Over the past one hundred years or so, nursing has taken critical blows and has made several changes. A constant battle rages for nurses to gain and retain the respect they deserve. Just as nursing in general struggles to attract young and new nurses to the field, specialty areas of nursing are not exempt from the battle. What is it that specialty nurses want most? According to Larry Stoves, CRNA, specialty nurses want flexible schedules and better staffing. In a field where they are considered the ‘elite’ of nursing, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists are not without gripes of their own.

At four-thirty in the morning you can find Larry Stoves having his first cup of coffee and preparing for his day. He works from six-thirty in the morning until the surgery schedule is complete. Because Larry is a specialty nurse, he must work unusual hours that require him to spend 2 to 6 nights a month in the hospital. Larry Stoves is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and has been working in his specialty area for over 10 years. In discussions with Larry, it was interesting to find that compared to a registered nurse working 12 hour shifts, the CRNA who is working 8 hour shifts

At the height of a nursing shortage, specialty nurses are feeling the pressure. Already working undesirable schedules, they must take on more on-call shifts and be responsible for more cases. How can a nurse working in anesthesia be responsible for more patients? The surgery schedule does not get lighter because of staffing. The doctors still desire to do the same number of operations on any given day. If the hospital is short on CRNA’s for the day, they compensate by having the staff remain at the hospital until the schedule is complete. In a field that is as lucrative as anesthesia, one would not expect a shortage. So why is there a shortage in anesthesia? To become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist an RN with a BSN must earn her master’s in anesthesia. To do this, she must apply and be accepted to the program. The criteria include having a BSN, a grade point average of 3.0 overall, at least one year experience in a critical care area, and score of at least 1500 on the GRE. The program is difficult and requires that you stop working for the length of time you are enrolled. Larry states that many nurses are not entering the field because of the hardship this loss of income places on their families.

Every field of nursing has advantages and disadvantages. Larry was asked what are some of the things he enjoys most about his job and just what is it that makes his field rewarding. A salary of $100,000 a year can make any job more enjoyable, but it is more than just the money to Larry. He went into the nursing field when the offshore industry took a major nosedive. At the time he entered, it was about the money. Larry knew that “starting salaries in nursing compete with those of other professions”(24). Ten years later and Larry is “hooked” on the personal rather than monetary gains. He has saved many lives, gained great knowledge, and made friendships of a lifetime. These are the things that money cannot buy. The rewards far out weigh the money. It’s the experience that h

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