Celebrate Nurse Anesthetists with CRNA Week

From January 22 to 28, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is sponsoring National CRNA Week to honor nurse anesthetists.

John Bing, BSN, CRNA, AANA Region 6 director, and national AANA board of directors member, says most people don’t quite understand what a nurse anesthetist does and, in fact, there are not very many of them.

Many people believe a nurse anesthetist puts them to sleep, leaves, and then returns to wake them. Far from it, says Bing. “The job of a nurse anesthetist is always assessing,” he says. They are with the patient all the time, from the moment they greet the patient, through the entire procedure or surgery, and when they are brought out of anesthesia.

The job, says Bing, is like no other. “We are there pre-, inter-, and post-op,” he says. But he understands why the job is mysterious to some. Even Bing’s mom thought he just gave people a pill to make them go to sleep, he says with a laugh.

But nurse anesthetists appear happy with their jobs. On the just-released 2017 U.S. News and World Report Best Jobs list, a nurse anesthetist’s job placed fifth on best health care jobs and placed sixth on the best jobs overall. The reported salary median salary is $157,140.

Bing says he appreciates being able to develop a relationship with a patient in such a short amount of time. Being present through the entire procedure gives nurse anesthetists the ability to monitor every nuance of the patient’s reactions and behavior, he says. And the interactions before the anesthesia is administered means nurse anesthetists have the chance to build up trust and get to know a patient as a person. The patients remember that, says Bing, and you get to know them as a person.

See also

Thank a Nurse with RNspire

And this field rarely gets stale, he says. CRNAs have to be recertified every four years, so continued learning is mandatory. One of the special draws for nurse anesthetists is the ability to work with people from the moment they are born until the day they die, says Bing. These nurses work with all ages and have to know the intricacies of how the human body reacts to the anesthesia at each age and with virtually any condition. “We get everybody,” says Bing. “And it is all acute.”

As a group, nurse anesthetists stick together, says Bing. With as high as 89 percent reporting approval for their job satisfaction, he says, they enjoy the work. And the AANA doesn’t encourage sub groups, he says. The group acts as one. “Eighty-five percent of our professional nurse anesthetists belong to our parent professional organization,” says Bing. “We don’t want to go out and have splinter groups. We are better together.”

The AANA is urging nurses to spread the word during National CRNA Week and suggests things like career days in schools, inviting legislators to a breakfast or coffee gathering, or even casual and formal public speaking opportunities to let people know about the profession. And use #crnaweek to spread the word o a wider audience.

It’s also a good time to celebrate what nurse anesthetists do. “In this country 100,000 people give anesthesia,” he says. “That means there are 3.5 million people per anesthetist. That makes [them] pretty special.”