A Career as a Certified Nurse Anesthetist?

Answer 1

A certified registered nurse anesthetist, or CRNA, is one of the highest paid and most advanced types of nurse. They are responsible for all aspects of giving a patient anesthesia when the anesthesiologist is not available, although they work closely with the anesthesiologist and surgical staff. Many hospitals employ more certified registered nurse anesthetists than anesthesiologists. This allows hospitals and surgery centers to be able to complete a greater number of surgeries, since it is cheaper for the hospital to use CRNAs. That being said, a CRNA is very well paid, and carries a great responsibility for the care of the patient. This responsibility applies to before, during and after surgery. This is a very high pressure job, and requires a great deal of dedication and commitment on the part of the CRNA.

Certified registered nurse anesthetists are usually employed by a hospital. However, there has been a trend lately for organizations to open smaller surgery centers for outpatient surgeries and other procedures that don’t require a hospital stay. Those facilities may also employ CRNA’s as well.

Becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist is no easy task. They must complete several years of higher education that includes a bachelor’s degree in nursing and becoming a licensed registered nurse, or RN. After a year’s experience as an RN, the prospective CRNA must gain admission to a graduate nurse anesthetist program. These programs usually take two or three years to complete. After that, the student must pass the certification exam that will allow them to legally practice as a CRNA.

Once school and certification is complete, the starting salary for a CRNA is around $110,000 - $130,000. After a few years of experience, the salary can be expected to reach around $160,000 annually. These figures can vary from location to location, but overall, a certified registered nurse anesthetist can expect to earn a high salary.

There are only a few drawbacks to this career are that the job can be high pressure and very stressful. Also, a smaller hospital or facility may have a heavy on-call rotation.

The outlook in the coming years for CRNA’s is very good. Hospitals will continue to employ them since it is more cost effective than employing an anesthesiologist. In the future, certified registered nurse anesthetists can expect to make a good living with excellent job stability.