Understanding CRNA Qualifications
The use of anesthesia in the United States for surgical purposes has its roots from the 1800s, when nurses first used anesthesia to perform surgery on wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
Today, there is a special field dedicated to the use of anesthesia for medical purposes.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are registered medical professionals who administer anesthesia to patients needing surgery.
The Importance of CRNAs:
The job of a CRNA is critical. They are responsible for monitoring and managing pain levels of a patient. They are also responsible for assessing the responsibility of patients under anesthesia. Without CRNAs, performing surgeries would be difficult for surgeons, and painful for patients.
CRNAs are able to tell whether placing a patient under anesthesia will cause an allergic reaction and know how handle trauma stabilization procedures.
Qualification Requirements of CRNAs:
CRNAs are considered Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) because they are specialists who require both clinical and graduate level educational training.
To become a CRNA, a bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) and a Registered Nursing License (RN) is mandatory. After this, it is compulsory, as a BSN and RN student, to get one year experience of acute care in order to be eligible for a Master’s in Nurse Anesthesia.
Unlike other nurses, CRNAs have to spend 2-3 years extra in school because they are required to have high level of knowledge about the field they’re specializing in.
The ideal candidate should be able to remain calm under stressful situations and should be able to multitask. CRNAs are required to follow complex protocols and should be able to quickly perform accurate biometric calculations. They are required to work long hours and should be able to quickly respond to the needs of a patient recovering from anesthesia.
Job Growth: According to Nurse Journal, there is a chance of at least 31 percent job growth for CRNAs in the next decade or so.
Compared to other nurses, the growth rate is much higher for this field. This is because CRNAs are equipped with extensive knowledge that other nursing fields don’t require. This makes their job more demanding.
However, experienced CRNAs are preferred in the medical field. This makes it difficult for fresh graduates to find jobs to gain the required level of experience. Medical Associates Consulting, a medical staffing agency, provides anesthesia and CRNA jobs to fresh graduates in California.
