Have decided to go to school

[Robert gree]

I have decided to ditch the im not good enough attitude, and go to school to become a Nurse Anesthetist. Ive been able to do everything else i have put my mind to including starting my own business i am confident i can do this.

There are some pretty high education requirements.
http://www.aana.com/educuscrnas.aspx

My plan is to start my job at lockheed martin and take night or online classes to become a LPN. Once i get the LPN i can now start work in a doctors office or hospital and go to school to become a RN and start my Bachelors of Science in Nursing.

Once that is completed and i have one year of experience in a acute care nursing setting i can apply for the CRNA course which consist of 700-850 anesthetics and 1500-1700 clinical hours. The CRNA course is 24-36 months and offers a masters degree.

Total time will be about 7 years until i can be certified as a CRNA. Right now i am researching grants and student loans. I will do the LPN training here at the community college. But i will do the RN and Bachelors at UF (University Of Florida).

Any information or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Robert,

I have a sister who is a nurse practioner.

I have worked in hospitals with x-ray technologists, radiologists, nurses and doctors for nearly 34 years.

You are about to embark on a difficult journey. I have nothing but respect for nurses in general and for specialized advance degreed nurses in particular. They are a vital link in our medical system and are not given enough respect and/or paid appropriately IMHO. They are the people who put the human touch in what would be a sterile function without them.

Good luck!

[Don Jarvie]

See if there are any programs that would let you get your RN through a hospital. I've heard there are 2 year programs that allow you to get your RN. You might be able to shave off a few years.

Also, look at the pros and cons of going full time and see if that would work out. You can do the school work at night but once you need to get the practical expierence it will be during the day so you would have to give up your job.

unfortunatly any health care program will require you to go to school during the day.

Another thing to look at is becoming an Xray, MRI, Ultrasound Tech. Theres lots of jobs and pretty good cash. The programs will also be a year or two.

Good luck

[Robert gree]

Once i go for my bachelors and RN at UF i will be a full time student as having a job and getting the needed study time and school time would be a hard thing to accomplish. May be able to do something for a few hours at night part time. But mainly i plan on saving as much money until that point. And supplement that with a part time evening or weekend job.

I have picked a profession that has a long difficult journey to reach. But getting the LPN and RN before the CRNA will still give me a career if i cant pursue the CRNA. Kind of like a built in fail safe.

[Joe Pelonio]

A good friend of ours did that, she was a nurse and went to Gonzaga for the
CRNA, this was a while ago. They make enough that paying off the student loans is not a big issues compared to other degrees, also in big demand.

[Robert gree]

A good friend of ours did that, she was a nurse and went to Gonzaga for the
CRNA, this was a while ago. They make enough that paying off the student loans is not a big issues compared to other degrees, also in big demand.

Demand for CRNA's is good. salary for them in this area average about 165-170k a year

[Phil Thien]

A nurse anesthetist saved my 2nd daughter's life.

She (daughter) just wouldn't breath properly, wouldn't cry, really in distress in a very short while. One of the nurses said, "get Joe" and another nurse ran out of the room and returned with a (I'd guess) 55 year old man I had thought was a doctor but later learned was a nurse anesthetist.

The very experienced OB/GYN stepped aside and let Joe take over.

Joe (the NA) had my daughter crying her lungs out within thirty seconds of arriving. I know it was something special because the other nurses were hugging the guy and rubbing his back. That guy had "the touch," incredible talent, or a mix, and everyone in the room knew it.

Fifteen minutes later he blew-off my gratitude (I had been a mess, nearly in tears) with some self-deprecating comment like, "I make all women cry like that," and excused himself.

Maybe you would have "the touch."

I say you need to go for it.

[Dan Friedrichs]

If you have an interest in health care, you certainly picked a good field to go into.

Having recently been through (and taught at) college, and now being in graudate school, the one piece of advice I'd give you is to not half-a** it. I'd highly encourage you to quit your job, be a full-time student, and get the degree as quickly as you can. Or at the very least, before deciding on a plan of action, sit down and VERY CAREFULLY compute all the costs and missed opportunity costs. For instance, you might save x dollars by having your employer pay for some of your degree. If that results in you obtaining your degree 1 year later (than if you were a full-time student), is the differential in salary (between your new job and old job) more than you'd spend taking out loans?

Essentially, I'd sit down and compute the total cost for the plan you presented here, versus the cost of doing it as a full-time student. Unless your tuiton would be remarkably high, I think you'd be MUCH better off doing it as a full-timer.

I had many friends in engineering school who struggled to work 20+ hrs/week while being full-time students. I never understood that. They could have taken out loans for the full amount of tuition for 4 years, and easily been able to repay that within 2 or 3 years of graduation. Why work yourself to death and sacrifice your grades when you don't have to?

So my main piece of advice is: If you decide you want to do this, commit yourself 100% to it. Back-up plans are good, but don't waste time or money making or thinking about them. You have the ability, so commit yourself to it, and DO IT.

Also, when I think about my education, I benefited tremendously from the sage advice of many knowledgable instructors and friends. See if there's a way you can get in contact with someone in this field (who has been through the process before) to give you advice and hints. If nothing else, post on ad on Craigslist ("Looking for a nurse anesthetist to ask questions of - let me buy you dinner and ask you questions", or something). Often, that sort of advice is absolutely invaluable.

[Robert gree]

If you have an interest in health care, you certainly picked a good field to go into.

Having recently been through (and taught at) college, and now being in graudate school, the one piece of advice I'd give you is to not half-a** it. I'd highly encourage you to quit your job, be a full-time student, and get the degree as quickly as you can. Or at the very least, before deciding on a plan of action, sit down and VERY CAREFULLY compute all the costs and missed opportunity costs. For instance, you might save x dollars by having your employer pay for some of your degree. If that results in you obtaining your degree 1 year later (than if you were a full-time student), is the differential in salary (between your new job and old job) more than you'd spend taking out loans?

Essentially, I'd sit down and compute the total cost for the plan you presented here, versus the cost of doing it as a full-time student. Unless your tuiton would be remarkably high, I think you'd be MUCH better off doing it as a full-timer.

I had many friends in engineering school who struggled to work 20+ hrs/week while being full-time students. I never understood that. They could have taken out loans for the full amount of tuition for 4 years, and easily been able to repay that within 2 or 3 years of graduation. Why work yourself to death and sacrifice your grades when you don't have to?

So my main piece of advice is: If you decide you want to do this, commit yourself 100% to it. Back-up plans are good, but don't waste time or money making or thinking about them. You have the ability, so commit yourself to it, and DO IT.

Also, when I think about my education, I benefited tremendously from the sage advice of many knowledgable instructors and friends. See if there's a way you can get in contact with someone in this field (who has been through the process before) to give you advice and hints. If nothing else, post on ad on Craigslist ("Looking for a nurse anesthetist to ask questions of - let me buy you dinner and ask you questions", or something). Often, that sort of advice is absolutely invaluable.

The more i think about it the more i agree with just going to school and not working. But other than student loans im on my own, for housing and expenses (which is how i prefer it) but i have talked to a few people that have told me student loans do not cover day to day expenses. Therefore that forces me to work and balance school.

[Dan Friedrichs]

The more i think about it the more i agree with just going to school and not working. But other than student loans im on my own, for housing and expenses (which is how i prefer it) but i have talked to a few people that have told me student loans do not cover day to day expenses. Therefore that forces me to work and balance school.


It depends. You CAN get loans to cover your living expenses, the money may just come from a private lender, rather than some federal program.

[Robert gree]

It depends. You CAN get loans to cover your living expenses, the money may just come from a private lender, rather than some federal program.

Seems that i need to apply for the federal program, then i can also apply for a private program also for living expenses. Luckily my field has a high enough salary i shouldn't be buried in debt for years and years.

[Pat Germain]

I wouldn't bother with the LPN step. Perhaps other areas are different, but the LPN's I've talked to are pretty much underpaid and overworked gophers.

[Robert gree]

I wouldn't bother with the LPN step. Perhaps other areas are different, but the LPN's I've talked to are pretty much underpaid and overworked gophers.

if i do the full time student route i will skip it completely.