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Nurse Anesthetist

Types of Degrees Nurse Anesthetist Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Nurse Anesthetist have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Master’s Degree	408
Doctor’s Degree	1,552

What Nurse Anesthetist Majors Need to Know

Programs in Nurse Anesthetist emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Nurse Anesthetist graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Nurse Anesthetist emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.8 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.8 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills developed in a Nurse Anesthetist program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Active Learning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Nurse Anesthetist careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Information Ordering — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Nurse Anesthetist graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Getting Information	4.7 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.7 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.6 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.5 / 7
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings	4.4 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Nurse Anesthetist professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Medscribbler Enterprise	Medical software	—
GE Healthcare Centricity EMR	Medical software	—
AetherPalm InfusiCalc	Medical software	—
SynaMed EMR	Medical software	—
Skyscape AnesthesiaDrugs	Medical software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Cerner Millennium	Medical software	—
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMR	Medical software	—
StatCom Patient Flow Logistics Enterprise Suite	Medical software	—
EDImis Anesthesia Manager	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Nurse Anesthetist graduates include:

• Anesthesia Specialist
• Staff Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Staff CRNA)
• Anesthesia Physician
• Nurse Anesthetist
• Certified Nurse Anesthetist
• Staff Nurse Anesthetist
• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
• Nursing Faculty Member
• Nurse Instructor
• Nurse Educator
• Assistant Professor
• Practical Nursing Teacher
• Clinical Instructor
• Nursing Professor
• Adjunct Instructor

What Can You Do With a Nurse Anesthetist Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Nurse Anesthetist commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	5.7%	$69,718	$58,585–$80,852

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Nurse Anesthetist graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	52.1%
Master’s degree	42.4%
First professional degree	3.0%
Post-doctoral training	1.2%
Bachelor’s degree	0.9%
Post-master’s certificate	0.4%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Nurse Anesthetist?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 62.7% of Nurse Anesthetist degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	1,229	62.7%
Men	731	37.3%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Nurse Anesthetist graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	1,266	64.6%
Asian	155	7.9%
Hispanic or Latino	235	12.0%
Black or African American	140	7.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native	7	0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	4	0.2%
Two or More Races	55	2.8%
Race Unknown	90	4.6%
International Students	8	0.4%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Nurse Anesthetist Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Nurse Anesthetist graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Nurse Anesthetist Programs

Distance learning is tracked by IPEDS for Nurse Anesthetist. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	1	6
Doctoral (Research)	2	1

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Nurse Anesthetist Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Nurse Anesthetist graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	311,372
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse	256,965
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,847
Nursing Practice	9,206
Nursing Administration	7,911
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	4,379
Nursing Science	4,245
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other	4,125
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,457
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	1,505
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	641
Critical Care Nursing	596

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.