Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are advanced practice nurses who deliver anesthesia. In 2025, the training requirements to become a CRNA will change and require that all new CRNAs have a doctorate degree. In the past, a 4-year bachelors degree followed by a 2-year masters degree in nurse anesthesia was required to become a CNRA. This is similar to other advanced practice providers such physician assistants, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners. In 2009, the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) voted to require all nurse anesthesia educational programs to transition to 3-year doctoral programs. The deadline for conversion from masters to doctoral programs is 2025. Therefore, after 2025, all newly graduated nurse anesthetists will have doctorate degrees. In order to meet that deadline, beginning this year in 2023, all students enrolling in CRNA programs must enroll in a 3-year doctorate program.
There are six possible doctoral degrees that a nurse can pursue in becoming a CRNA:
- DNP (Doctor of Nurse Practice): a degree for a clinical career
- DNAP (Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice): a degree for a clinical career
- PhD (Doctor of Philosophy): primarily a degree for a career in academics
- EdD (Doctor of Education: primarily a degree for a career in education
- DNS (Doctor of Nursing Science): primarily a degree for a career in research
- DMPNA (Doctor of Management Practice in Nurse Anesthesia): primarily a degree for a career in administration
The vast majority of new CRNAs will have either a DNP or DNAP degree. Both are 3-year programs that require a previous bachelors degree, usually a BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing). Both require one year of prior clinical work practice as an RN in a critical care setting but some individual programs may require 2-years of practice as an RN. Both have similar curricula but there are minor differences between the two types of doctorate degrees.
DNP versus DNAP
Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP). This is a doctoral degree offered at a school of nursing that is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) which is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association. There are many specialty pathways within the DNP program and a student choosing to become a nurse anesthetist would enroll in the the CRNA pathway. A DNP is considered a “terminal degree”, meaning it is the highest degree that can be obtained in a field. Terminal degrees are usually required for university faculty members seeking tenure.
Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP). This is a doctoral degree specially designed for nurse anesthetist students at a training program approved by Nurse Anesthetists Council of Accreditation (NACA). Unlike the DNP, the DNAP is only for nurse anesthetists and not other nurse practitioner specialties. Some, but not all universities consider a DNAP to be a terminal degree; therefore it may not be appropriate for someone who plans to pursue an academic career at a university in order to ensure universal eligibility for faculty jobs.
For the hospital, both the DNP and DNAP programs can be considered equivalent from a training standpoint.
A certification exam is required after training
After graduating from an accredited nurse anesthetist program, individuals must then take the National Certification Exam (NCE) administered by the National Board Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). In 2022, the pass rate for first-time takers of the exam was 83.4%. After passing the certification exam, individuals must then apply for CRNA licensure in their state.
After initial certification, CRNAs are required to be re-certified every four years. Recertification involves having 100 hours of continuing education credits and completion of one core module from each of four core areas: airway management, pharmacology, human physiology & pathophysiology, and anesthesia technology (the core modules provide 60 of the required continuing education credits). CRNA licensure is state-specific and individual states can have additional requirements to practice as a CRNA.
Implications for hospitals
The result of the new requirements is that newly trained CRNAs will have one additional year of training than CRNAs trained in the past. However, because that one year will be nurse anesthetist-specific training, the net result will be a 50% longer training in anesthesia than previously. The additional training should result in greater anesthesia knowledge. The implication is that hospitals may change their utilization of CRNAs:
- Ability to start cases independently at night. CRNAs are required to work under the supervision of a physician – in Ohio, the “supervising physician” does not have to be an anesthesiologist. The rules on CRNA scope of practice are state-specific but in most states, CRNAs can start surgical cases without a physician anesthesiologist present in the OR area. However, many individual hospitals have rules over and above state regulations and require the presence of an attending anesthesiologist for the CRNA to start a case. This has relevance to cases at night when there can be a delay starting emergency operations while waiting for the anesthesiologist to arrive. Hospitals may find that it is more practical to have in-house CRNAs at night to expedite cases. In this situation, the surgeon would become the CRNA’s supervising physician rather than the anesthesiologist. However, because emergency cases at night are often some of the most physiologically complicated and high-risk, hospitals may still want to have attending anesthesiologists on call from home at night for back-up purposes.
- Endoscopy sedation. In the past, sedation for colonoscopies and other procedures performed in hospital endoscopy suites was administered by the gastroenterologist or surgeon performing the procedure. In recent years, procedural sedation has increasingly been administered by anesthesiologists. The new requirements may give hospitals more comfort in having CRNAs perform procedural sedation without the physical presence of a physician anesthesiologist in the endoscopy suite area. In this situation, the gastroenterologist or surgeon would become the “supervising physician”.
- Emergency airway management. In the past, hospitalists were routinely trained in intubation and airway management, such as occurs in the intensive care unit or during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Because intubation is no longer required during internal medicine or family medicine residency, many hospitalists no longer perform intubation, leaving airway management to critical care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, anesthesiologists, and respiratory therapists. The new training requirements may give hospitals more comfort in designating CRNAs to be responsible for emergency airway management, particularly at night.
- But, be prepared to pay more. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that CRNAs have a median hourly wage of $97.64 per hour. This equates to an annual income of $203,090 per year. There is considerable variation between different states. For example, the median annual income for CRNAs in California is $246,510 whereas in Oklahoma, the median income is $168,470. Here in Ohio, CRNA income is at about the U.S. average with a median income of $197,630. In contrast, the MGMA reports that the average income for a physician anesthesiologist in academic practice is $407,681 and in private practice is $468,106. In other words, a CRNA costs half as much as an anesthesiologist. However, as the length of CRNA training increases, CNRA incomes are likely to rise in the future.
The trend throughout healthcare has been to increasingly utilize advance practice providers (such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to perform services historically performed by physicians. Because these advance practice providers are less expensive than corresponding physicians, they can reduce healthcare costs. The new requirement of a doctoral degree to become a CRNA will likely result in an expansion of the use of CRNAs for anesthesia, sedation, and airway management.
May 3, 2023
