Patients
Who Are CRNAs?
Research shows that Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are the most cost-effective anesthesia providers with an exceptional safety record. In today’s changing healthcare environment, patients want healthcare delivered with personal care, at a lower cost, with a high degree of confidence. CRNAs deliver all of these.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are highly educated anesthesia professionals who provide the full range of anesthesia and pain management services. As advanced practice registered nurses, CRNAs have been providing anesthesia in the United States for more than 150 years, long before the CRNA credential came into existence in 1956.
CRNAs provide anesthesia in collaboration with surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, anesthesiologists, 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. Regardless of whether their educational background is in nursing or medicine, all anesthesia professionals give anesthesia the same way.
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.
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What Is Anesthesia?
Anesthesia is freedom from pain. Each year, millions of people in the United States undergo some form of medical treatment requiring anesthesia. Anesthesia, in the hands of qualified professionals like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), is a safe and effective means of alleviating pain during nearly every type of medical procedure.
Anesthesia care is not confined to surgery alone. The process also refers to activities that take place both before and after an anesthetic is given.
Who administers anesthesia?
In the majority of cases, anesthesia is administered by a CRNA.
CRNAs work with your surgeon, dentist or podiatrist, and may work with an anesthesiologist (physician anesthetist). CRNAs are advanced practice registered nurses with specialized graduate-level education in anesthesiology.
For more than 150 years, nurse anesthetists have been administering anesthesia in all types of surgical cases, using all anesthetic techniques and practicing in every setting in which anesthesia is administered.
Will my nurse anesthetist stay with me throughout my surgery?
Your nurse anesthetist stays with you for the entire procedure, constantly monitoring every important function of your body and individually modifying your anesthetic to ensure your maximum safety and comfort.
Are there different types of anesthesia?
There are three basic types of anesthesia:
- General anesthesia produces a loss of sensation throughout the entire body.
- Regional anesthesia produces a loss of sensation to a specific region of the body.
- Local anesthesia produces a loss of sensation to a small specific area of the body.
A preoperative interview with your anesthesia professional will determine which anesthetic is best for you.
Do nurse anesthetists administer pain care management?
Yes. The most common chronic care services provided by CRNAs, such as anesthetic injections near nerves, effectively reduce a patient’s need for prescription narcotics and opioids. Chronic intractable pain afflicts more than 100 million Americans and costs the United States over $600 billion per year. CRNAs are specifically trained and qualified to treat pain patients. Patients referred to a CRNA for pain care can be confident that their experience will be safe and appropriate. It may even change their quality of life for the better.
Who Are CRNAs?
Research shows that Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are the most cost-effective anesthesia providers with an exceptional safety record. In today’s changing healthcare environment, patients want healthcare delivered with personal care, at a lower cost, with a high degree of confidence. CRNAs deliver all of these.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are highly educated anesthesia professionals who provide the full range of anesthesia and pain management services. As advanced practice registered nurses, CRNAs have been providing anesthesia in the United States for more than 150 years, long before the CRNA credential came into existence in 1956.
CRNAs provide anesthesia in collaboration with surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, anesthesiologists, 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. Regardless of whether their educational background is in nursing or medicine, all anesthesia professionals give anesthesia the same way.
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.
CLICK HERE FOR PATIENT RESOURCES AND FAQS
What Is Anesthesia?
Anesthesia is freedom from pain. Each year, millions of people in the United States undergo some form of medical treatment requiring anesthesia. Anesthesia, in the hands of qualified professionals like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), is a safe and effective means of alleviating pain during nearly every type of medical procedure.
Anesthesia care is not confined to surgery alone. The process also refers to activities that take place both before and after an anesthetic is given.
Who administers anesthesia?
In the majority of cases, anesthesia is administered by a CRNA.
CRNAs work with your surgeon, dentist or podiatrist, and may work with an anesthesiologist (physician anesthetist). CRNAs are advanced practice registered nurses with specialized graduate-level education in anesthesiology.
For more than 150 years, nurse anesthetists have been administering anesthesia in all types of surgical cases, using all anesthetic techniques and practicing in every setting in which anesthesia is administered.
Will my nurse anesthetist stay with me throughout my surgery?
Your nurse anesthetist stays with you for the entire procedure, constantly monitoring every important function of your body and individually modifying your anesthetic to ensure your maximum safety and comfort.
Are there different types of anesthesia?
There are three basic types of anesthesia:
- General anesthesia produces a loss of sensation throughout the entire body.
- Regional anesthesia produces a loss of sensation to a specific region of the body.
- Local anesthesia produces a loss of sensation to a small specific area of the body.
A preoperative interview with your anesthesia professional will determine which anesthetic is best for you.
Do nurse anesthetists administer pain care management?
Yes. The most common chronic care services provided by CRNAs, such as anesthetic injections near nerves, effectively reduce a patient’s need for prescription narcotics and opioids. Chronic intractable pain afflicts more than 100 million Americans and costs the United States over $600 billion per year. CRNAs are specifically trained and qualified to treat pain patients. Patients referred to a CRNA for pain care can be confident that their experience will be safe and appropriate. It may even change their quality of life for the better.
