TxANA Members, Dentists Testify for Texas House Bill 1930

​AUSTIN, TX—Members of the Texas Association of Nurse Anesthetists (TxANA) testified for House Bill 1930 on Monday at the Texas State Capitol regarding the administration of anesthesia by a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) on the order of a dentist.

Texas dentists testified, in addition to TxANA members, advocating to remove barriers blocking easy access to anesthesia care provided by CRNAs in dental offices.​

“This is an extremely important issue that relates directly back to patient access to anesthesia care,” said James Stockman, MSNA, CRNA, NSPM-C, President of TxANA. “The permitting requirements made by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (TSBDE) have restricted CRNAs in places that they are most vital, like rural Texas.”

Currently, for a dentist to delegate the provision of anesthesia to CRNAs, the dentist must have a permit for the type of anesthesia the CRNA is performing. According to Stockman, who practices in Nacogdoches and testified on Monday, these requirements are unnecessary, as the expertise and education CRNAs attain through an average of seven to eight and a half years of experience before receiving their credentials is sufficient.

Gregory Collins, DNP, CRNA, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences at Texas Christian University, believes that House Bill 1930 is critical for high-risk patients to access care when they need it, as CRNAs are often the only providers of anesthesia in rural areas.
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“As these permits require a great deal of training, many dentists choose not to acquire them. This means that in order to get anesthesia care from a CRNA, they have to send the patient to hospitals or surgery centers, making the care more expensive and using scarce facility resources,” Collins said. “Texas dental patients deserve accessible anesthesia care, and the current legal barrier unnecessarily prevents that.”