Is the demand for nurse anethesits increasing because of the high salaries of anesthesiologists?

It is a combination of health care costs and demand for more providers which drives the need for increasing CRNAs. The initial impulse to train RNs to provide or monitor anesthesia was a wartime need for trained health care professionals to monitor the wounded during surgical procedures during battles. The ability of RNs to assume this position demonstrated the ability to train some RNs to provide anesthesia. Additionally, frequently, during the days of drip ether anesthesia, RNs provided the ether for the patients.

CRNAs cost about 85% of the cost of an anesthesiologist for the same procedure. During these times of managed health care the 15% savings is important. It is also faster to educate a CRNA who attends a 4 year BSN program, works 2 years in ICU then attends 24-28 months of anesthesia. As opposed to 4 years of college 4 years of med school, 1 year of internship and 3 years of residency for an anesthesiologist.

There are now 5 or 6 Anesthisiologist Assistant programs which educate a person similar to a PA for anesthesiologist in the US in addition to the CRNA programs.

Nurse anethesits get a rather large salary, too. I heard it's $90,000 at the Portland Oregon VA Hospital, and that hospital pays the least amount of money in the city.

Not so much. There is just too much work and not enough anesthesiologists. It's cheaper and faster to train CRNAs.

The hospital where I work started its own training program to recruit more nurse anesthetists, and they're still short staffed.