At A Glance: The Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for nearly 150 years. The credential CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) came into existence in 1956. CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer approximately 32 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) 2009 Practice Profile Survey.