Administering Anesthesiology. A nurse anesthetist is a specialty-trained registered nurse who administers anesthesia to patients who are undergoing surgeries or special procedures.Nurse anesthetists have a unique approach to patient care, grounded in a nursing perspective.RNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer more than 34 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) 2012 Practice Profile Survey.