A certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is a licensed professional nurse responsible for administering anesthesia to patients in the operating theater.
These highly trained nurses have a lot of responsibility and can perform the same tasks as an anesthesiologist. This specialized nursing job requires many extra years of training but is an excellent way for nurses to advance their careers.
By getting additional schooling you can efficiently administer medication and care for patients right through the surgical process. This includes medications sedating the patient and assisting with their care right through surgery. Upon the completion of surgery, your job is to then ensure that the patient successfully wakes up from the anesthesia.
As long as you have certification you can work in hospitals, medical centers and doctor's surgeries. Many dentists and podiatrists often retain certified nursing anesthetists as the main nurses in their office because of the versatility of CRNAs. There are only 30,000 CRNAs working in healthcare in the United States.
To become a fully registered CRNA, you have to have your Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) degree and also be a certified registered nurse (RN). This means you should have taken your national licensing examination (NCLEX-RN), and passed this test to have this certification.
The only additional thing that you need to qualify is on the job training and at least one year's experience working in a hospital as an RN. Once you satisfy all of these requirements you can apply to a certified registered nurse anesthetist program.
Depending on the program that you apply to, you might have some additional items that you need to turn into a school along with your education prerequisites. To make sure that you are pursuing this career for the right reasons, some schools require a statement of purpose andyou will need to explain your reasons for becoming a nurse anesthetist. There is also an admission interview you will have to complete before you are finally enrolled into a course.
When you are accepted into your anesthetist program you will have around 24-36 months of schooling ahead of you before you can graduate. During this time you will learn all about anesthesia and additional anatomy. You will also take classes in pharmacology.
To actually receive your certification you will have to pass a national certification exam. The career path for a registered nurse anesthetist is wide open and you can make substantially more money in this vocation than as an ordinary registered nurse.
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