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Texas has more than 5,400 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) whose education, certification, and clinical experience have positively impacted our state through the delivery of safe, cost-effective, high-quality anesthesia care to Texans. 

CRNAs have provided quality, cost-effective anesthesia care for more than 150 years. The first anesthesia specialists were nurses who began providing anesthesia during the American Civil War; physicians did not begin specializing in anesthesia until decades later. 

CRNAs provide the full range of anesthesia care, and administer all types of anesthesia. Studies show the standard of care and patient outcomes are the same whether anesthesia is provided by a CRNA working alone, a CRNA working with an anesthesiologist, or an anesthesiologist working alone. 
CRNAs provide access to essential healthcare services. CRNAs administer more than 50 million anesthetics to patients in the United States each year. 
Nurse anesthetists are the sole anesthesia providers in the majority of rural Texas counties. The majority of rural Texas hospitals rely solely on anesthesia delivered by CRNAs to ensure the provision of obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization services.

Military CRNAs continue to be the primary anesthesia providers in all theaters of operation. 

CRNAs are highly educated, extensively trained advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). Specialty anesthesia education for CRNAs is provided at 120 accredited programs throughout the United States, and each program offers a master’s or doctoral degree. Texas is home to five nurse anesthesia educational programs. A minimum of seven years of higher education and training is involved in the preparation of a CRNA. All nurse anesthetists must pass the National Certification Exam, and CRNAs are the only licensed anesthesia providers who must be board certified in anesthesia to practice.