Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) Q & A

As a CRNA you'll perform the following activities:

• Performing a physical assessment
• Participating in preoperative teaching
• Preparing for anesthetic management
• Administering anesthesia to keep the patient pain free
• Maintaining anesthesia intraoperatively
• Overseeing recovery from anesthesia
• Following the patient's postoperative course from recovery room to patient care unit

Nurse anesthetists stay with their patients for the entire procedure, constantly monitoring every important body function and individually modifying the anesthetic to ensure maximum safety and comfort.

There are more than 28,000 CRNAs are currently working to provide cost-effective, high-quality patient care in the United States.

While individual programs may have additional requirements, the general entrance requirements for nurse anesthesia programs are the following:

• A bachelor's of science in nursing (BSN) or another appropriate baccalaureate degree. (Each individual program determines "appropriate" degrees.)
• A license as a registered nurse (RN).
• A minimum of one year of acute care nursing experience. (Each program determines what constitutes "acute care" nursing.)

No. The master's degree is not a prerequisite for a Nurse Anesthesia education program. However, these programs are themselves graduate programs, leading to Master's degrees. You can find the specific requirements for each school on their Web sites or in their application forms.

CRNAs practice in a variety of settings in the private and public sectors and in the U.S. military, including the following:

• Traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms
• Ambulatory surgery centers
• Pain clinics
• Physicians' offices

They practice alone, in groups and collaboratively. Some CRNAs have independent contracting arrangements with physicians or hospitals.

A typical CRNA graduate program will take 24 to 36 months to complete.

The nurse anesthesia classroom curriculum emphasizes anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics and pharmacology. The clinical component provides experience with a variety of anesthesia techniques and procedures for all types of surgery and obstetrics.

Reflecting the level of responsibility they assume on a daily basis, CRNAs are some of the best-paid nursing specialists currently working. According to Salary.com the median annual salary for a CRNA in 2010 was just over $150,000.

_{Note: This Q&A has been developed in partnership with the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. We are grateful for their assistance.}