Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Working Conditions and Outcomes: A Review of the Literature

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) deliver anesthesia to more than 34 million patients per year in the United States in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Yet CRNA working conditions and workforce outcomes have not been well investigated in the literature. For a deeper understanding of both issues, a review of the literature was conducted. Following specific inclusion criteria, peer-reviewed research articles published from 2001 to 2015 were included. Data were abstracted from 13 studies and were synthesized. Four themes emerged: communication and collaboration; professional identity and autonomy; work relations issues experienced by CRNAs, who practice in a variety of healthcare settings; and CRNA outcomes. Regarding the latter, job dissatisfaction, occupational stress, incivility, burnout, workplace aggression, and intent to leave were prevalent CRNA outcomes. Future rigorous research should focus on CRNA working conditions that could be changed to diminish negative CRNA outcomes. Positive CRNA workforce outcomes in turn could have financial, access-to-care, and quality-of-care implications for organizations where CRNAs practice. Policy makers, organizations, CRNAs, and the patients and families CRNAs serve would benefit from such research.