Legislative updates
Regulation #16A-5145: Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and Fees
Amends existing regulations to recognize and license certified registered nurse anesthetists, update provisions relating to licensure by endorsement and mandatory child abuse education and training, and update reactivation fees provisions for clinical nurse specialists.
[49 PA. CODE CH. 21]
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and Fees
[55 Pa.B. 4360]
[Saturday, June 28, 2025]
ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE (APRN) LEGISLATION
During the 2023-24 legislative session, state Rep. Kyle J. Mullins, who represents Lackawanna County, formally introduced legislation (House Bill 2246) that would classify nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified registered nurse anesthetists as “advanced practice registered nurses,” or APRNs.
All of them play a pivotal role in the future of health care, and Pennsylvania is out of line for not recognizing these professionals as APRNs.
CRNAs in Pennsylvania are not considered “advanced practice registered nurses,” even though they exercise independent, professional judgment within their scope of practice. State nursing law in 40 states currently recognizes CRNAs as APRNs. But not in Pennsylvania.
CERTIFIED ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS (CAAs or AAs)
So far, no legislation has been formally introduced during the 2023-24 legislative session. Learn more about the issue.
In the 2021-22 legislative session, legislation was introduced in the House (H.B. 1956) and Senate (S.B. 1258) that would license anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs) for the first time in Pennsylvania. This is bad public policy that will do nothing to enhance patient care or make health care more accessible, but instead will increase the cost of care and severely limit the practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).
This is what we know about CAA legislation and policies in other states:
PANA ADVOCACY NEWS:
