CERTIFIED REGISTERED

NURSE ANESTHETIST (CRNA)

John Nicotra
 REQUIREMENTS
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (4 years)
• Lots of math classes, science, biology, physics, chemistry
• Registered Nursing License
• Graduate degree in anesthesia (3 years)
• -will be changed to Doctorate in 2025
• -To enter grad school you need to take the Graduate Record Exam
(GRE) needed (340 max), get good grades in undergrad school, to be
interviewed
• Be certified in PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support), ACLS which stands for
Advanced Cardiac Life Support and there’s BLS, Basic Life Support
• Must be recertified/recredentialed every 2 years (60 credits)
 SALARY AND HOURS

• In the Pittsburgh area the starting salary is around $150,000 and over time
could be maxed out to $250,000.
• In areas like in Montana where there are far less hospitals, the salary is higher
at around $300,000-$350,000.
• CRNAs normally work 40 hours a week.
• Can work 2-4 days a week depending on the type of shifts (a 16 hour and 24
hour shift or two 8 hour shifts and 12 hour shits)
 DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Giving the patient anesthetics

• Making sure the patient is unconscious before the surgery
• Making sure the patient has no memory or recollection of the surgery
• Make sure you wake up and don’t stay asleep or die
• Communicate with surgeon and the anesthesiologist, overseeing 3-4
operating rooms, by keeping them updated and call them with any issues
• Take care of patients on the floors that’re having issues like not breathing
and need a artificial breathing tube.
• Anybody who’s sick on the floor, not in the ICU, who’s having some issue not
breathing or low blood pressure, they’re called to manage the airway and
other physicians there will take care of everything else.
 CHALLENGES

• It all depends on the patient, as you can have a perfectly healthy person come in to
have their gallbladder out and everything goes smoothly.
• You give them their drugs, they go to sleep, get their gallbladder out, wake them up, stay at
the hospital for a day, and go home.
• There’s very sick people that come into the hospital and from intensive care that’re
super sick.
• They’ve got like ten different medical problems going on at once and are super feeble. So,
those patients are a little riskier, little more stressful, and anything you give them can tip
them over the edge and they end up dying.
• Mercy has a level one trauma center. Its call it the gun and knife club. Comes in on a
Friday, Saturday night from the Hill District. You get guys shot all the time, get stabbed so you
have to take care of those patients. Those patients don’t get a lot anesthesia because most
anesthetics drop your blood pressure since if you’re stabbed or shot you already have low
blood pressure from shock or blood loss, so those patients are harder to take care of.
 CONSEQUENCES/RISKS
• There’s medical malpractice. If you work for a hospital, they’ll cover you for
medical malpractice. They pay some kind of liability insurance as a group so
if you make some kind of medical mistake you can be sued by the patient,
surgeon, or family.
• Most big health systems like UPMC pay that for you so you’re covered even
though you can be taken to court by the patient or family.
 ADVICE

• Focus on math and science classes since being a CRNA is mostly math and science
• Calculating drug dosages, reading vital signs etc.
• When people decide they want to do nursing a lot of people are undecided at
when they get to college.
• There are so many types of nursing such as geriatric, pediatric, obstetric, and critical care
nursing.
• Some people go for which nursing job makes the most, but realize that field is not
something enjoy.
• Nursing is a great career choice as the pay is good and since there is a shortage of
nurses in the US you never have to worry about not having a job.
• you get into grad school and become an advanced practice nurse and that’ll pay you
more