just for a regular BSN or even an associates degree. Add to the fact that just about every nurse and new nurse graduate wants to be a CRNA. Youll have to dig deep to make an admissions committee believe you want to be a CRNA for the right reasons and not just because it was a lucrative alternative to your dental plan.
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Some additional benefits include: not having to own a practice (although i think they might be able to)
CRNAs cannot practice on their own, let alone own their own practice. They might be able to own a group of CRNAs, but they would ultimately have to contract out and practice under a licensed Anesthesiologist (either MD or DO). CRNAs are obligated to practice under the supervision of a Anesthesiologist. Usually the state and/or facility you work in, will dictate the ratio or CRNAs to Drs. In my state, there can be 4 CRNAs for every 1 Anesthesiologist. Usually the CRNAs work independently, performing epis, air placement, etc., but thats not to say that I dont see them directly supervised by either the Anesthesiologist or the resident (usually a 2nd year or higher).
manageable hours, less debt, etc. Please dont preach about the ethics and how these careers are completely different. If you decide to comment, please base it on factors such as: compensation, autonomy, lifestyle, workweek, etc. Thanks for reading.
Jon, the careers are totally different
.sorry, but they are!! Autonomy is obviously limited for the reasons listed above. You are not completely autonomous in this field. And the other major drawback is that once you choose this field, you are stuck with it
.as in, there isnt much lateral movement across fields for CRNAs (in comparison to other NPs and PAs). Oh, and CRNAs do call and rotating shifts the same as MDs/DOs so expect to be working long, late hours, especially while you are at the bottom of the totem pole.
Hopefully I answered a few of your questions. You should check out the ANA (American Nurses Association) website on CRNAs. And as you mentioned, there might be some threads in this forum, somewhere, that have relative information from posters who have actually been through the process themselves.
Whatever you do, dont listen to Taurus
this is one SDN poster who hasnt got a clue when it comes to the world of NPs and DNPs, but sure likes to voice their opinion otherwise (Trust me, Taurus don't know BULL and any NP will back this up, and I'd bet everything I have that more than a fair share of HONEST MDs/DOs would back me up on this statement as well. You'll be far better informed going to other *professional* websites and talking to already practicing CRNAs and MDs/DOs that work alongside CRNAs then reading one sentence of what Taurus has to say on this subject. In fact if Taurus enters this conversation, or any other conversations you may be involved with, your far better gouging your eyes out with a rusty sport than listening to ANYTHING this poster has to say in regards to anything nursing related...and probably most things in general). Keep in mind that the working relationship between NPs and MDs/DOs is a lot better than what many would portray around here. The majority, if not all, MDs/DOs I work with are extremely grateful of NPs/PAs, understand their role and respect them highly. If you have other questions, feel free to PM me. CRNA is not a bad idea, but dont be fooled by people around here that its an easy idea.
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That was a lot. wow.
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