Personal Narrative: A Career As A Nurse Anesthetist

Nurse Anesthetists are also known as CRNA, which means Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. Being a CRNA, one has big shoes to fill when it comes to their job. CRNA’s work with anesthesiologist surgeons and other physicians and medical professionals to give anesthesia to patients undergoing medical and surgical procedures. CRNA’s care for patients before, during and after a medical or surgery by doing a patient assessment , preparing the patient for anesthesia, they must maintain the anesthesia throughout the whole procedure to secure the proper sedation, and pain management, and as a CRNA they must make sure the patient recovers from the anesthesia properly. CRNA’s usually overshadow anesthesiologists. They perform much of the work

As the years go by, the nursing field is expanding. Different types of nurses are being needed for a variety of jobs in the nursing field. This field of work is especially one of the most important because the world will always need nurses. Although the nursing field is very competitive to get into, the need for nurses increases rapidly as time goes on. A CRNA, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, is one of the most popular fields being practiced. A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist is a step further than a Registered Nurse. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists are advanced nurses that specialize in anesthesia. CRNA’s provide anesthesia care for millions of patients in the United States of America. Anesthesia is a form of medicine that puts a person that is undergoing surgery to sleep while also numbing the pain. There are many steps in the process to becoming a CRNA, it is a very serious field, therefore it requires more experience and training.

Going through high school the thought of pursuing a career as a CRNA had never crossed my mind. It wasn 't until the summer before my senior year that I had even discovered what a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist was. To be able to succeed in this career it will take a vast amount of hard work, perseverance, and schooling. The question that I will be looking to answer is whether or not this will be a career worth spending a plethora of time and money on. This topic is important to me and others because it creates a positive impact on the lives of others.

Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for more than 150 years. The credential CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) came into existence in 1956. CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer approximately 40 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) 2014 Practice Profile Survey. CRNAs are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural America, enabling healthcare facilities in these medically underserved areas to offer obstetrical, surgical, pain management and trauma stabilization services. In some states, CRNAs are the sole providers in nearly 100 percent of the rural hospitals. According to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, anesthesia care is nearly 50 times safer than it was in the early 1980s. Numerous outcomes studies have demonstrated that there is no difference in the quality of care provided by CRNAs and their physician counterparts. CRNAs provide anesthesia in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other qualified healthcare professionals. When anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is recognized as the practice of nursing; when administered by an anesthesiologist, it is recognized as the practice of medicine. Regardless of whether their educational background is in nursing or medicine, all anesthesia professionals give anesthesia the same way.

It's important for them to know the patient's medications, allergies, or diseases so drugs can be administered properly. Anesthesia can be given to a certain location to numb only one part of the body, or general anesthesia can be given so they are numb for the entire surgery. Nurse anesthetists provide 34 million anesthetics annually in the United States ("Nurse Anesthetist" Career Articles). The CRNA stays in the operating room the entire procedure, making sure vital signs are stable and changing the amount of anesthesia as necessary ("Nurse Anesthetist" Occupational). Some CRNAs work 40-hour weeks, and some work weekends or nights. Nurse anesthetists spend all of their time at work on their feet, so it's important to know how to adjust to that ("Nurse Anesthetist" Career Cruising). Nurses have to maintain focus for a long time to ensure they are administering the right amount of anesthesia ("Nurse Anesthetist" Career Articles). It's also necessary for CRNAs to have empathy to make sure their patient is comfortable. All nurses at any level should promote interpersonal

After choosing my career—Neonatal nursing. The next decision is which college I want to attend. I have had a few colleges in mind such as: Southern miss, William Carey, and University of Louisiana in Lafayette. I think that career day will be will help me finally decide on which college I would like to attend.

I’ve been extremely fortunate in my nursing career to work in a unit where I get to cross paths and work closely with nurse anesthetists. My understanding of their knowledge, responsibilities, and role in patient care has not only grown over the past two years as I’ve worked alongside them, but it has also changed drastically from what I had initially thought. Originally, I was under the impression that the CRNA calculated and administered anesthesia but had little else to do with patient care outside of pharmaceutical management. My experience working in a trauma level 1 SICU has shown me that they are much more involved.

My mother and I were discussing what kind of nurse I wanted to be, I had never thought about it before and asked her what all options I had. She found a website that listed all kinds of nursing specialties and descriptions of what they are. I spent about four hours that evening reading about each specialty. I will be honest, seeing the average annual pay of about $160,000 is what really caught my eye about nurse anesthetists. But after reading more on it, I thought that administering anesthetics sounded really interesting and decided to look further into that. I had originally thought that anesthesiologist’s provided most anesthesia in the United States but this is not the case. “Approximately 65% of all anesthesia provided is by nurse anesthetists” (Aguda, 2016, p. 18). Another fact that interested me was CRNA’s can collaborate with many different health care professionals. According to Aguda (2016), Nurse Anesthetists may work with all specialties of surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, and other qualified professionals in many healthcare facilities (p. 18). I like the idea of working in many different health care settings. I also was drawn to this specialty because of its education level. I’ve always believed that knowledge is the key to success and therefor try to learn as much as possible. Becoming a nurse anesthetist requires having a master’s degree in nursing. I figure if I’m going

Ten years from now I see myself trying to buy a house. First the things I would do would be going to college and finding a job. I think it would be a little difficult but not as bad. Finding a job would be one of the most Important ones because you are always going to need money. Some of the decisions I would make would be living in town for a while till I for sure know where I'm going and what my job is going to be like. I would have to start saving once I get job for the important stuff and not going into debt. Going to debt right now would be a little bad, especially if you don't have a good job and aren't getting paid well. Also ten years from now I would be doing everything by myself. I am not going to be

The Journey To become an Anesthesiologist. Using Certified Nursing Assistant training to help further education opportunities. Nurse Anesthetists administer anesthesia services in a wide range of health care facilities: from hospital emergency room to the dental office. On the surface, the steps to become and learn how to be a nurse anesthetist would seem fairly self-evident: complete masters-level training in nurse anesthesia and pass a certification exam. Beyond those essential requirements, however, a few other steps are involved.

Having been a certified nursing assistant for just about six years I have had many experiences and come into contact with countless people who have touched my life and inspired me to become greater; to become a nurse. Co-workers, patients, patient family members and my own friends and family have always told me to pursue a career as a registered nurse. A very special co-worker of mine, Kathy a registered nurse, inspired me every day I came into work. She always had a smile on her face, she was always the first nurse to rush to help, she would listen to the patients and take the time to talk to them, and she treated every patient that came on our unit with care. Kathy would also take the time to answer questions that any of the CNAs had and

Since I was young, I have always had the overwhelming desire to help people in a healthcare setting. Observing the nurse anesthetist (CRNA) in the OR was an eye-opening experience in which I was honored to participate in through an internship, and I knew right away that that’s what I wanted to be. Whomever came into the hospital with pain or in need of a procedure left feeling as mentally and physically pain free as possible, and this was inspiring to me as I wish to provide that for patients as well. Furthermore, I would like to be able to be an advocate, support system, and caring hand for patients when they don’t have anyone else to turn to. Having the opportunity to form a relationship with patients in these ways, and to help lead them down the road of recovery, has become a burning passion of mine that I’m determined to work hard for.

When working as a health unit coordinator some of my my duties is to transcribe doctor orders, process doctor orders, make appointments for clients, order supplies as needed. When I am working as a nursing assistant my job requires me to bathe and dress patients, take vital signs, serve meals, set up medical equipment, answer call lights as needed, observe changes in clients

The best feeling in the world to me is not going to sleep in my cozy bed after a long and exhausting day at school or work, it is not wiping off a full face of makeup or even cuddling up in a warm blanket after the cold, chilly winter nights. Sure those things are great but the feeling I get when I show any act of kindness is what I define as the best feeling in the world. Having the chance to impact the world, myself, and even my family, is what I have strived for my whole life. The chance to save lives, be there and care for people through illnesses, injury, pain or loss. Pursing a career in nursing is my ultimate goal. It is a profession that allows me to see people at their worst, all the while, helping them become their best.

After 300 hours of volunteer work at a military hospital, I have yet to find a field of medicine that I dislike. Every specialty has its own merits and there’s something interesting to find in each of them. However, there is one field that I value over others, the OB/GYN practice. I hold this division in such high regards because my mother works as an OB/GYN nurse practitioner. I have been surrounded by this my entire life because I liked to ask my mom questions every night when she got home from work about what she did that day. She would spend a few minutes every night telling me about all the mothers she got to help that day. On special days she would have helped with a delivery and then she would come home and tell me all about it. I may