The bill addresses the anesthesia workforce shortage in Washington by reducing barriers and expanding educational opportunities for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). It recognizes CRNAs as essential providers of anesthesia care and aims to improve the pipeline of these professionals through educational promotion. The Washington State Board of Nursing is tasked with developing a grant process to incentivize CRNAs to precept nurse anesthesia residents, ensuring that funds are distributed equally among qualified preceptors who commit to a minimum of 80 hours of precepting annually. This initiative is designed to create more clinical placements for nurse anesthesia residents, facilitating their completion of required clinical hours for degree and licensure.

Additionally, the bill mandates a study by the University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies, in collaboration with various health organizations, to assess workforce shortages in anesthesia care across facilities in Washington. The study will identify barriers to entering the profession, evaluate current training pipelines, and develop recommendations to enhance the availability of clinical training slots. The Center is required to submit an initial report by June 30, 2025, with annual updates and a final report due by June 30, 2029, detailing progress and policy recommendations to further address workforce shortages. The provisions of this section will expire on June 30, 2030.