At a Glance
Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care in the United States for over 125 years. Nurses first provided anesthesia to wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are anesthesia professionals who administer approximately 65% of all anesthetics given to patients each year in the United States. CRNAs are the sole anesthesia providers in approximately two thirds of all rural hospitals in the United States, enabling these healthcare facilities to offer obstetrical, surgical and trauma stabilization services. In some states, CRNAs are the sole providers in nearly 100% of the rural hospitals.
CRNAs provide anesthetics to patients in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other qualified healthcare professionals. As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs practice with a high degree of autonomy and professional respect.
CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. Military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities. Legislation passed by Congress in 1986 made nurse anesthetists the first nursing specialty to be accorded direct reimbursement rights under the Medicare program.
Nurse anesthesia education programs are at the graduate level. The education programs are in Colleges of Nursing, Medical Colleges and Schools of Allied Health.
More than 90% of the nurse anesthetists in the United States are members of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).
