A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), is a licensed professional nurse who provides the same anesthesia services as an anesthesiologist (MD). After completing extensive education and training, CRNAs become nationally certified and may practice in all 50 states. They are the oldest nurse specialty group in the United States, providing anesthesia care since the Civil War. CRNAs administer approximately 65 percent of the 26 million anesthetics given to patients in the United States each year.

Working closely with other health care professionals, a nurse anesthetist takes care of a patient's anesthesia needs before, during and after surgery or the delivery of a baby. They perform a pre-operative assessment, administer anesthesia to keep the patient pain free and oversee recovery from the anesthesia. Their practice consists of all accepted anesthetic techniques including general, epidural, spinal, peripheral nerve block, sedation or local.

Nurse anesthetists stay with their patients for the entire procedure, constantly monitoring every important body function and individually modifying the anesthetic to ensure maximum safety and comfort.