Nurse anesthetists

In “So it doesn’t hurt” (Health, October 30), there were errors in the description of what nurse anesthetists do.

The term used in the article, “non-doctor nurse anesthetists,” is redundant. In the US, we are nurses with additional education at the masters or doctoral level. The article said we are “supervised by nurses,” which is incorrect. We work in many areas, also independent of supervision by physicians.

The average salary of nurse anesthetists in the US is more than $160,000 a year, and not “$100,000 a year.” More, our title, CRNA, stands for “certified registered nurse anesthetist.”

After graduating with a bachelor degree in nursing, a registered nurse must then work in an intensive care unit for one to two years before applying for admission to an anesthesia program, which is at the university level. Most of today’s graduates receive a doctorate. The masters degree programs that still exist will be phased out in the next few years. MARJORIE BERGEMANN Fort Meyers, Florida The writer is a retired nurse anesthetist (CRNA).