Jobs / Healthcare / 29-1151.00

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.

US jobs
51,840
Median wage
$236,590 a year
Job family
Healthcare

Can agents do the work of nurse anesthetists?

We read the evidence for the whole job family, Healthcare: Some tasks (no change in 12 months)

Agents complete 20% or more of the tasks (or projects) on a direct benchmark.

Evidence: MedAgentBench, 69.7% of tasks completed.

0% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark.

  • 19%Administer basic health care or medical treatmentsNot measured
  • 9%Prescribe medical treatments or devicesNot measured
  • 8%Perform administrative or clerical activitiesNot measured
  • 7%Administer emergency medical treatmentNot measured
  • 7%Monitor health conditions of humans or animalsNot measured
  • 6%Analyze health or medical dataNot measured
  • 6%Maintain medical equipment or instrumentsNot measured
  • 4%Develop patient or client care or treatment plansNot measured

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in healthcare, not always this occupation's tasks.

Direct evidence

Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.

Also relevant

These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.

  • OSWorld 2.0by HKU and Snorkel AIProject level · Binary completion rate (full set, 500 steps)
    44.3%Claude Opus 5 (max, batch tool) · 17 Sep 2026
    Emerging
  • SOP-Benchby AmazonTask level · Task success rate
    72.4%Claude 4 Opus (ReAct agent) · 23 Feb 2026
    Strong

Context only

These benchmarks span many occupations, or they test how agents behave. They give context but do not set the step.

  • GDPvalby OpenAIProject level · Wins plus ties against experts
    84.9%GPT-5.5 · Apr 2026
    Strong
  • GDPval-AAby Artificial AnalysisProject level · GDPval-AA Elo
    1866 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) · 10 Oct 2026
    Unrated

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • 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.
  • Assess patients' medical histories to predict anesthesia response.
  • Perform or manage regional anesthetic techniques, such as local, spinal, epidural, caudal, nerve blocks and intravenous blocks.
  • Develop anesthesia care plans.
  • Obtain informed consent from patients for anesthesia procedures.
  • Prepare prescribed solutions and administer local, intravenous, spinal, or other anesthetics, following specified methods and procedures.
  • Perform pre-anesthetic screenings, including physical evaluations and patient interviews, and document results.
  • Calibrate and test anesthesia equipment.
Other job titles for this occupation (7)

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) · Nurse Anesthetist · Staff Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Staff CRNA) · Staff Nurse Anesthetist · Anesthesia Physician · Anesthesia Specialist · Certified Nurse Anesthetist