How to hire an anesthesia assistant

How to hire an anesthesia assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step anesthesia assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an anesthesia assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new anesthesia assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your anesthesia assistant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an anesthesia assistant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an anesthesia assistant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an anesthesia assistant that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of anesthesia assistants.

   Type of Anesthesia Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Anesthesia Assistant	Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.	$71-250
   Anesthesia Technician	Anesthesia technicians are healthcare professionals who oversee activities related to anesthetics. They administer anesthesia to patients and assist doctors in related activities... Show more	$14-25

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Surgery
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Patient Care
   • Vital Signs
   • BLS
   • Airway Management
   • Intubation
   • CPR
   • Anesthesia Machines
   • PACU
   • Pre-op
   • Catheter
   • Medical History

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage medical records and document examination notes, prescriptions, and procedure details in EMR.
   • Monitor patients under anesthesia and assist with minor surgical procedures.
   • Maintain all confidential personnel files, licensing and CPR compliancerecords.
   • Check airway, intubation and malignant hypothermia carts, and help in sterileprocessing.
   • Anticipate and meet the needs of the anesthesiologists and CRNA s. Maintains adequate inventory of equipment, supplies and medications.
   • Assist anesthesiologists with swan catheter placement.

   More anesthesia assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your anesthesia assistant job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. An anesthesia assistant salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, anesthesia assistants' average salary in hawaii is 35% less than in michigan.
   • Seniority. Entry-level anesthesia assistants earn 72% less than senior-level anesthesia assistants.
   • Certifications. An anesthesia assistant with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in an anesthesia assistant's salary.

   Average anesthesia assistant salary

   $278,742yearly

   $134.01 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level anesthesia assistant salary

   $148,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average anesthesia assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$322,579	$155
   2	Florida	$320,347	$154
   3	Georgia	$315,343	$152
   4	Iowa	$274,706	$132
   5	New Jersey	$260,931	$125
   6	Minnesota	$256,469	$123
   7	North Carolina	$229,486	$110
   8	Missouri	$227,155	$109
   9	Alabama	$225,694	$109
   10	West Virginia	$209,746	$101
   11	California	$202,063	$97
   12	Washington	$198,854	$96
   13	Colorado	$192,788	$93
   14	Alaska	$184,346	$89

   Average anesthesia assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Northside Hospital	$418,892	$201.39	6
   2	Trinity Health	$368,369	$177.10	9
   3	Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Inc	$352,423	$169.43
   4	Providence Health & Services	$329,112	$158.23
   5	Piedmont Healthcare	$303,371	$145.85	7
   6	St. Luke's Hospital	$303,038	$145.69
   7	Springhill Medical Center	$300,653	$144.54
   8	Archbold Medical Center	$297,355	$142.96
   9	Partners Healthcare Solutions Inc	$261,688	$125.81
   10	Penn Medicine Princeton Health	$260,294	$125.14	8
   11	HMFPhysicians	$249,040	$119.73
   12	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$244,932	$117.76	3
   13	Virtelligence	$242,790	$116.73
   14	University of Florida	$239,826	$115.30	1
   15	Boulder Community Health	$238,531	$114.68
   16	Massachusetts General Hospital	$236,165	$113.54
   17	Hackensack Meridian Health	$189,981	$91.34	5
   18	Children's Hospital Colorado	$183,133	$88.04	1
   19	Hawaii Pacific Health	$174,973	$84.12	5
   20	West Virginia University	$162,056	$77.91

4. Writing an anesthesia assistant job description

   A job description for an anesthesia assistant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an anesthesia assistant job description:

   Anesthesia assistant job description example

   Founded in 1938, Wilcox Medical Center is a not-for-profit medical center dedicated to providing the Kaua'i community with accessible quality health care. The largest medical center on Kaua'i, it is a state-of-the-art acute care facility with a full suite of services offering 30 specialties and programs, including cardiology, emergency, family practice, gastroenterology, health management, internal medicine, neurology, OB-GYN, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics and urology. Its 20-bed emergency department serves as the island's Primary Stroke Center. The medical center also has four birthing suites, seven intensive care beds and 20 same-day surgery beds. Wilcox is the first American College of Surgeons-verified Level III Trauma Center in the state of Hawai'i. The American Heart Association has recognized Wilcox with its Get with the Guidelines award for Stroke (S), Gold Plus and Honor Roll Elite Plus. Wilcox is a Healthgrades five-star recipient for the treatment of heart attack and five-start recipient for treatment of Stroke; and is the only medical center in the state to be named a Top 100 Rural and Community Hospital by the National Rural Health Association.
   
   Our professional, attentive Anesthesiology team provides general anesthesia and pain management services for hospital patients and those who have outpatient surgeries at our facilities. The latest developments in anesthetic techniques provide our anesthesia care professionals with a variety of options to care for patients while ensuring their maximum safety and comfort.
   
   If you can provide sensitive and meticulous patient care, you could help the Anesthesiology department support critical surgical and medical operations with outstanding technical skill and service. As the Anesthesia Assistant, you will perform patient care duties; requisition supplies, equipment and drugs; maintain anesthesia equipment; research cost-savings measures; prepare anesthesia equipment and drugs for daily use; clean and restock anesthetizing locations and assist the OR team in managing room turnovers. We are looking for someone qualified and reliable who has excellent communication skills, can work productively with others in a team-oriented atmosphere, and shares our commitment to creating a healthier Hawai'i.
   
   _*Under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Federal Vaccination Mandate, all health care workers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exemption from receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.*_
   **Work Schedule:** Day/Evening - 8 Hours
   
   **Work Type:** Full Time Regular
   
   FTE: 1.000000
   
   Bargaining Unit: Non-Bargaining
   
   **Exempt:** No
   
   **Minimum Qualifications:** High School or equivalent. Current American Heart Association Health Care Provider Basic Life Support (BLS) CPR card. Experience in a busy office environment.
   
   **Preferred Qualifications:** Associate's degree in Business or Secretarial Science or an equivalent of combination of education, training and /or related work experience. Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Hospital Coder (CPCH) or equivalent coding certification. Completion of medical terminology class. Advanced computer skills (graphics/spreadsheets).
   
   EOE/AA/Disabled/Vets
   
   **Position** Anesthesia Assistant - Anesthesiology
   
   **Category** Surgical Services
   
   **Employment Type** Employee
   
   **Location** Wilcox Medical Center, Lihue, HI
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find anesthesia assistants for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any anesthesia assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level anesthesia assistants with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your anesthesia assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit anesthesia assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with anesthesia assistant candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new anesthesia assistant

   Once you've found the anesthesia assistant candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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