VA Health Care: Many Medical Facilities Have Challenges in Recruiting and Retaining Nurse Anesthetists
Highlights
Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA), registered nurses who have completed a master's degree program in nurse anesthesia, provide the majority of anesthesia care veterans receive in VA medical facilities. While the demand for CRNAs is anticipated to increase, many CRNAs employed by VA--VA CRNAs--are nearing retirement eligibility age. Concerns have been raised about the challenges VA may face in maintaining its VA CRNA workforce. GAO (1) identified VA CRNA workforce challenges that VA medical facilities may experience related to VA CRNAs, (2) identified the key mechanisms that VA medical facilities can use to recruit and retain VA CRNAs, and (3) determined the extent to which facilities use the key mechanisms. To identify VA CRNA workforce challenges, GAO analyzed Web-based surveys it sent to VA chief anesthesiologists, VA human resources officers, and VA CRNAs, with survey response rates of 92, 85, and 76 percent, respectively. GAO also identified the key mechanisms VA medical facilities can use to recruit and retain VA CRNAs and the extent that these mechanisms are used.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | To improve VA's ability to recruit and retain VA CRNAs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration to expedite development and implementation of the training course on VA's LPS policy for VA medical facility officials responsible for compliance with the policy. |
Closed – Not Implemented
As of May 2012, VA continues to be in the process of developing and implementing an e-learning training course on VA's Locality Pay System (LPS) policy for VA medical facility officials. The course content and test questions have been drafted but are still being reviewed and revised by subject matter experts. Web development is also not yet completed. As it has been more than four years since GAO's original recommendation to expedite development of the training course, this recommendation is determined to have not been implemented.
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