Maine

Did you know that nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for almost one hundred and fifty years? According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the title CRNA - Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, as well as the qualifications for nurse administered anesthesia were started in 1956.

A practice survey conducted in 2009 by the same association found out that certified nurse anesthetists have been safely providing over thirty million anesthetics per year to clients throughout the nation. To become a nurse anesthetist you must be a registered nurse. The requirements for enrolling into a nurse anesthetist program may vary from school to school, but the main criteria include: having a bachelor's degree in nursing, holding a current registered nurse license, and at least one year of work as a registered nurse in intensive care or emergency care.

A certified nurse anesthetist's salary varies with work experience, employer size and location. Newly certified nurse anesthetists may earn around $110,000 per year, while those with many years of practice may be paid closer to $200,000 annually.