Advice please for Best Degree for CAA Route

[Stonybeach]

I realize you are focused on a certain pathway, but I wanted to mention the importance of the recency of clinical experience. As a former Anesthesia technician, you have clinical experience, but it was long ago. Interviewers like to see some recency in the clinical setting. You may be able to leverage your previous OR experience and pursue a CSFA. https://www.meridian-institute.edu/
This gets you back in the OR, allowing you to be employed full or part-time as an SA and gain valuable experience during the intraoperative period. You can still pursue other education while scrubbing in as a first or second assistant in surgery. This program has an online didactic followed by a week of on-campus animal lab and clinical training in your hometown. The program is CAAHEP and ABHES accredited, leading to certification as a CSFA and licensure in states that license surgical assistants. https://www.caahep.org/

It is just a thought, although I am biased toward becoming an RN, RNFA, and perhaps a CRNA or NP with first-assistant privileges. I realize "nursing" is not for everyone, but the training is excellent, especially in a hospital-affiliated university. With that said, not all nursing schools are equal! Overall, I don't have a problem with distance learning, but there has been an unprecedented number of for-profit nursing schools that have emerged in the last 15 years, pumping out low-quality practitioners. One used to have to be an RN for at least two years before applying to NP school, but many schools have dropped this requirement.