Pharmacist vs. CRNA!?

Question

Dear community,

I am in a debate whether to chose the world of pharmacy or Nurse Anesthetist.Can someone give me general information and salary comparison.

Thanks

Answer 1

I agree with almost everything gwo_neg_   said except, since I'm a pharmacist, I have to disagree with the 3rd and 4th paragraphs. Pharmacy may not be as "hands on" but it is certainly not an all or none comparison as he descibes.

Pharmacy can be stressful and fast thinking, especially since you have more than one patient that you're taking care of at a time, and you can never "sit back and mind your own business" unless you want to miss a drug interaction or not counsel someone correctly or miscalculate a dosage of a medication and kill someone! And we may not make life and death decisions everyday like a CRNA but many pharmacists help doctors avoid making the wrong ones. Many pharmacists today are in clinical positions working with doctors and other health practitioners to make those life and death decisions. And even if you're "just" a retail pharmacist like me you answer people's questions all day long, helping them get the right medication they need (or none if they don't) and directing them to the proper place if they need other assistance. I have found the drugstore to be a mini-triage of sorts for many people who won't or can't call a doctor or go to the ER. Some I can help, others I insist take their problem to the appropriate medical professional.

That being said, after I graduated and worked in hospital for many years I was quite upset that no one (especially the useless "advisors" in high school and undergrad) ever told me about CRNA.

After meeting and working with several of them I think I would have enjoyed it and been quite good at it. Unfortunately by the time I realized it there was the family, bills, life, etc.... every excuse not to chuck it all and start over!

[edit] I think I found the idea of CRNA attractive because it was un-nurselike but closer to being a doctor/surgeon and more money than a nurse. Does that make sense? In my situation I needed the fastest way to graduate with a degree in health science that would provide the most security and income and some sort of normal home life. Through my work experience I've found that I am more comfortable the more clinical and the less personal something is. Regular nursing care would probably not be for me. Watching open heart surgery doesn't gross me out at all. I don't know if I would have been able to handle the one year requirement in the ICU. I know you still have to deal with the whole patient if you are a CRNA and see them before and after and intubate them and touch them. It's not that, it's just the situation that they're in when you're taking care of them is different than regular nursing, at least in my mind. That's just my opinion.

I just wish I had been given the chance to make a more informed choice. Good Luck!

Answer 2

I actually went through the same debate a few years ago. I chose CRNA and I'll tell you why.

With either profession, you end up with about the same amount of schooling. I was able to do a fast track RN program, so after 16 months of school I was working in an ICU as a nurse. I then finished my bachelor degree online, since you need to have at least a year of ICU nursing experience to be accepted into CRNA school. Now I'm in the second year of my CRNA program, and I love it!

It's definitely not for everyone. CRNA's have a very hands on and fast thinking profession. If you prefer to be able to sit back and mind your own business and not be bothered, a pharmacist if probably a better choice.

If on the other hand, you want to have an exciting career where you make life and death decisions everyday, a CRNA would be a good choice.

You'd make decent money with either profession. More if you chose CRNA.

Good luck.

Answer 3

I'm not sure what the nurses salary is, but I know that Pharmacists make around $45 per hour depending on where they work

There is also a lot more schooling involved to be a pharmacist than there is nursing

Answer 4

I've worked with several CRNA's and it seens like a pretty cool thing to me. Something I wouldn't mind doing. Of course they thought being a pharmacist looked pretty cool too.

I call it sixes. Both involve long hours with intense concentration at times. Both involve a lot of schooling.

So after me having said nothing really, it boils down to what sounds more interesting to you.