Commentary: This rule change would improve care at veterans hospitals

New York veterans deserve the best, most timely health care through the Veterans Administration, without long waits and red tape. 

As a certified registered nurse anesthetist and veteran having served in the U.S. Navy, I urge the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to create national standards of practice that will grant certified registered nurse anesthetists full practice authority to begin increasing access to care for our veterans. Removing barriers to allow us to practice to the top of our education and training is the right policy and honors those who have served our country.

Certified registered nurse anesthetists have full practice authority in the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force and are the predominant providers of anesthesia on forward surgical teams and in combat support hospitals. Many CRNAs in New York are veterans themselves.

With an increase in the number of veterans enrolling because of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, along with hiring freezes from budgetary restraints, some New York VA hospitals have been unable to staff their operating rooms or provide important specialty procedures for services such endoscopy, cardiac catheterization and interventional radiology due to an anesthesia provider shortage. Granting certified registered nurse anesthetists full practice authority would relieve anesthesiologists of their supervisory mandate and increase the number of operating rooms available.

This move will not only expand access to care for veterans but will decrease wait times so that care can be delivered when they need it most, all while decreasing costs. Plus, it would allow the VA the necessary flexibility to create a practice model that meets the needs of rural facilities and providers working across state lines.

While all other types of advanced-practice registered nurses can practice to the full extent of their training, education and licensure within the VA, certified registered nurse anesthetists cannot. In fact, CRNAs are the only advanced-practice registered nurses without full practice authority in the VA health care system.

To address the provider shortage, we must use every resource to its maximum potential and efficiency. It is time to bust the health care monopoly within the VA and ensure our veterans have the care they need and deserve for their sacrifice and services. New York’s congressional leaders should contact U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and urge him to support allowing certified registered nurse anesthetists to practice to the full extent of their education and training.

Andrew Burns of Victor is a U.S. Navy veteran and a certified registered nurse anesthetist.