At a crossroads -- should I go the AA or CRNA route?
Posted by FutureAnesthetist on May 17, 2012, 8:02 pm
I have been pursuing AA school for the last couple of years and am starting to second-guess my decision. I had a recent conversation with a local CRNA who told me that none of the local groups were hiring AA's anymore due to political issues (one of the groups is owned by a CRNA) and issues with cost-effectiveness, apparently due to the fact that AA's are unable to take call independently or work in endo clinics, etc. by themselves. I was also strongly advised by one of the few local AA's to become a CRNA instead.
Can an experienced AA chime in with their professional opinion here? Would you honestly advise an individual who wants to become an anesthetist to become a CRNA over an AA?
I already have a B.S. degree and have talked with 7 or 8 CRNA programs that would be willing to consider accepting me with an ADN/ASN, and it would only take a year to complete the ADN program at a local technical college. Of course, there would also be a year of working as an RN in the ICU.
Is there anyone else who is facing a similar crossroads? Did you decide to go the AA or CRNA route?
Re: At a crossroads -- should I go the AA or CRNA route?
the fact that u cant get into aa school seems to be the biggest issue. go to CRNA school. dont ever say u were trying to get into AA school to any nursing classmates or instructors it may cause problems for u in the future. I also wouldnt mention your want to become a crna until u have gotten an ICU job. a lot of nursing managers know young people right out of school just want to get the icu year to apply to crna school which means they paid you for 6-12 months of training and now have to pay someone else to do it after u leave.
Re: At a crossroads -- should I go the AA or CRNA route?
Thanks for the advice. Would you actually recommend going to CRNA school over AA school because CRNA's have better careers in general, or because I'm having trouble getting into AA school?
The one reservation I have about pursuing the CRNA route is the amount of time it would take as compared to becoming an AA. If I re-apply this summer to AA programs and get accepted, I'll be in and out of school in a little over two years.
On the other hand, if I decide to become a CRNA, I'll have to spend the fall 2012 semester taking 3 additonal pre-req classes for the nursing program, and then I would start the nursing program in fall of 2013. That would put me at graduating in the spring of 2015. Then I would for hopefully only one year as an ICU nurse and then start CRNA school, which would be 28 months. So counting from the fall 2012 semester, it would take me about 6 years to become a CRNA versus about 2.4 years to become an AA.
The CRNA's I talk to tell me that even though it would take extra time to become a CRNA, I would be able to easily make up for the several lost years of income because my employment options would be much more flexible - being able to take call freely to make extra cash, working in external practices such as endo clinics and dental/podiatry offices, and of course working independently.
Let's put it like this, the anesthesia group here told me that as soon as I get accepted to a CRNA program, they'll sign me to an advanced employment contract. But they said that they won't be able to do the same thing if I get accepted to AA school because AA's just aren't flexible enough in terms of supervision requirements.
So what do you think? Are the ~4 extra years it would take to become a CRNA worth the perks? Or would it be wiser to jump on an offer to attend AA school if I get one?