CRNAs, certified registered nurse anesthetists, are an integral part of the anesthesia industry. These specialists serve millions of patients every year through delivering anesthetics. Although the ANAA reports there are approximately 36,000 active CRNAs in the United States, there are many facts about these specialists that you might not have heard of.
- Fifty-nine percent of nurse anesthetists are female; 41 percent are male, according to the AANA.
- The average CRNA salary in the United States was $189,000 in 2008-2009, according to individual reporting.
- Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for over a century. Most notably, nurses first administered anesthesia to wounded soldiers during the American Civil War. Today, CRNAs provide nearly 40 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States.
- CNRAs practice in a number of healthcare settings including hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms, ASCs, physician and dentist offices, public health departments and the military.
- CRNAs are the primary and sometimes sole providers of anesthesia care in many rural areas of the country.
- In 1986, congress made nurse anesthetists the first nursing specialty to be accorded direct Medicare reimbursement rights.
- In order to be recertified, CRNAs must obtain a minimum of 40 hours of approved continuing education every two years, document substantial anesthesia practice, maintain current state licensure, and certify that they have not developed any conditions that could adversely affect their ability to practice anesthesia.