As a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) I am proud to be part of America’s most trusted profession — advanced practice registered nursing. I am also profoundly grateful to have a job that allows me to follow my passion: providing anesthesia care to children of all ages — from preterm neonates to college students.
CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer more than 50 million anesthetics to patients of all ages each year in the United States. We bring to anesthesia care the compassion and dedication inherent in our critical care nursing experience, combined with the highest educational and professional standards and technical skills.
CRNAs who care for pediatric patients work in different practice settings wherever and whenever they require anesthesia, sedation, or pain management: hospital surgical suites, ambulatory surgical centers, critical access hospitals, dentists’ offices, and a range of other settings. Some work in a care team approach that includes CRNAs, physician anesthesiologists, nurse anesthesia residents, and physician anesthesiology residents. Larger medical centers that specialize in pediatrics provide anesthesia throughout the hospital, from the operating rooms to minor procedure and sedation rooms, to radiology suites for MR and CT scans and nuclear medicine, and the intensive care units. Other CRNAs, like Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists president Willie Furr, DNP, MSN, CRNA, work as independent CRNAs in rural parts of the state, providing pediatric care for general surgery, ENT, and orthopedic cases. CRNAs are providing care for families with children throughout the state.
Safe, compassionate, care for children
Entrusting a healthcare provider with their child’s safety is one of the most stressful situations a parent can face, and pediatric CRNAs diminish this stress with compassionate interactions with families. Parents can be assured that numerous peer-reviewed studies have shown that CRNAs are safe, high-quality, anesthesia professionals.
Researchers studying anesthesia safety found no differences in care between nurse anesthetists and physician anesthesiologists based on an exhaustive analysis of research literature published in the United States and around the world, according to a scientific literature review prepared by the Cochrane Collaboration, the internationally recognized authority on evidence-based practice in healthcare.
