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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are anesthesia specialists. They administer approximately 65% of the 26 million anesthetics given to patients each year in the United States. CRNAs are the sole anesthesia providers in more than 65% of rural hospitals in the United States, enabling these health care facilities to provide obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization services. CRNAs provide anesthetics to patients in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other qualified health care professionals. When anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is recognized as the practice of nursing; when administered by an anesthesiologist, it is recognized as the practice of medicine. |