Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

Anesthesia is the loss of sensation and usually of consciousness without loss of vital functions. This is artificially produced by the administration of one or more agents that block the passage of pain impulses along nerve pathways to the brain.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) works with a team of health care professionals to provide care for patients undergoing procedures requiring anesthesia. A CRNA typically administers care to patients in a surgical, emergency or post-operative environment. Anesthesia nursing is practiced by nurses who have formal, post-secondary education and who function in highly specialized roles.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA's) are anesthesia specialists who administer approximately 65% of the 26 million anesthetics given to patients each year in the United States. CRNA's are the sole anesthesia providers in approximately 50% of all hospitals and nearly 70% of the rural hospitals in the United States.

CRNA's provide anesthetics to patients in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists and other qualified healthcare professionals. When anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is recognized as the practice of nursing; when administered by an anesthesiologist, it is recognized as the practice of medicine.

Managed care plans recognize CRNA's for providing high-quality anesthesia care with reduced expense to patients and insurance companies. The cost-efficiency of CRNA's helps keep escalating medical costs down. Legislation passed by Congress in 1986 made nurse anesthetists the first nursing specialty to be accorded direct reimbursement rights under the Medicare program.