Career choice especially if one wants to live in a smaller city/town (lawsuits, license)
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A career choice I never hear discussed often is becoming a Nurse anesthetist living in a smaller town or city with a regional hospital. A relative got his nursing degree and continued his education to becoming a nurse who administers anesthesia for surgery in a smaller town (17k city, 45k county) hospital. The hospital is too small to support an MD for this specialty only. I do not know the specifics of his situation but looking at average salary's of $175-200k for a CNRA in this low cost of living location.
It is a nice growing smaller city, located less than 85 miles from Dallas. He lives 5 minutes from the hospital on a wooded lake with 3 or 4 acres. Good schools and a huge lake nearby for someone loving boating and water sports like his family.
This has to be one of the most lucrative jobs one can get with 4 or 5 years of education if you want to live in a smaller location like this. He effectively works for himself. This hospital is large enough to have insured surgery at a good local hospital. He works from 6 am to 10 a few days a week and is on call for emergency surgery which can fie you down some. He is viewed as a key member of the medical profession by Dr's who need his skills so do the surgery and by the community residents.
A nice lifestyle not often discussed in my circles.
Yes, 'Nurse anesthetist' is a real good choice. Assuming that the small hospital needs one. Imagine if that same hospital already had one on payroll, then suddenly it would be useless. They likely can not afford to hire two, with that kind of specialty.
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A career choice I never hear discussed often is becoming a Nurse anesthetist living in a smaller town or city with a regional hospital. A relative got his nursing degree and continued his education to becoming a nurse who administers anesthesia for surgery in a smaller town (17k city, 45k county) hospital. The hospital is too small to support an MD for this specialty only. I do not know the specifics of his situation but looking at average salary's of $175-200k for a CNRA in this low cost of living location.
It is a nice growing smaller city, located less than 85 miles from Dallas. He lives 5 minutes from the hospital on a wooded lake with 3 or 4 acres. Good schools and a huge lake nearby for someone loving boating and water sports like his family.
This has to be one of the most lucrative jobs one can get with 4 or 5 years of education if you want to live in a smaller location like this. He effectively works for himself. This hospital is large enough to have insured surgery at a good local hospital. He works from 6 am to 10 a few days a week and is on call for emergency surgery which can fie you down some. He is viewed as a key member of the medical profession by Dr's who need his skills so do the surgery and by the community residents.
A nice lifestyle not often discussed in my circles.
The smaller towns can see high turnover. To cover emergency needs you really need four CRNAs to cover 24/7 365 with a pretty high on call requirement that can drive turn overr up. The town I referred to needs 5 or 6 to cover their needs as senior CRNAs get vacation and can get sick too. Their luck with new younger hires is not good. .
A CRNA requires a bachelor's degree in nursing plus either a Masters or Doctorate degree in nurse anesthesia. It is shifting to a minimum requirement of a Doctorate in a couple of years. So, it is a minimum of 6-7 years of education.
It is a very competitive degree program. Also, you need a minimum amount of ICU experience to gain entry.
ANYTHING that is found in a larger town. Well almost anything.
The 'catch' is in how many a 200,000 population (vs 2Million) can support in that choice...
and how many others you'll have to compete against for one of the few(er) jobs available.
The competition from having too many capable of doing X is the #1 reason why X doesn't pay better.
The town I mentioned is under 50 k in the county yet they need 5 to 7 CNRA's. They have scheduled surgery every morning week days and the on call requirement is more than one can handle. They have tried hiring new grads who say they want a smaller town but the on call and small town turn out to be not what the spouse likes etc. Their biggest problem is constant vacancies not too many CNRA's wanting to be there. I cant speak to the demand state or countrywide but this situation is constantly looking to hire to fill vacancies created by new CNRAs not staying. The on call over might and on weekends is a big reason according to my relative as it means you get several calls a night so no rest really.
Thanks for educating me on the current education requirements.
I contend this is a not too often talked about profession which pays well in a smaller coumunity location if one wants that lifestyle..
It is 20 miles from one 50k town in Texas and 30 from another 50k town in Texas. It is 75 miles from North Dallas higher end suburbs and 90 miles from DT Dallas. It is part of the DFW combined metro area which has a population of 7.4M.
I am aware of small town hospitals closing, this one is expanded adding additional Operating rooms to serve the needs of this fast growing community. It is growing by just under 2% population each year.
I recognize it may be some what unique.
There is another similar sized town in Oklahoma that is not near a major metro that has this same model. They have 4 CRNA's all working for a young MD. He has recently gained the business of providing CNRA's to several smaller community hospitals in the area covering more
like 50 to 75 miles away.
The company that owns the hospital where my relative now works, owns several smaller town hospitals in the area over maybe up to 75 miles away. Reportedly the one in the town my relative works is the one most profitable as a result of having a large number of surgeries compared to those smaller ones. So those smaller ones are clear candidates for closure in my view not the one my relative works for. It changed hands a few years ago.
I don’t have any data to support this, but out in East Texas the hospitals just anecdotally seem to be a booming business. CHRISTUS TMF and UT Health, along with ETMC that was bought by UT Health, are two of Tyler’s largest employers. Their facilities are scattered around places like Jacksonville, Winnsboro, and Sulphur Springs. That area certainly seems like a fine place to be in the medical industry, despite having no city out there any larger than Tyler.
High pay but all a high barrier to entry. The title says nurse but the responsibility they carry is = to physicians, lawsuits and other concerning stuff included.
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