Month: June 2025
Spotlight on Career Paths: CRNA
An oral surgeon is removing a wisdom tooth. The unconscious patient fidgets. Another trained professional boosts the anesthesia level. The patient stays calm, still and unconscious for the rest of the procedure.
Surgeons perform procedures, but they don’t keep patients comfortable and stable during and after surgery. That critical task falls to the certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA).
These professionals began as RNs but then channeled their expertise into a more specialized patient care role. How did they get there? We’ll answer that here and highlight the crucial services CRNAs provide.
The Path to a CRNA Career
A CRNA, or certified registered nurse anesthetist, is qualified to administer anesthesia to patients and monitor vital functions including respiration, pulse and blood pressure during medical procedures. These professionals must complete years of education and certification before they can practice as CRNAs.
What Do CRNAs Do?
CRNAs make sure patients don’t remember even a single second of a major surgical procedure. They’re often the ones who perform the epidural on a patient about to give birth. CRNAs excel at keeping us pain-free and safe during and after medical procedures. On a typical day, they will:
- Provide preoperative and postoperative instructions to patients.
- Administer anesthesia.
- Monitor and maintain anesthesia levels during procedures, ensuring patient comfort.
- Keep an eye on patients’ vital signs during procedures.
- Oversee recovery from anesthesia.
- Prescribe medication.
CRNAs are not anesthesiologists, but rather advanced practice RNs with specialized skills. Anesthesiologists are medical doctors.
How to Become a CRNA
Thinking about becoming a CRNA? You’ll find it a rewarding field that enables you to do something important every day of your career. But you’ll need certain education credentials and hands-on experience.
Here’s how to become a CRNA:
- Finish your undergraduate nursing degree.
- Pass the NCLEX-RN exam.
- Apply to your state board for an RN license.
- Gain at least one year of clinical experience as an RN.
- Earn a doctoral degree (DNP or DNAP) from an institution with an accredited nurse anesthesia program.
- Pass the national certification exam (NCE).
Career Opportunities and Specializations for CRNAs
The demand for CRNAs is rising dramatically, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting a 40% growth rate through 2033. Compensation rates are impressive, too, with nurse anesthetists earning about $212,650 per year.
While being a CRNA has its challenges, the career offers significant job security, stability and flexibility. CRNAs can work in hospitals, outpatient centers, surgical clinics, dental offices and even the military or public health service.
Want to focus on a specific area of anesthesia? Many CRNA programs allow you to gear your studies to specializations such as:
- Pediatrics (children’s hospitals and clinics)
- Cardiology (heart surgery and cardiac care)
- Obstetrics (labor and delivery, including caesarean sections)
- Plastic and reconstructive surgery
- Dental anesthesia
- Neurosurgical anesthesia (brain and spine surgeries)
You can also earn a certification in a specialty after finishing your program.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re considering becoming a CRNA and want to know if it’s a career worth pursuing, these answers to common questions might help you:
- What is a CRNA?
A CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) is a highly trained professional who assists physicians during procedures by sedating patients, keeping them comfortable, watching their vital signs and ensuring they have medication and instructions for their recovery.
- What are the qualifications to become a CRNA?
An aspiring CRNA must: become a licensed RN, complete one year of clinical experience, followed by a DNP or DNAP from an accredited nurse anesthesia program, then pass the national certification exam to claim their CRNA license.
- What are the job prospects for CRNAs?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows tremendous job availability and earning potential for CRNAs, with open positions increasing by 40% through 2033 and annual median earnings of $212,650.
Enhance Your CRNA Career With Online Medical Physiology, Anatomy and Pharmacology Training
On your way to CRNA school? Those programs and the degrees you need to get there are very competitive. Complete one of these online UF programs to help your application stand out:
Already a CRNA and want a stronger grasp of human anatomy, the major organ systems and medication effects on the human body? Consider any of our graduate certificate programs or take a deeper dive with a degree:
- Master’s Degree in Medical Physiology and Pharmacology (30 credits)
- Master’s Degree in Medical Anatomy and Physiology (30 credits)
See more online UF programs that can support your CRNA journey.
Sources:
https://www.aana.com/about-us/about-crnas/become-a-crna/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22561-nurse-anesthetist-crna
https://www.aana.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/scope-of-nurse-anesthesia-practice.pdf
https://www.intelycare.com/career-advice/what-is-a-doctor-of-nurse-anesthesia-practice-dnap/
Advancements in Biotechnology for Diabetes Management
Prior to the discovery and use of insulin as a treatment for diabetes in the 1920s, people living with the disease had few treatment options, and essentially no good ones: bloodletting, starvation diets and various potions deceptively marketed as cures.
Today, countless people have been able to bring their diabetes under control through a combination of exercise, dietary adjustments and insulin injections. However, though often effective, these approaches aren’t always practical.
As diabetes management has advanced, new technologies have emerged that address the need for more practical and convenient treatment options. Here we’ll look at some of the current biotechnology helping individuals with diabetes live healthier and less disrupted lives.
Implantable Devices: The Future of Diabetes Care
Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)
A CGM assesses the wearer’s glucose every few minutes and tracks this information. These biotechnology devices evaluate the level of glucose in the fluid between cells, not the blood itself, but the numbers are generally comparable.
The device has a small sensor that can be inserted under the skin of the abdomen or arm and kept in place by an adhesive patch. An implantable sensor that goes fully inside the body is also available. Both types of sensors require replacement at regular intervals.
Every CGM has a transmitter that sends glucose data wirelessly to an application on a smartphone, an insulin pump or another receiver device. It’s worth noting, however, that some medicines and vitamins can affect the readings of these devices.
Unnamed Bioelectronic Prototype
Type 1 diabetes causes the body’s immune system to attack islet cells inside the pancreas, impeding its insulin production. A bioelectronic prototype implant device developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about 1 inch long at its widest dimension, both shields the islet cells from immune system attacks and creates oxygen that preserves the cells long enough to create insulin.
This biotechnology device has some challenges to overcome but shows promise. If viable, it offers the potential to eliminate injections and other tasks associated with managing insulin for Type 1 diabetes patients.
The Artificial Pancreas: Technology Mimicking Nature
Your pancreas creates insulin. But what happens when it doesn’t, as with Type 1 diabetes? A closed loop or “artificial pancreas” can take over that responsibility.
This all-in-one diabetes management system is not like a transplant, where an unhealthy organ is replaced with a healthy one from a donor. Instead, the patient has two devices — a CGM and an insulin pump — attached to the outside of their abdomen.
These devices work in tandem to keep the patient’s insulin at an optimal level. The individual does not need to take any action, as the devices function automatically, allowing them to carry on normal activities without stopping to check or replenish their insulin.
The key difference and benefit between a CGM and a closed-loop system is that the latter uses the data it gathers to automatically deliver the necessary amount of insulin via the insulin pump.
This biotechnology system benefits not only working adults with busy schedules but also children with diabetes who can’t manage the injection regimen themselves or may understandably prefer not to undergo it at all.
Master How Human Body Systems Interact and Respond
UF offers online graduate programs to expand your medical physiology knowledge while preparing for a broad range of rewarding careers. Each program features:
- Affordable tuition.
- No GRE or clinical experience requirements for admission.
- No thesis requirement.
- An asynchronous format that lets you view course lectures at your own pace and maintain your professional and personal commitments.
Master’s Degree in Medical Physiology and Pharmacology
Giving balanced attention to medical physiology and pharmacology, this program offers an in-depth exploration of human body systems and how drugs affect them.
This UF program is ideal for:
- Students preparing for the MCAT.
- Those working or aspiring to work in medicine, pharmacy, pharmacology, drug development, biotechnology or research.
Program details:
- 30 credits
- Can be completed in as little as two semesters.
Master’s Degree in Medical Physiology and Aging
This first-of its-kind degree merges courses from UF’s Graduate Certificate in Medical Physiology and master’s degree in innovative aging studies into a unique curriculum devoted to the biology of aging.
This UF program is ideal for:
- Those working or aspiring to work in medicine, pharmacy, pharmacology, drug development, biotechnology or research careers with an aging or geriatric emphasis.
- Current or future educators and teachers.
Program details:
- 30 credits
- Can be completed in as little as one year.
Graduate Certificate in Medical Physiology
Providing a physiological overview of the major human body systems, this certificate offers a condensed exploration of areas crucial to a variety of professions.
This UF program is ideal for:
- Students preparing for the MCAT.
- Students planning to attend graduate school.
- Practicing professionals looking to add new skills and credentials quickly.
Program details:
- 9-14 credits
- Can be completed in as little as one semester
Benefits of Earning an Online Medical Sciences Graduate Credential With UF
All these programs offer:
- Faculty composed of top researchers, noted academics and MDs.
- International networking opportunities.
- A quality education from an institution ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s:
- Best National Universities
- Top Public Schools
- Best Value Schools
- Best Colleges for Veterans
- Most Innovative Schools
- Top Performers on Social Mobility
Unsure which online graduate medical physiology program matches your needs and goals? We’re here to answer your questions.
Ready to apply? Get started now.