Three recently published studies attest to the fact that nurse anesthetists are determined to be part of the solution to today’s overwhelmed health care system. In April, RAND published a study on the anesthesia workforce that shows the AANA is doing its part to ensure that a sufficient supply of qualified anesthesia professionals are entering the workforce each year. In the May/June issue of the Journal of Nursing Economics, a study by The Lewin Group showed nurse anesthetists working solo are the most cost-effective anesthesia model. And in the August issue of Health Affairs, the nation's leading health policy journal, a study by RTI International confirmed that nurse anesthetists provide safe, high-quality anesthesia care.

The researchers from RTI also found no significant differences when they compared patient outcomes across three scenarios, including nurse anesthetists working without supervision; anesthesiologists working alone; or both providers working together.


Dr. Navin Singh is a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice and an assistant professor of plastic surgery in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“In the state of Maryland, CRNA nurses can practice independently and we have used CRNA nurse anesthetists at Hopkins for 15 years without any issues,” he says. “For more complicated patients we perform those surgeries in the hospital with MD anesthesiologists.”

Dr. Mark Perloe, clinical assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Georgia, has a nurse anesthetist in his office and understands their importance.

“We have an anesthetist and an anesthesiologist who is the supervising physician and when [the anesthetist] is working, we have standard protocol where they are immediately supervising her,” he says. “If you are doing general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist gives the blessing, but really it’s the anesthetist who does the case.”

“By the very nature of their role in patient care and administering anesthesia, certified registered nurse anesthetists work in collaboration with physicians, such as surgeons, obstetricians and emergency room doctors. In fact, the same is true for physician anesthesiologists when administering anesthesia for patients receiving surgical, obstetrical or trauma care,” says Santoro. “In either case, nurse anesthetists or anesthesiologists are the anesthesia experts and the surgeons are the experts in their specialty. Nurse anesthetists don’t need a physician ‘by their side’ when administering anesthesia any more than an anesthesiologist does, because the physician does not tell the anesthesia professional what drugs to administer, how to administer them or how to monitor the patient.”

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