Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) across the country are celebrating the 20th annual National CRNA Week, January 20-26th. Established by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), National CRNA Week was created to educate the public about anesthesia patient safety, questions to ask prior to undergoing surgery, and the benefits of receiving care from nurses anesthetists.
The annual observance helps patients, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and others become more familiar with the CRNA credential, and the exceptional advanced practice registered nurses who have earned it.
Here’s a look at just a few reasons why CRNAs across the country deserve a week-long event in their honor!
Nurse anesthetists are advanced practice registered nurses who administer more than 43 million anesthetics in the United States each year. The nation’s 52,000+ CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists practice in every setting where anesthesia is available, delivering the same safe, high-quality anesthesia care as other anesthesia professionals but at a lower cost, helping to control the nation’s rising healthcare costs.
Every day, CRNAs deliver healthcare in thousands of communities and are able to prevent gaps in access to anesthesia services, especially in rural, inner-city, and other underserved areas of the country. CRNAs are the sole anesthesia professionals in the vast majority of rural hospitals and have been the main provider of anesthesia care to U.S. servicemen and women since World War I.
The AANA’s theme for this year’s observance, “Making a Difference, One Patient at a Time,” reflects how CRNAs dedicate themselves to each of their patients before, during, and after their surgery. CRNAs care for patients at a very vulnerable time in their life, staying with them throughout their procedures to monitor their vital signs, adjust their anesthetics, and ensure a pain-free and safe anesthesia experience.
The CRNA profession has been at the forefront of anesthesia patient safety for more than 150 years. CRNAs play a key role in developing trends related to monitoring technology, anesthetic drugs, and standards of care. Due to continuing research and education, anesthesia today is nearly 50 times safer than it was in the 1980s.
National CRNA Week serves as an opportunity to inform the public exactly what CRNAs do and who they are. If you’re a CRNA, thank you for your commitment to delivering quality care and keeping patients safe!
If you’re not a CRNA, take time during National CRNA Week to understand CRNAs’ impact on our healthcare system and patient outcomes, say thanks to the CRNA community, and help spread the word about why we should all be thankful! You can share this blog post, hang CRNA Week posters in your office, use #CRNAweek to keep up with the conversation on social media, or give a shout-out to a CRNA you know.
From VISTA to CRNAs everywhere, Happy National CRNA Week!