There are over 50K Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in the country. We are the primary anesthesia workforce in the United States. CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer more than 49 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States. We practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities. Managed care plans recognize CRNAs for providing high-quality anesthesia care with reduced expense to patients and insurance companies. The cost-efficiency of CRNAs helps control escalating healthcare costs.

As advanced practice registered nurses, CRNAs practice with a high degree of autonomy and professional respect. We carry a heavy load of responsibility. If Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAs) come on board at USAP Orlando, all the CRNA signers of this petition will not consider it as a future place of employment. AAs significantly increase the risk of Medicare fraud to hospitals, ASCs, and anesthesia groups. AAs are also required to work under direct medical direction limiting anesthesia staffing flexibility to healthcare facilities. They are also employed as an anticompetitive tool in the anesthesia marketplace, decreasing salary and scope of practice of all anesthesia professionals. AAs also decrease the morale of all anesthesia workplaces and serve as an anti-recruiting tool towards other CRNAs.

Due to the above, the CRNA signers of this petition make it clear that we will not consider USAP Orlando as a future place of employment if they bring in AAs for anesthesia staffing.