9 Reasons Why You Should Be A Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).
One of the benefits of becoming a nurse anesthetist is that you have the privilege to choose an advanced field you would like to specialize in after earning an advanced education.
However, this can be overwhelming for you, especially with several great available options. But there is a particular field of nursing that appears to be outstanding which is the field of nursing anesthesia.
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Who Is A Nurse Anesthetist?
Many people are asking about how to become a nurse anesthetist? First, it is required to know who is a nurse anesthetist. A CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) is a healthcare professional who gives anesthesia-related care.
They work in various health care settings, including hospitals and pain management centers, where they supply anesthesia to patients before, during, and after certain procedures.
Being a CRNA means you have advanced education. This means you can be trusted to provide a proper level of anesthesia to patients to ensure comfort without risking their safety. Let’s examine the reasons being a nurse anesthetist is a rewarding and fulfilling career path.
9 Reasons Why You Should be a Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
Here are the benefits of going for the nurse anesthetist programs.
1. Ample Opportunities
The future career estimate for CRNAs gives an expected growth rate of 31% between 2014 and 2024. This 31% is almost double that of registered nurses (RNs), who have a standard growth rate of 16%.
The growth rate explains that there are a lot of job opportunities that will be available for people that decide to go into the field.
2. Encouraging Salary
CRNAs are paid according to their liability and responsibility, including part-time and on-demand positions. As a CRNA, you can also choose to work overtime hours and increase your earning potential. Also, the salary varies with your place of practice.
In all, the awesome salary of CRNAs is a strong draw for those considering being a nurse anesthetist.
3. Flexible Schedules
Since there are a lot of job opportunities for CRNAs, it means there are several types of work environments for CRNAs, and they can decide to work in full-time, part-time, on-call, or even overnight positions. This explains the flexibility you tend to have when you are a CRNA.
You can always choose a position that better fits your desired schedule and adjust your career around the other commitments you have. If need be, you can as well adjust your employment type by applying for full-time, part-time, or on-demand positions, as the case may be.
The flexibility that comes with being a CRNA is wonderful if you want to get an optimal work-life balance.
4. Privilege To Work Autonomously
In certain settings, CRNAs have the privilege to work mostly autonomously. For example, in many rural areas in the whole United States, CRNAs operate as the sole anesthesia providers in those areas.
That is, they carry out all procedures related to anesthesia from operating rooms to obstetrical units, and they do so under their direction.
If you need a career in which you can make decisions on your own without having to always report directly to someone else, being a CRNA is a good one for you.
5. Various Career Options
Although the most familiar setting for CRNAs is a clinical procedure where a nurse anesthetist can communicate with the patients and treat them, clinical practice is not the only available career path.
Some of these include being a researcher, didactic professor, program director, and clinical professor. However, to go into any of these positions, you may be required to have at least a few years of clinical experience.
If you desire to be outside the clinical environment, you can go into medical and content writing. The opportunities that come with that include:
- Writing and presenting board review seminars.
- Writing content for anesthesia textbooks.
- Creating e-learning modules.
- Rewriting articles for a reference manual.
- Reviewing legal cases for trials.
6. Variety Of Workplace Settings
CRNAs get to work in various locations, making it easier to find a place that suits your personal preferences. These places include hospitals, plastic surgery centers, dental offices, physicians’ offices, pain clinics, and endoscopy centers. Maybe you are thinking about how long it takes to become a nurse anesthetist. But this long time is actually worth it.
Once you obtain your certificate, you can find employment in a location that has the type of patients you prefer. Your preference may be patients who require more care (such as a hospital) or a place with less stress (such as a dental office).
7. Professional Pride
Everyone desires to be proud and confident with their work. Also, nurse anesthetists know exactly how to influence this to happen. CRNA enjoy a very good sense of professional pride that starts from being confident in their ability to supply a wide range of anesthetics.
Before you can be certified as a CRNA, you must have gone through rigorous training programs that include clocking thousands of clinical hours to ensure you can adequately exhibit competency in the techniques of anesthetic. And yeah, that is something to be proud of.
8. Advocating For Patients
One major prerequisite of being a CRNA is the privilege to meet patients of all ages and walks of life. You get to meet some patients before a procedure while others after a procedure.
Surgical patients can be understandably nervous, but CRNA endeavors to establish a rapport by listening to their concerns and answering their questions, just to help while feeling secure about the process.
Confidentiality of caring for patients. This is the most vulnerable moment for all. It is awesome, and it is also a part of the CRNA’s work.
9. Travel Opportunities
Some employers allow nurse anesthetists to travel. As for traveling in CRNA, your employer allows you to work at distinct locations depending on their needs. For instance, you may spend several days, weeks, or months working at a hospital in one city, then transfer to another at the end of your assignment there.
Employers usually pay for travel expenses and include an amenity stipend. If you like the idea of working in various locations across the country and getting to travel at little or no cost, working as a CRNA allows just that.
Camaraderie
The above-mentioned points highlight awesome reasons you should be a nurse anesthetist. And in addition to that, it is essential to note that there is what is called camaraderie (team spirit) shared amongst CRNAs. This is a unique and beneficial aspect complex of coming by in many other professions.
The CRNA profession has several ways to offer assistance both to those inside and outside the professional community.
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