Nurse Anesthetists

investigative patient anesthesia medication therapy nurse treatment equipment administer vital signs medical emergencies

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Nurse Anesthetist, Staff Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Staff CRNA), Staff Nurse Anesthetist

What they do:
Administer anesthesia, monitor patient's vital signs, and oversee patient recovery from anesthesia. May assist anesthesiologists, surgeons, other physicians, or dentists. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.
On the job, you would:
  • Manage patients' airway or pulmonary status, using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubation.
  • Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.
  • Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.

Knowledge

Health

  • medicine and dentistry
  • therapy and counseling

Business

  • customer service
  • management

Math and Science

  • biology
  • chemistry

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Skills

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Verbal

  • listen and understand what people say
  • read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • order or arrange things

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted
  • do two or more things at the same time

Visual Understanding

  • quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

They do well at jobs that need:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Integrity
  • Concern for Others
  • Adaptability/Flexibility

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Medical software

  • eClinicalWorks EHR software Hot Technology
  • Epic Systems Hot Technology In Demand

Word processing software

  • Microsoft Word Hot Technology

Education

Education: (rated 5 of 5)
doctoral degree or
master's degree
usually needed

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Job Outlook

Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about nurse anesthetists.