If you live in the state of Mississippi and have pondered becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist, this page is a good place to begin your research. It will provide you with some basic information about your options in CRNA school in Mississippi, and information about what it may be like to be a CRNA.
There is currently one CRNA school in Mississippi directly in the state of Mississippi which offers a CRNA training program: The University of Southern Mississippi Nurse Anesthesia Program, located in Hattiesburg. The University Of Tennessee Chattanooga School Of Nursing, while located in Tennessee, has a distance learning program for students who live in Mississippi which requires some time in Tennessee but offers clinical training in Mississippi.
Before you are ready to make the decision to apply to a CRNA school in Mississippi, you may be wondering if being a CRNA is the right career path for you. This is a very personal and important decision and it is a good idea to do as much research as you can before making your final decision. The below section entitled “What makes a successful CRNA?” provides some information about types of job duties a CRNA may need to perform and what types of character traits may be helpful if you decide to become a CRNA. The section entitled “CRNAs in Mississippi” will give you some specific information about being a CRNA in Mississippi.
What makes a successful CRNA?
Before beginning any career journey, it is a good idea to do some research to see if it may fit with your individual personality. While there is not one particular personality type that guarantees that someone will be a successful CRNA, there are some character traits that good CRNAs are likely to share.
CRNAs often have to perform many different types of job duties and play many different roles. Of course, their first task is always to provide safe and reliable anesthesia care. A CRNA school in Mississippi should be highly knowledgeable, responsible, and focus on practicing anesthesia with safety and accuracy. CRNAs should be quick-thinking and be able to concentrate on the task at hand. The physical well-being of patients is likely the chief concern among all types of healthcare workers, CRNAs included.
In addition to providing effective anesthesia and attending to patients’ physical needs, CRNAs often also attend to patients’ emotional needs. A CRNA school in Mississippi usually stays with their patient throughout the entire surgery. From pre-operative consultation to post-operative maintenance, a CRNA may be one of the only consistent and thus familiar providers that a patient deals with during his or her procedure. As such, CRNA school in Mississippi are often called upon to provide emotional and psychological comfort and reassurance. Working with people who are going through medically trying times may be one of the more stressful but also more rewarding parts of being a CRNA.
To be successful as a CRNA, one should learn to combine the roles discussed above in order to provide excellent physical as well as emotional care to each patient. In order to practice successfully, a CRNA should be compassionate, motivated, even-tempered, and committed to a lifetime of learning.
About CRNAs Jobs in Mississippi
There are currently over 600 CRNA members of the Mississippi Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MANA). CRNAs can work anywhere anesthesia services are necessary- large hospitals and medical centers, outpatient care centers, specialty hospitals, and offices of individual care providers such as dentists or plastic surgeons. They can work in rural and urban areas, providing anesthesia care wherever it is needed. According to MANA, CRNA school in Mississippi are generally the primary anesthesia providers in “rural and underserved areas of Mississippi.” This means that, for those located in rural Mississippi, access to anesthesia care at a convenient location may not have been possible without a CRNA working there. Many rural hospitals do not have the budget to employ a full-time anesthesiologist or anesthesia team. According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, a CRNA can provide the same quality of care as an anesthesiologist for a fraction of the cost. CRNAs are bringing safe and convenient anesthesia care to residents all over Mississippi.
CRNAs in Mississippi have an annual mean wage of $145,220 and a range of $145,020-$158,840. This range is similar to that of CRNAs working in nearby states such as Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and is higher than the wage range reported in Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia. (Reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2024).
Mississippi Options for CRNA School
University of Southern Mississippi Nurse Anesthesia Program
118 College Drive
#5095, Suite 116
Hattiesburg, MS 39406
The University of Tennessee Chattanooga School of Nursing
120 Metropolitan Building, Department 1051
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403
This is a distance learning option. Students in Tupelo, Mississippi are able to attend courses through distance learning while doing their clinical rotations at North CRNA school in Mississippi Medical Center. This program does require some time on-campus in Chattanooga, Tennessee.