Curriculum coverage

National Certification Examination content outline

National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists · Content outline as published for the current examination · applies to Student registered nurse anesthetists preparing for certification

Summarised The five content areas are the outline's own top-level divisions. The descriptions are this project's summary, not the board's wording, and the mapping is not endorsed by the board.

Read the framework itself

4 of 5 domains have at least one scenario.

Domain	Scenarios	Minutes
Basic sciences Anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology, pharmacology, chemistry and physics as they bear on anaesthetic practice.	Routine induction of general anaesthesia via hysteresis, manage-hypotension, blunt-incision Hypotension after induction via read-the-mechanism Bronchospasm after intubation via read-the-capnogram, ventilate-before-desaturation Silent TIVA-line disconnection via hypnosis-before-paralysis, recognize-paralysis-risk Perioperative anaphylaxis after antibiotic exposure via recognize-anaphylaxis-pattern, support-anaphylaxis-circulation Early malignant hyperthermia during volatile anesthesia via recognize-mh-hypermetabolism, reassess-mh-response Routine pediatric intravenous induction via dose-pediatric-propofol, ventilate-child-by-weight	72
Equipment, instrumentation and technology The anaesthesia machine, breathing circuits, monitors, airway equipment, and the interpretation of what they display.	Routine induction of general anaesthesia via ventilate-before-desaturation Bronchospasm after intubation via read-the-capnogram Rapid-sequence induction via wait-for-intubating-block, secure-and-confirm Silent TIVA-line disconnection via inspect-the-tiva-line, restore-hypnotic-delivery Laryngospasm after airway stimulation via apply-initial-laryngospasm-measures Perioperative anaphylaxis after antibiotic exposure via support-anaphylaxis-oxygenation Early malignant hyperthermia during volatile anesthesia via stop-trigger-and-hyperventilate Difficult airway: supraglottic rescue via place-supraglottic-rescue, confirm-rescue-gas-exchange Known difficult airway: stop repeated attempts via prepare-rescue-oxygen-reserve, place-supraglottic-rescue, confirm-rescue-gas-exchange Capnography sampling-line obstruction via cross-check-capnography-loss, preserve-stable-ventilation, restore-capnography-sampling Arterial-pressure transducer artifact via verify-invasive-pressure-independently, correct-transducer-level, assess-arterial-dynamic-response Circle-system rebreathing via recognize-inspired-carbon-dioxide, bridge-with-fresh-gas-flow, replace-exhausted-absorbent Routine pediatric inhalational induction via prepare-pediatric-inhalational-circuit, follow-pediatric-end-tidal-wash-in Obstetric general anesthesia via prepare-obstetric-oxygen-reserve, confirm-obstetric-ventilation	123
Basic principles of anesthesia Preoperative assessment, induction, maintenance, emergence, airway management, fluid management and routine monitoring.	Routine induction of general anaesthesia via preoxygenate, hysteresis, ventilate-before-desaturation Rapid desaturation in the obese patient via preoxygenate, hysteresis Bronchospasm after intubation via ventilate-before-desaturation, deepen-before-reaching-for-anything-else, give-first-line-bronchodilator Rapid-sequence induction via preoxygenate-before-induction, protect-the-apnea-margin Laryngospasm after airway stimulation via preoxygenate-before-laryngospasm, protect-oxygenation-during-laryngospasm Routine pediatric intravenous induction via preoxygenate-child, dose-pediatric-propofol, ventilate-child-by-weight, avoid-pediatric-desaturation Routine inhalational maintenance via maintain-bounded-depth, anticipate-surgical-stimulus, reassess-when-stimulus-falls Routine geriatric intravenous induction via preoxygenate-older-adult, titrate-geriatric-propofol, protect-geriatric-perfusion, ventilate-geriatric-induction Quantitative neuromuscular reversal via establish-quantitative-baseline, reverse-recovering-block, confirm-quantitative-recovery, maintain-anesthesia-during-block Routine pediatric inhalational induction via prepare-pediatric-inhalational-circuit, follow-pediatric-end-tidal-wash-in, settle-pediatric-volatile-depth Aspiration-risk recognition via review-aspiration-risk-cues, classify-elevated-aspiration-risk, choose-shared-elective-plan, avoid-blanket-glp1-rule Emergence with residual blockade via review-emergence-quantitative-monitor, recognize-emergence-residual-blockade, defer-extubation-during-residual-blockade, separate-recovery-from-extubation-readiness	103
Advanced principles of anesthesia Anaesthetic management in the presence of coexisting disease, and management of complications and crises.	Rapid desaturation in the obese patient via preoxygenate, limit-attempts, ventilate-before-desaturation Hypotension after induction via dose-for-the-patient, read-the-mechanism, manage-hypotension Bronchospasm after intubation via deepen-before-reaching-for-anything-else, manage-hypotension, give-first-line-bronchodilator Unexpected intraoperative hemorrhage via recognize-hemorrhage, temporize-volume-loss, manage-hypotension Rapid-sequence induction via wait-for-intubating-block, secure-and-confirm, reverse-observed-block Silent TIVA-line disconnection via inspect-the-tiva-line, restore-hypnotic-delivery, recognize-paralysis-risk Laryngospasm after airway stimulation via apply-initial-laryngospasm-measures, deepen-during-laryngospasm Perioperative anaphylaxis after antibiotic exposure via recognize-anaphylaxis-pattern, give-initial-epinephrine, support-anaphylaxis-circulation Early malignant hyperthermia during volatile anesthesia via recognize-mh-hypermetabolism, give-initial-dantrolene, reassess-mh-response Difficult airway: supraglottic rescue via limit-attempts-and-call-for-help, place-supraglottic-rescue, confirm-rescue-gas-exchange Local-anesthetic systemic toxicity after block injection via recognize-last-pattern, support-last-airway-and-seizure, start-last-lipid, use-reduced-last-epinephrine Persistent ventricular-fibrillation cardiac arrest via resume-arrest-compressions, give-arrest-epinephrine, defibrillate-persistent-vf, avoid-shocking-nonshockable-rhythm High spinal after epidural top-up via call-for-high-spinal-help, support-high-spinal-breathing, support-high-spinal-circulation, protect-high-spinal-oxygenation Venous air embolism during line removal via escalate-venous-air-pattern, control-venous-air-entry, support-venous-air-oxygenation, reassess-venous-air-recovery Known difficult airway: stop repeated attempts via act-on-prior-airway-record, limit-attempts-and-call-for-help, place-supraglottic-rescue Dilutional coagulopathy during ongoing bleeding via identify-dilutional-coagulopathy, give-lab-guided-plasma, reassess-coagulation-response Blood-bank handoff via request-blood-bank-release, use-released-red-cells, reassess-red-cell-response Obstetric general anesthesia via prepare-obstetric-oxygen-reserve, wait-for-intubating-block, protect-obstetric-apnea-margin Preeclampsia before urgent delivery via confirm-persistent-severe-hypertension, treat-severe-pregnancy-hypertension, start-preeclampsia-seizure-prophylaxis, reassess-preeclampsia-response Pneumothorax under positive pressure via assess-pneumothorax-pattern, escalate-pneumothorax-pattern, support-pneumothorax-oxygenation, decompress-pneumothorax, reassess-pneumothorax-recovery Delayed emergence differential via support-delayed-emergence-patient, reconcile-delayed-emergence-exposures, check-delayed-emergence-metabolic-causes, find-delayed-emergence-lateralizing-sign, escalate-delayed-emergence-neurologic-pattern Extubation readiness via confirm-extubation-quantitative-recovery, assess-awake-airway-protection, assess-extubation-gas-exchange, plan-extubation-risk-and-rescue, integrate-awake-extubation-readiness Post-extubation obstruction via recognize-post-extubation-obstruction, support-post-extubation-airway, confirm-post-extubation-recovery Opioid-induced ventilatory impairment via recognize-opioid-ventilatory-impairment, support-opioid-impaired-ventilation, prevent-further-opioid-harm, escalate-opioid-reversal, reassess-opioid-ventilatory-recovery Hypothermia and rewarming via recognize-perioperative-hypothermia, start-active-surface-warming, warm-bulk-perioperative-fluids, reassess-perioperative-rewarming Perioperative hyperglycemia via confirm-perioperative-hyperglycemia, use-bounded-insulin-protocol, reassess-perioperative-glucose Pacemaker and cautery planning via review-cied-device-record, review-cied-procedure-risk, choose-coordinated-cied-plan, document-cied-backup-and-restoration Postoperative handoff via confirm-handoff-readiness, share-handoff-critical-content, assign-handoff-risks-and-ownership, close-loop-and-accept-transfer	232
Professional aspects Scope of practice, patient safety, legal and ethical responsibilities, and quality improvement.	No scenario yet	—

Unmapped scenarios

Every bundled scenario carries at least one framework mapping.