My husband is a combat-wounded veteran. My parents both served as Navy Corpsmen. November is a special month in our household. Governor DeSantis has declared Florida’s Veterans Appreciation Month and, along with the nation’s Veterans Day, provided an opportunity for all Americans to come together to share their appreciation for those who fought to keep our country the beacon of hope and freedom worldwide.

I hope Floridians and all Americans also take the time to recognize a select group of veterans who have served on the front lines of war for more than 150 years – highly trained Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs).

Americans and military families deserve access to these professionals who administer critical anesthesia care from rural parts of Florida to hospitals nationwide and to military bases around the world. CRNAs practice in every branch of the U.S. military and it is time for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to allow CRNAs, also known as nurse anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists, to practice at the full extent of their
training, education, and licensure.

More than 1.4 million veterans call Florida home, the third largest group of veterans in the nation. Whether they seek medical care at a VA facility or elsewhere, veterans like my husband deserve the best treatment possible.

That is why it is also time for the State of Florida to remove barriers and allow CRNAs, who are critical care health providers, to practice to the full scope of their education and training without illusory physician supervision. It is critical for our state’s lawmakers to modernize our statutes to allow CRNAs to provide a full range of care; also, a strong step toward addressing the health care worker shortage in our state.

CRNAs trace their roots back to the battlefields of the Civil War. They remain a key part of military health care – with full practice authority in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force – working on the front lines, ships, aircraft, and bases around the world. They are the predominant providers of anesthesia on forward surgical teams and in combat support hospitals, where 90 percent of forward surgical teams are staffed by CRNAs.

About 63,000 CRNAs nationally, and more than 6,700 in Florida, practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered. They deliver anesthesia in medical settings ranging from surgery to obstetrical delivery rooms. The odds are high that if you have received anesthesia in Florida, a CRNA provided it.

This is an elite group, completing eight to ten years of healthcare and anesthesia education with more than 12,000 hours of clinical training and passing a rigorous national exam to earn certification. Graduates must pass the National Certification Examination before employment.

Our veterans, men and women who have protected freedom around the world, deserve access to the best medical care possible. The VA can take a step in that direction by removing barriers to allow all advanced practice providers, including CRNAs, to provide critically needed emergency care to those who served.

This will expand access to quality health care for veterans and decrease wait times for veterans needing immediate care, all while decreasing the cost of that care for the VA and taxpayers. And it would allow the VA to better serve rural facilities and providers working across state lines.

Let’s eliminate the backlog of veterans seeking treatment by allowing every independently trained professional to provide the critical anesthesia care for which they trained. Backlogs are real and they deeply impact veterans. My husband’s delays in care led to months of returning to a wheelchair and loss of mobility for which he fought so hard. It was debilitating and demoralizing. Let’s ensure our veterans have care when
they need it!

These simple, common-sense moves will ensure our veterans and all Floridians have the care they need and deserve. You can help by visiting anesthesiafacts.com to take action on the federal level and also visiting the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology website to learn more about the impact of CRNA’s statewide.

Laura Molina, DNP, APRN, CRNA, is President of the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. Dr. Molina has served on the Association’s Board since 2021 and is a practicing locum tenens Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who works across multiple states and practice models.