Why the salary difference?

Nope, CRNAs usually make more than an NP or PA. However, salary is the not the main reason to pursue an APN degree.

Income is oftentimes driven by demand. In some states, there is a shortage of anesthesiologists and an increasing number of surgical procedures being done on a daily basis, thus, increasing the demand for CRNA's. Another factor (which also applies to PA's and NP's) is the move to cut the cost of healthcare delivery. Even with high CRNA salaries, this group of APN's is still a cost-effective alternative to an all-anesthesiologist staff in a healthcare setting.

Your statement about NP/PA's being the next highest paid behind doctors is so much farther from the truth. You'll find that a lot of NP's did not pursue their chosen role because of the financial reward although there is some difference in the RN and NP pay in most situations. However, it is encouraging that surveys of NP salaries are showing an increasing trend in average salaries over the last years.

At my hospital which is a 430 room district hospital and I only know about my Hospital which is located in california. I was talking to our nurse practioner and our PA-C and they were going over there w-2's but how come the CRNA made more them both of them with less hours actually he just wasnt right ahead he wuped both of them good. I thought NP/PA's are the next highest paid behind doctors?

CRNA's get paid more for the same reason that Anesthesiologists get paid more than internal medicine. The billing. A CRNA can pull in 400k+ billings with almost no overhead. This is more than an internal med physician can bring in with substantial overhead. Combine this with substantial demand and shortage of anesthesiologists and you get good pay. There is also tremendous regional variation. In my market there are very few CRNA's and the pay tends to be around 140-150k which is still better than most PA's.

David Carpenter, PA-C

It is a basic issue if supply and demand.

NPs earn less money because of a flooded market and competition with PAs who do similar tasks. If there's an assortment of NPs and PAs to choose from with similar scopes of practice, then their salaries automatically stagnate.

However, CRNAs earn more money due to their shortage and lack of competition. If you think about it, no other healthcare professional does what a CRNA can do, which minimizes the amount of employees in the market who can do their tasks. If CRNAs are the only type of allied healthcare professional who can do certain tasks, then this drives their wages up.