(1) A licensed registered nurse with advanced specialty education in anesthesia who, in collaboration with appropriate health care professionals, provides preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care to patients and assists in management and resuscitation of critical patients in intensive care, coronary care, and emergency situations. Nurse anesthetists are certified following successful completion of credentials and state licensure review and a national examination directed by the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists. (2) A registered nurse who is qualified by special training to administer anesthesia in collaboration with a physician or dentist and who can assist in the care of patients who are in critical condition. Sources: (1) Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists, Park Ridge, IL, and Rhea, Ott, and Shafritz, The Facts On File Dictionary of Health Care Management, New York: Facts On File Publications, 1988. (2) Lexikon: Dictionary of Health Care Terms, Organizations and Acronyms for the Era of Reform, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois: 1994, p. 548.