Anesthetist Vs Nurse Practitioner Essay

In the world of nursing, most men and women strive to further their education. A career as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse opens doors to countless opportunities at a rewarding future. However, we are going to narrow it down and focus on two career paths, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and Nurse Practitioner. Although both advanced careers bear some similarities like the requirement of an unencumbered RN license, a master’s degree with specialty, and have a high expectancy for job growth between now and 2022, the differences between them are drastic. One important difference between a career as a CRNA vs an NP is the area of specialty. A CRNA’s focus and specialty is the administration of anesthesia, while a Nurse Practitioner is provided the luxury of a variety of specialties to choose from which include family medicine, women’s health, or pediatrics. A CRNA works closely with the patient and is responsible for evaluating them to determine the best course of anesthetic for them, whether it be general anesthesia, conscious sedation, or

While both result in a master’s degree, a CRNA program is a minimum of 36 months and an NP program is 24 months or 6 semesters. Due to the autonomy and skill required by a CRNA, the program is grueling. In fact, there are only 113 accredited nurse anesthetist programs in the United States. The cost of the program is, on average, $73,000 and that’s reflecting in state tuition. After successfully graduating, a student nurse anesthetist is required to complete 2,500 clinical hours prior to being able to earn their APRN license. This is where nurse practitioners differ. An NP program has over 350 accredited schools across the US, costs on average $54,000 and requires a minimum of 500 clinical hours. Anesthesia programs have historically required 50-60 plus hours a week of classroom time while an NP program can be done part time and