Education Requirements

A typical program of study used by most Nurse Anesthetist is comprised of the following:

• A Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from an Accredited University
• Currently hold a License to Practice Nursing
• A least 2 years experience in a Critical Care and/or an Acute Care area
• Completion of an Accredited Graduate School of Nursing Anesthesia Program and obtained a Master’s Degree
• Satisfactory completion of all Clinical Coursework
• Pass the National Examination for Nurse Anesthetists

All of the above points are not indicative of all CRNA programs in the United States.  You should check with the accredited program of Study that you’re interested in prior to application.  It should also be noted, that most schools require applicants to have between 1-2 years of experience in a critical care environment.  GPA admission requirements also vary from school to school.

On average, it takes around 7 years to become a Nurse Anesthetist.  You have approximately 4 years of Undergraduate work, along with approximately 3 years of the Nurse Anesthetist program which includes many clinical hours.  During the graduate studies of a CRNA program, most students find that the program is so time consuming, that work outside of the program isn’t possible, and most schools discourage it.

After completion of the Nurse Anesthetist Program, prospective CRNA’s are required to pass a National Board Exam for licensure.

Once you achieve licensure, and complete the CRNA program, a continuing education component is required each year.  Currently, you must achieve a minimum of 40 continuing education hours annually.

According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, as of October 2011, there are 112 Nurse Anesthesia Programs with more than 1,800 clinical sites in the United States.  Traditionally, these programs are operated through a health science or nursing department of a University.