AANA met with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) staff at the VA Central Office on two separate occasions in May 2026 to advocate for licensed independent practitioner status for CRNAs across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
Approximately 1,100 CRNAs currently practice throughout the VHA, providing anesthesia care and pain management services to our nation’s Veterans. CRNAs remain the only APRN role to whom the VHA has not granted full practice authority or licensed independent practitioner status. VA granted full practice authority to nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists in 2016 but denied CRNAs the same status, citing a lack of provider shortages. Without CRNA licensed independent practitioner status, the VHA system’s default anesthesia care model requires physician supervision of CRNA practice.
There have been multiple cases of the VHA having to postpone or cancel surgeries due to a lack of anesthesia staff. The VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified 44 facilities with physician anesthesiologist shortages in 2025, a 38% increase compared to the 32 facilities with physician anesthesiologist shortages in 2024. Furthermore, four VA Medical Centers have changed their bylaws since August 2025 to confer licensed independent practitioner status for CRNAs.
FGA staff will continue to engage with VA staff and other stakeholders to achieve licensed independent practitioner status for CRNAs across the VHA system. This will ensure that Veterans can receive the timely and high-quality anesthesia and pain management care that they have earned.
