Explore safer careers (2)
Lower estimated automation risk
Why it fits
Applies inpatient assessment, medication safety, clinical monitoring, patient education, documentation, and interdisciplinary handoffs.
Why it fits
Directly reuses airway awareness, hemodynamic monitoring, vasoactive medications, alarms, documentation, and high-acuity patient care.
Alternative careers
Related career paths that build on similar skills and experience
Why it fits
Reuses anesthesia equipment, induction support, monitoring, airway procedures, OR workflow, and physician-led care model knowledge.
Why it fits
Applies airway management, ventilation, oxygen therapy, patient monitoring, equipment checks, and emergency response.
Occupation snapshot
What does this snowflake show?
What's this?
We rate jobs using four factors. These are:
- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions
These are some key things to think about when job hunting.
Risk & user votes
Calculated automation risk
Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.
More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.
Human strengths important in this job
These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.
Assisting and caring for others
Very importantWhy this matters
Decision-making and problem solving
Very importantWhy this matters
Psychology knowledge
Very importantWhy this matters
Active learning
Very importantWhy this matters
Education and training expertise
Very importantWhy this matters
Show 5 more strengths
Working directly with the public
Quite importantWhy this matters
Thinking creatively
Quite importantWhy this matters
Persuasion
Quite importantWhy this matters
Coordinating others’ work
Quite importantWhy this matters
Consulting and advising others
Quite importantWhy this matters
What users think
Based on 151 votes
Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 12% chance of automation.
What do you think the risk of automation is?
What is the likelihood that Nurse Anesthetists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?
Sentiment
Based on user votes over time
View sentiment trend
How opinions have changed over time
Pay & outlook
Wages
In 2024, the median annual wage for Nurse Anesthetists was $223,210 ($107 per hour).
The median annual wage for Nurse Anesthetists was 350.9% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.
View wage trend
Wages over time
Growth
The number of 'Nurse Anesthetists' job openings is expected to rise 8.6% by 2034
View employment trend
Total employment, and estimated job openings
Updated projections are due 09-2025.
Volume
As of 2024 there were 50,350 people employed as 'Nurse Anesthetists' within the United States.
This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country
Put another way, around 1 in 3 thousand people are employed as 'Nurse Anesthetists'.
People also viewed
Job description
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-SOC code: 29-1151.00
What people are saying (8)
Step 1: Develop the AI. The data inputs are already there - AI can already read a patient's charts, monitor their vitals, and transcribe feedback/instruction from the surgeon. If an AI can be developed that takes that information and selects which drugs to administer, that removes nearly all the brainpower and expertise needed from a CRNA.
Step 2: Train someone to intubate and the other physical labor parts of the job. Pay them 1/3 of what you pay a CRNA.
Step 3: An Anesthesiologist monitors multiple rooms simultaneously (like they already do with CRNAs) as a failsafe against errors by the AI and is present during critical periods like induction and emergence, intervening if there's an emergency.
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