Park Ridge, Ill. -- A serious shortage of Certified Registered
Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) has made an impact on the delivery of
healthcare for a significant portion of the U.S. population, according to
the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).
The AANA cited a decline in anesthesiology
resident positions, an increase in office-based surgery and surgery in
places other than hospitals as driving the increased need for CRNAs.
Additionally, with managed care continuing to pursue cost-cutting
measures, coverage plans are recognizing CRNAs for providing high-quality
anesthesia care with reduced expense to patients and insurance companies.
The cost-efficiency of CRNAs helps keep escalating medical costs down.
According to AANA’s 1998 Workforce
Survey, 35 percent of respondents cited an increase in the number of CRNA
positions, compared with a 20 percent increase in 1997. Forty-three
percent of the nurse anesthetist managers reported open positions for
CRNAs within their departments, ranging from one to 12 available jobs.
Fifty-nine percent of the respondents were actively recruiting CRNAs.
"We are in the midst of an acute CRNA
shortage," said Larry Hornsby, CRNA, past president of the 36,000 member
AANA. "The affects of this shortage are being felt in urban, rural
and underserved areas. More nurse anesthesia programs and hospitals
willing to serve as clinical sites would greatly increase our CRNA
numbers."
The escalating numbers of healthcare
procedures requiring anesthesia have increased the need for CRNAs.
However, the demand for services currently exceeds the availability of
these anesthesia providers. In recent years, an increase in the number of
CRNAs who are retiring, combined with decreasing graduation rates from
nurse anesthesia programs, has contributed to the overall decline in CRNA
numbers. University professors have called for more anesthesia programs
and clinical sites to be established in order to enroll more nursing
students into the programs.
In 1990, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services published findings indicating a national shortage of almost
5,400 nurse anesthetists. The study concluded that nurse anesthesia
educational programs would need to produce between 1,500 and 1,800
graduates annually to meet societal nurse anesthesia demands by the year
2010. Nevertheless, only about 1,000 nurse anesthesia students graduate
annually.
CRNAs are anesthesia specialists who
administer approximately 27 million anesthetics each year in the United States. CRNAs are the sole anesthesia
providers in nearly half of all hospitals and more than two-thirds of the
rural hospitals in the United States, affording these medical facilities
obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization capabilities which cannot
be achieved without CRNA anesthesia services.
About the AANA
Founded in 1931 and located in Park Ridge,
Ill., AANA is the professional organization for approximately 90 percent
of the nation’s CRNAs.
