Newswise — Park Ridge, Illinois – Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) across the country are celebrating patient access to safe, high-quality anesthesia care—the hallmarks of the nurse anesthesia profession—during National CRNA Week, January 21-27, 2018.

This year’s theme, “Every Breath, Every Beat, Every Second: We Are There,” highlights the watchful care that CRNAs have been providing to their patients for more than 150 years. 

National CRNA Week was established by the AANA 19 years ago to educate the public about anesthesia safety and the benefits of receiving anesthesia care from CRNAs.  Nurse anesthetists deliver approximately 43 million anesthetics to patients per year in the United States, staying with their patients throughout their entire procedure.

“Every day, in healthcare facilities all over the United States and in the U.S. armed services stationed around the globe, more than 52,000 CRNAs provide patient-centered, holistic pain management and anesthesia care to our patients,” said AANA President Bruce Weiner, DNP, MSNA, CRNA.  “One of the many rewards of being a nurse anesthetist is providing patients with the comfort of knowing that a CRNA will be by their side monitoring their vital signs and adjusting their anesthetics to ensure a pain free and safe anesthesia experience.”

During National CRNA Week, nurse anesthetists will be educating patients, coworkers, and others about their profession.  With 8 ½ years of education including more than 8,600 hours of clinical training, CRNAs are well prepared to provide anesthesia and analgesia for surgery, labor and delivery, trauma stabilization, and pain management to even the sickest patients. They practice in traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities.

In the vast majority of rural hospitals, CRNAs are the sole providers of anesthesia care, ensuring that these facilities are able to stay open and provide needed healthcare services to medically underserved communities.

About the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

Founded in 1931 and located in Park Ridge, Ill., and Washington, D.C., the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is the professional organization representing more than 52,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and student registered nurse anesthetists across the United States. As advanced practice registered nurses and anesthesia specialists, CRNAs administer approximately 43 million anesthetics to patients in the United States each year and are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural America. In some states, CRNAs are the sole anesthesia professionals in nearly 100 percent of rural hospitals. For more information, visit www.aana.com and www.future-of-anesthesia-care-today.com.