What's a certified nurse anesthetist and how long does it take to become one?

It's up to the nurse anesthetist to evaluate patients before surgery and assess their anesthesia risk factors. depends on the credits you can take and maintain a good grade level each semester...

A CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) provides anesthesia for patients undergoing surgery. They also do epidurals for women going through childbirth and other things that have to do with anesthesia and pain control. They do a lot of the same things that an anesthesiologist (doctor that specializes in anesthesiology) does.

In order to become a CRNA, you first need to be a registered nurse with a BSN (bachelor of science of nursing, which takes about 4 years). Most programs also require at least 1 year of critical care nursing experience. You then go through a CRNA program which is currently a master's degree program and takes two years. However, in the next few years, all advanced practice nursing programs are becoming DNP (doctors of nursing practice) programs, which will take at least 1 additional year. In total, you'll need 7 years of schooling and a minimum of 1 year of nursing experience. Don't forget, during that 1 year of working as a nurse, you're making a pretty good amount of money, especially if you're working in critical care and like to work overtime.

The CRNA programs are tough and take a lot of time. A lot of programs require that you don't work at all, so you'll probably end up with a lot of debt. However, it is all worth it in the end, with the starting wage of a CRNA easily being over $100,000 per year.

In contrast, an anesthesiologist makes over double that in their first year, but they have 4 years of undergraduate education, 4 years of medical school and 4 years of residency.