THE BACKGROUND
Currently in Georgia, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) can only administer anesthesia under direct supervision. This bureaucratic red tape causes unnecessary delays and limiting access to lifesaving, and sometimes emergency, medical care—especially in rural and underserved areas. If a CRNA is forced to administer anesthesia under direct supervision of the physicians, this can create delays in the surgical process when patients may not have the time to wait.
NOT INDEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT
KEY
STATE OF CRNA
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
ABOUT CRNAs
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists are incredibly qualified medical professionals that have spent years working on their abilities. The Georgia state licensing requirements for CRNAs is rigorous and helps ensure that only the best candidates go on to staff hospitals across the state.
To become a CRNA you must first become a Registered Nurse with a bachelors or master’s degree. After achieving your degree, you must work a minimum of one year of full-time nursing experience in a critical care setting. The average experience for students entering a CRNA program is 2.9 years of ICU experience.
Though there are a few master’s degree programs left, all CRNA students must graduate with a doctorate level degree starting in 2025 to be eligible to sit for their board exam. Following graduation from an accredited nurse anesthesia program you will be eligible to take the National Certification Exam (NCE) and become a CRNA. This is a long journey but well worth it and helps guarantee that CRNAs in Georgia are among the most qualified professionals in the medical industry.
THE BILL
HB 251 offers an easy, yet transformative solution to this issue and can help ensure that patients, especially in rural and underserved areas, can access the medical care they need. This bill would allow CRNAs to work in coordination with physicians and provide patients with an opportunity to receive timely, lifesaving care.
The years of medical training and education that CRNAs undergo in the Peach State help provide a network of medical professionals that are adept at their professional and extremely knowledgable in their field. This bill will ensure that CRNAs can work collaboratively with the physicians and remove barriers to medical care that can be the difference between life & death.
