Ep. 121: Begin Your Path to a CRNA Non-Surgical Pain Management Practice

For anyone that works in the healthcare industry, you’re probably already aware of the rising need for pain management solutions in our country. There’s the ongoing fight in the opioid crisis as people need other options for dealing with pain. Add in the Baby Boomer generation and its need for chronic pain management, and you can see why there’s more demand than ever.

That’s why this has become an emerging opportunity for CRNAs. Cheryl Schosky, DNAP, MSN, CRNA, has become one of the early leaders in this area and she joins this episode to share what she’s learned starting this new practice. It’s not an area that man people are familiar with. Just consider that of the 57,000 CRNAs in this country, only 89 hold the non-surgical pain management certification. That equates to less than 0.15% of all CRNAs.

Today we’ll talk all about her experience, the challenges and barriers to entry, and why she thinks it should become an education track that CRNAs can pursue.                                 

So as you get started, keep an ear out for these topics:

• Why non-surgical pain management has become a major need in healthcare.

• How she got interested in this for her career

• The barriers for starting a pain management practice

• Why her husband dealing with arthritis made this choice personal

• The mental impact of dealing with this pain and why this is part of the job

• Why there needs to be an educational track for this specialty

Check it out in the interview at the top of the page and use the timestamps to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.

[2:12] – Welcome our guest today

[3:28] – Background on the topic and why it’s important  

[7:15] – Her career path to this point

[12:18] – Challenges to building a pain management practice  

[15:24] – Transitioning to a 1099 contractor  

[16:53] – The personal reason for this choice

[18:52] – Where she did her fellowship

[22:17] – Mentors in this area

[24:01] – Traits you need to possess  

[27:52] – The opportunity for CRNAs  

[29:54] – Deeper issues beyond chronic pain

[35:15] – Final thoughts

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