Nurse anesthetists are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, nurse anesthetists rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 16% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy nurse anesthetists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Pediatrician | 4.0 | $171k |
| Cytotechnologist | 4.0 | $61k |
| Anesthesiologist | 4.0 | N/A |
| Orthopedic surgeon | 3.8 | N/A |
| Nurse anesthetist | 3.8 | $196k |
| Midwife | 3.7 | $59k |
| Radiologist | 3.7 | $201k |
| Orthodontist | 3.6 | N/A |
| Naturopathic physician | 3.5 | $74k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are nurse anesthetists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do nurse anesthetists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as nurse anesthetists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are nurse anesthetist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are nurse anesthetists making the best use of their abilities?
Are nurse anesthetists happy with their salary?
Nurse anesthetists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 4.0/5. The majority of nurse anesthetists are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked nurse anesthetists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
14 nurse anesthetists
36% of nurse anesthetists rated their compensation 5 stars
36% of nurse anesthetists rated their compensation 4 stars
21% of nurse anesthetists rated their compensation 3 stars
7% of nurse anesthetists rated their compensation 2 stars
Do nurse anesthetists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, nurse anesthetists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.1/5. Unlike many careers, nurse anesthetists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become nurse anesthetists.
We asked nurse anesthetists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
14 nurse anesthetists
43% of nurse anesthetists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
36% of nurse anesthetists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
7% of nurse anesthetists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
14% of nurse anesthetists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as nurse anesthetists?
Nurse anesthetists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of nurse anesthetists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked nurse anesthetists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.4 out of 5 stars
18 nurse anesthetists
50% of nurse anesthetists rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of nurse anesthetists rated their career fit 4 stars
11% of nurse anesthetists rated their career fit 3 stars
How enjoyable is a nurse anesthetist’s work environment?
As a whole, nurse anesthetists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of nurse anesthetists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a nurse anesthetist.
We asked nurse anesthetists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
18 nurse anesthetists
33% of nurse anesthetists rated their work environment 5 stars
39% of nurse anesthetists rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of nurse anesthetists rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of nurse anesthetists rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of nurse anesthetists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are nurse anesthetists making the best use of their abilities?
Former nurse anesthetists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.5/5. Most nurse anesthetists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked nurse anesthetists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
18 nurse anesthetists
33% of nurse anesthetists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
17% of nurse anesthetists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
22% of nurse anesthetists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of nurse anesthetists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of nurse anesthetists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars