CRNA Career Center
Many CRNAs Think Universal Healthcare Will Lower Salaries
This year's presidential election has sparked considerable discussion about healthcare reform and decreasing the uninsured U.S. population, but how do those on the frontlines of patient care view the issue?
More than half (52 percent) of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) responding to a recent nurse anesthetist salary survey conducted by LocumTenens.com said universal healthcare would negatively affect their personal incomes. Among 412 nurse anesthetist salary survey respondents, 37% indicated the policy would have no effect on their earnings. Only 11% thought universal healthcare's effect on their personal incomes would be positive.
However, this is not to say that CRNAs generally oppose universal healthcare.
"Based on the healthcare provider comments we've received through several recent surveys, the term 'universal healthcare' prompts visions of greater government control and bureaucracy," LocumTenens.com Senior Vice President Pamela McKemie said. "Nevertheless, a number of providers seem to think it's a policy whose time has come, regardless of how universal healthcare affects them personally."
CRNA comments related to universal healthcare included these:
"Willing to make a little less to help more people."
"(Universal healthcare) would increase the demand for care and exacerbate shortages."
"Our country is long overdue for universal healthcare. I don't care what it does to my pay. I would give up substantial salary if our country would finally provide health care [sic] free for everyone."
LocumTenens.com is the only recruiting firm offering a job board specifically for nurse anesthetists at http://www.locumtenens.com/CRNAcareer08.
Nurse Anesthetist Salary Trends Identified
Forty percent of CRNA salary survey respondents said their 2007 income was about the same as (25%), or less than (15%), their income in 2006. However, 60 percent reported an income increase between 2006 and 2007. Thirty-seven percent reported a raise of 2 to 9 percent and 23 percent reported an increase of 10 percent or more.
Overall 2008 CRNA annual compensation averaged $163,467.30, roughly 92 percent of the average $178,084 for 2007 CRNA respondents to the LocumTenens.com nurse anesthetist salary survey. While 54 percent of respondents were employer-based, 42 percent had worked as a locum tenens provider and 32 percent reported working on a locum tenens or contract basis exclusively.
Like 2007 survey participants, this year's rural nurse anesthetist salary survey respondents reported the highest salary average relative to the metro or suburban CRNA salary averages reported:
Rural average $174,214.30
Metro average $164,148.80
Suburban average $156,630.70
Twenty-five percent of 2008 CRNA salary survey respondents reported practicing in rural areas; the rest of this year's CRNA respondents were almost evenly split between major metro areas (38%) and suburban areas (37%).
Most 2008 CRNA respondents (84%) said they would choose medicine as a career again if given the choice.
2008 CRNA Salary Survey
The results are in for LocumTenens.com's Annual Compensation and
Employment Survey 2008.
Find salary and employment statistics including compensation comparisons by area (metro vs. rural), gender and years in practice. Also covered are CRNAs top sources for finding jobs, influencing factors for seeking a job change and demographics -- board status, gender, years in practice and CRNA insights into the practice of medicine today and thoughts about universal healthcare.
View the full 2008 CRNA salary report here
View the full 2007 CRNA salary report here
View the full 2006 CRNA salary report here
View the full 2005 CRNA salary report here
VA hospitals suffer from nurse anesthetist shortage
More than half of 125 Veteran Affairs medical facility chief anesthesiologists responding to a Government Accountability Office study last year said they had to temporarily close operating rooms and 72 percent said they delayed some elective surgeries because of a shortage of certified registered nurse anesthetists. The GAO study projects that 26 percent of the VA's CRNAs will retire or leave in the next five years. A key problem: VA salaries are lower than other such jobs in the facilities' local markets. The report notes that the VA facilities don't fully use the available tools to improve salaries, such as bonuses, education payment programs or a "locality pay system," to determine if salaries should be increased.
Source: H&HN, February 2008
Not just nursing shortage
Hospitals have difficulty filling critical positions
When the ambulance diversion and treat-and-transfer rates at Massachusetts hospitals soared in September, it was not because of increased patient demand as much as decreased staff capacity. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurses' aides, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, ultrasound technicians, nuclear medicine technicians, nurse anesthetists, radiology technicians, pharmacy technicians -- many health care specialties have serious staffing problems. And those staffing shortages are translating into longer waits for elective procedures, and in some cases -- such as ambulance diversions -- no treatment at all. (Source: Boston Business Journal)
Read article
Industry scan
Allied professionals' salaries rise with demand
Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are being offered salaries that top what some physicians earn, according to a survey by Allied Consulting, Dallas, Texas. Based on 951 allied healthcare professional search assignments in 2001, the survey found that salary offers to CRNAs ranged from $90,000 to $180,000 in 2001, compared with $86,000 to $107,000 in 1997. Although CRNAs may earn more than primary care physicians such as pediatricians, they still earn considerably less than anesthesiologists, who are in short supply. (Source: Healthcare Financial Management)
Read article
Shortage of certified nurse anesthetists
The shortage of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) has affected the delivery of health care to a significant portion of the U.S. population, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). The AANA cited a decline in anesthesiology resident positions, an increase in office-based surgery or surgery in places other than a hospital as driving forces behind an increased need for CRNAs. Additionally, managed care is constantly pursuing cost-cutting efforts, and coverage plans recognize CRNAs for providing high-quality anesthesia care at reduced expense to patients and insurance companies. The cost-efficiency of CRNAs helps keep escalating medical costs down.
(Source: CountryNurse.com)
Read article
So you want to be a CRNA ...
Despite the critical need for CRNAs, a national protracted shortfall of anesthesia providers threatens to limit the growth of surgical activity. CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered, including traditional hospital surgical suites, obstetrical delivery rooms, physicians' offices, ambulatory surgical centers and the military. (Source: NurseWeek.com)
Read article
Shortage of certified registered nurse
anesthetists limits access to healthcare
A serious shortage of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) has made an impact on the delivery of healthcare for a significant portion of the U.S. population, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). (Source: AnesthesiaPatientSafety.com)
Read article