Physician duties · CRNA · Louisiana
Signing for a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in Louisiana: what the physician takes on
Required in some cases; see the conditions below. Louisiana does not name a specific instrument.
CRNAs must always act under the direction and supervision of a Louisiana-licensed physician or dentist to provide anesthesia care (R.S. 37:930) — there is no independent-practice pathway. Uniquely, CRNAs are statutorily exempt from needing a Collaborative Practice Agreement or separate prescriptive authority for this scope.
What you take on as the physician
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
Not codified — left to the agreement
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · no controlled-substance authority
CRNAs do not hold independent DEA prescriptive authority in Louisiana; they select and administer anesthetics and ancillary medications as part of anesthesia care under a supervising physician's/dentist's direction (R.S. 37:930, R.S. 37:913), not via a prescription. LAC 46:XLVII.4513 separately confirms CRNAs need no CPA to provide this care in a licensed hospital or surgical facility.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — R.S. 37:930 expressly states a CRNA 'shall not be required to have a collaborative practice agreement or prescriptive authority' to provide anesthesia care within scope, under a physician's/dentist's direction and supervision. This is a narrower exemption than full independence: the underlying supervision requirement itself is not removed.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation/LLC under La. R.S. 12:901 et seq. — same general nursing-services-entity framework as the `np` entry; not independently confirmed for APRN-specific entity structures in this research pass.
Legal sources for these rules (4)
What physicians charge for this role
Typical monthly compensation in Louisiana
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Standard-tier state.
About Louisiana's rules
Louisiana remains a 'reduced practice' state for NPs — no SAVE Act-style full-practice-authority reform has passed. LA Admin. Code tit. 46 §7911.A.5 references an hours-based exemption from the CPA requirement for NP/CNM/CNS, but secondary sources give conflicting hour figures (1,000 vs. 2,080) and this pass could not confirm the exact threshold or resulting scope — verify directly with LSBN before relying on it.
Other clinicians in Louisiana: see the state overview.