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29-1151.00 - Nurse Anesthetists


Administer anesthesia, monitor patient's vital signs, and oversee patient recovery from anesthesia. May assist anesthesiologists, surgeons, other physicians, or dentists. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
1
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
38,200
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
45,600
Estimate
Change in Employment
+7,400
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+19.3%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Administer post-anesthesia medications or fluids to support patients' cardiovascular systems.
  • Evaluate patients' post-surgical or post-anesthesia responses, taking appropriate corrective actions or requesting consultation if complications occur.
  • Perform pre-anesthetic screenings, including physical evaluations and patient interviews, and document results.
  • Select and prescribe post-anesthesia medications or treatments to patients.
  • Select, order, or administer pre-anesthetic medications.
  • Discharge patients from post-anesthesia care.
  • Perform or evaluate the results of diagnostic tests, such as radiographs (x-rays) and electrocardiograms (EKGs).
  • Manage patients' airway or pulmonary status, using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubation.
  • Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.
  • Perform or manage regional anesthetic techniques, such as local, spinal, epidural, caudal, nerve blocks and intravenous blocks.
  • Prepare prescribed solutions and administer local, intravenous, spinal, or other anesthetics, following specified methods and procedures.
  • Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.
  • Select, order, or administer anesthetics, adjuvant drugs, accessory drugs, fluids or blood products as necessary.
  • Assess patients' medical histories to predict anesthesia response.
  • Develop anesthesia care plans.
  • Obtain informed consent from patients for anesthesia procedures.
  • Select, prepare, or use equipment, monitors, supplies, or drugs for the administration of anesthetics.
  • Calibrate and test anesthesia equipment.
  • Disassemble and clean anesthesia equipment.
  • Insert arterial catheters or perform arterial punctures to obtain arterial blood samples.
  • Insert peripheral or central intravenous catheters.
  • Instruct nurses, residents, interns, students, or other staff on topics such as anesthetic techniques, pain management and emergency responses.
  • Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
  • Request anesthesia equipment repairs, adjustments, or safety tests.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Medicine and Dentistry
  • 97%
    Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 93%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Biology
  • 93%
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
 Chemistry
  • 87%
    Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
 Education and Training
  • 85%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Mathematics
  • 85%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 English Language
  • 84%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Psychology
  • 81%
    Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
 Physics
  • 80%
    Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 68%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Administration and Management
  • 64%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Law and Government
  • 64%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 62%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 61%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 61%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
 Therapy and Counseling
  • 61%
    Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
 Sociology and Anthropology
  • 59%
    Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
 Mechanical
  • 55%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
 Telecommunications
  • 50%
    Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
 Communications and Media
  • 50%
    Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
 Economics and Accounting
  • 50%
    Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Anesthesia apparatus and accessories and supplies
  • Anesthesia masks
  • Calibrated vaporizers
  • Digital anesthesia machines
  • Gas anesthesia administration machines
 Intravenous and arterial cannulas and catheters and accessories
  • Arterial line catheters
  • Multiple lumen central line catheters
  • Swan Ganz artery catheters
 Emergency medical services resuscitation products
  • Automated external defibrillators AED
 Positive mechanical pressure ventilators and accessories
  • Bilevel positive airway pressure BiPAP ventilators
  • Intermittent positive pressure breathing IPPB ventilators
 Neurological exam products
  • Bispectral index monitors BIS
 Syringes and accessories
  • Blood collection syringes
  • Hypodermic syringes
 Specimen collection and transport containers and supplies
  • Blood collection tubes
  • Tourniquets
 Intubation supplies
  • Capnographs
  • Esophageal intubation detectors
  • Magill forceps
 Acute care monitoring units and related products
  • Cardiac monitors
  • Invasive hemodynamic pressure monitors
 Electrocardiography EKG units and related products
  • Electrocardiography EKG machines
 Blood pressure units and related products
  • Electronic blood pressure cuffs
 Medical thermometers and accessories
  • Electronic thermometer probes
 Respiratory monitoring products
  • End tidal carbon dioxide monitors
 Airway management products
  • Endotracheal ET tubes
  • Laryngeal mask airways LMA
  • Oropharyngeal airways
  • Tracheotomy sets
 Injection and aspiration needles and accessories
  • Epidural block equipment trays
  • Epidural catheters
 Scopes and specula and accessories for medical exam diagnostic use
  • Fiberoptic bronchoscopes
 Intravenous and arterial tubing and administration sets and related products
  • Intravenous IV administration equipment
 Intravenous infusion pumps and its analyzers and sensors and its accessories
  • Intravenous IV infusion pumps
  • Patient controlled analgesia PCA pumps
 Computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Personal computers
 Stethoscopes and related products
  • Mechanical stethoscopes
  • Precordial stethoscopes
  • Pretracheal stethoscopes
 Oxygen therapy delivery systems and devices
  • Nasal airways
  • Oxygen concentrators
  • Oxygen delivery masks
  • Oxygen flowmeters
 Surgical support supplies
  • Peripheral nerve stimulators
 Medical staff clothing and related articles
  • Protective face shields
 Vascular imaging and interventional cardiology and cardiac catheterization lab products
  • Pulmonary artery catheters
 Pulse oximeters
  • Pulse oximeters
 Vision protection and accessories
  • Safety goggles
 Medical gloves and accessories
  • Surgical gloves
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Industry specific software
  • AetherPalm InfusiCalc
  • Allscripts Professional EHR
  • Amkai AmkaiCharts
  • Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
  • Cerner Millennium
  • ChartWare EMR
  • Drug database software
  • e-MDs software
  • eClinicalWorks
  • EDImis Anesthesia Manager
  • GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
  • MEDITECH softwareHOT
  • Medscribbler Enterprise
  • MicroFour PracticeStudio.NET EMR
  • NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMR
  • Skyscape AnesthesiaDrugs
  • SOAPware EMR
  • StatCom Patient Flow Logistics Enterprise Suite
  • SynaMed EMR
  • Texas Medical Software SpringCharts EMR
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Microsoft WordHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
FastForward at Virginia's Community Colleges is a short-term training program for high-demand industries, like healthcare, information technology, and skilled trades and infrastructure, helping Virginians get the jobs and salaries they need. Our goal is to get you trained, help you earn your certification, and get you into a career that can support you and your family. Explore the latest training program offerings by visiting FastForward
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Specialty
 Advanced
 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Randolph-Macon College
 Programs