Job of a Nurse Anesthetist

Providing anesthesia or administering anesthesia to patients to reduce their pain is one of the most important jobs in the medical field.  This job requires plenty of skill, experience and patience.  Ideally, a registered nurse who has an expertise in administering and providing anesthesia to patients before the medical procedure starts and after is called a Certified Registered Nurse anesthetist (CRNA).  There is a great demand for CRNA professionals in various places like hospitals, health centers, in the offices of dentists and private doctors and military health centers.

Usually, the dosage of anesthesia, administered to patients depends upon the degree of pain a patient experiences and also depends upon the type of medical procedure.  For example, a patient with a tooth problem may require a very little amount of anesthesia to be injected in to his gum and the nurse would be able to administer this little amount of anesthesia with the help of the needle itself.  Whereas, in the case of a major operation, a patient may be required to inhale an appropriate amount of anesthesia in the gaseous form.  This job is done carefully by the nurse anesthetist.  This form of anesthesia, which essentially constitutes of nitrous oxide, is administered to the patients to prevent pain and provide sedation during the surgical process.

The role of the nurse anesthetist just does not end with administering anesthesia.  These nurses are required to strictly monitor the patients before administering anesthesia and after.  This is done in order to ensure the safety of the patients and to mainly prevent overdosing or under dosing.  In certain medical surgeries, the patients have to be administered continuous anesthesia and therefore the nurse anesthetist is required to work along with the surgeons inside the operation theater.  Even after the surgery is over, the nurses need to ensure that the patient is looked after well and if necessary, administer anesthesia in case the patient experiences pain.  At times, when they are not performing their nurse anesthetist duties, the nurse performs the retinue functions of a registered nurse.

How to become a nurse anesthetist?

In order to pursue a career as a certified registered nurse anesthetist, there are certain qualifications to be acquired.  First and foremost, an individual is required to receive a master’s degree in either anesthesia or nursing.  In addition to acquiring a degree, he or she must have passed a certification test that is nationally accredited, should have practiced in a hospital as a nurse for at least a year and should have a license for practicing as a registered nurse.  Prior to enrolling for a masters program in anesthesia, he or she must have successfully completed the bachelors degree in nursing which usually takes around four years to complete.  The masters program usually takes around two years to complete and in certain cases may extend up to three years.  In the masters program, students receive in depth training in anesthetist functions as well as general nursing duties.  All these skills are imparted through proper practical and classroom training.  CRNAs receive much higher salaries compared to registered nurses.