About the Profession
Nurse anesthesiology is a cornerstone of modern healthcare, grounded in more than a century of safe, effective practice and clinical excellence. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) who deliver the full spectrum of anesthesia and pain management services across the lifespan and across settings, from high-acuity academic medical centers and Level I trauma hospitals to community facilities, rural hospitals, and CRNA-only practices. Their preparation is rigorous and uncompromising, combining doctoral-level education, extensive clinical immersion, and a relentless focus on patient safety, physiologic mastery, and sound clinical judgment. The profession is built on accountability: CRNAs assume independent responsibility for anesthesia care, often in environments where they are the sole anesthesia providers, and they do so with outcomes that consistently match or exceed national benchmarks.
Beyond technical expertise, nurse anesthesia is defined by leadership, adaptability, and service. CRNAs are educators, researchers, policy advocates, and system-level problem solvers who expand access to care and strengthen the healthcare workforce. They are often the difference between a hospital keeping its surgical services open or closing its doors, particularly in rural and underserved communities. At its core, nurse anesthesiology is a profession of trust, earned through competence, consistency, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to patients. It demands excellence, resilience, and courage, and it delivers impact where it matters most: at the bedside, in the operating room, and across the health systems that depend on CRNAs every day.
In Oklahoma, CRNAs play an indispensable role in ensuring access to surgical, obstetric, trauma, and pain management services across the state. They are the primary, and often only, anesthesia providers in many rural and critical access hospitals, enabling communities to maintain local surgical care rather than requiring patients to travel long distances for essential procedures. CRNAs in Oklahoma practice at the top of their education and training, supporting high-acuity care in academic medical centers while also sustaining anesthesia services in smaller community facilities. Their impact is direct and measurable: improved access to care, continuity of services, and a resilient healthcare infrastructure that depends on CRNAs to meet the state’s diverse and growing healthcare needs.