Occupations · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Nurse Anesthetists
Administer anesthesia, monitor patient's vital signs, and oversee patient recovery from anesthesia. May assist anesthesiologists, surgeons, other physicians, or dentists. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 29-1151.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
Pay over time
Median up 51% between 2012 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $233,030 | 1,700 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $230,450 | 1,590 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $204,020 | 1,530 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $197,660 | 1,130 |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | $203,400 | 1,020 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $238,780 | 980 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $235,490 | 900 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $189,740 | 820 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $196,320 | 750 |
| Birmingham-Hoover, AL | $155,180 | 650 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | $204,400 | 600 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $207,380 | 530 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 12 areas with the most people in this occupation
Typical education to enter: Master's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Manage patients' airway or pulmonary status, using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubation.
- Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.
- Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.
- Select, order, or administer anesthetics, adjuvant drugs, accessory drugs, fluids or blood products as necessary.
- Select, prepare, or use equipment, monitors, supplies, or drugs for the administration of anesthetics.
- Perform or manage regional anesthetic techniques, such as local, spinal, epidural, caudal, nerve blocks and intravenous blocks.
- Assess patients' medical histories to predict anesthesia response.
- Obtain informed consent from patients for anesthesia procedures.
- Develop anesthesia care plans.
- Perform pre-anesthetic screenings, including physical evaluations and patient interviews, and document results.
- Prepare prescribed solutions and administer local, intravenous, spinal, or other anesthetics, following specified methods and procedures.
- Calibrate and test anesthesia equipment.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2021-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2021-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 1 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 7
No longer listed 3
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| doctors' surgery assistant | 3256.1 | close |
| anaesthetic technician | 3259.1 | close |
| specialist nurse | 2221.3 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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