Anesthesiologist: A Case Study

The career of an Anesthesiologist is a difficult one with an amazing reward. I choose the career of an Anesthesiologist because I like chemistry and biology and would like to go into a career where I can combine the two. I also like being the person who knows that they’ve done the saving but still doesn 't need to deal with all of the fame. This career is one that I feel I would excel in because of the flexibility of the working environment and the hours too.

Anesthesiologists give patients anesthetics in a variety of ways, such as “orally, intravenously, by gas or direct injection to render patients insensible to pain Anesthesiologists typically maintain the same daily schedule a surgeon follows, participating in both scheduled and unscheduled operations. Anesthesiologists are responsible for determining the proper anesthetic and dosage level for each patient. They monitor the patients progress prior to, during, and after surgery.”(“Anesthesiologist” 31)

Use of daily spontaneous breathing trials to assess the patient’s ability to sustain ventilation, oxygenation, and breathing.

The role of the nurse anesthetist gradually developed as the demand increased for individuals who were highly and meticulously trained in anesthesia administration in an era where knowledge of germs, antisepsis and surgical interventions was emerging. During the 1800s, medical students were often responsible in the administration of anesthesia under the direct supervision of surgeons but the increased mortality rates in intraoperative patients suggested the need to reevaluate who would provide anesthesia. As a result of negative patient outcomes, surgeons turned to nurses, who served to be an adequate and reliable replacement. This trend proved to be catalytic in the movement of the nurse anesthetist.

Before a procedure begins, the nurse anesthetist will discuss with a patient any medications the patient is taking as well as any allergies or illnesses the patient may have. This must be done so anesthesia can be safely administered. Nurse anesthetists then give a patient general anesthesia to put the patient to sleep so they feel no pain during surgery or they may administer a regional

(History of Nurse Anesthesia Practice. 2010, May), (Koch, E., Downey, P., Kelly, J. W., & Wilson, W. 2001).

The assignment this week is to discuss pressing issues in our practice not yet discussed. This came at a perfect time for me, as I struggle with this issue almost on a daily basis. We all as professionals are aware that while working as a team in our practices, a good medical assistant can make you or break you. Medical assistants (MA) have an important role with-in the setting and in my office we have several that are fully competent, have been with our office for long lengths of time, and have some further education exceeding the minimal MA training required. Then, we have the handful of MA’s that can’t function without direct supervision constantly and even then at times things are completed in accurately, causing more work for the rest of the team, including myself.

Ever since I was a child my family asked me what I wanted to be. Answers ranged from princess and astronaut to a fourth grade teacher and an anesthesiologist, but as I got older and had to struggle with allergies and the food I was putting in my body I started paying closer attention to ingredient lists and nutrition facts. Every night I would go home and make a plate for myself that had the right serving sizes of each food group, I would weigh the foods and put them into a calorie and nutrition tracker to make sure that what I was eating was not hurting me instead of helping me. After going back to the doctor to be allergy tested again due to getting hives constantly; I found that pretty much all the foods I had been eating were causing me so much discomfort. All foods that are supposed to be extremely healthy for you such as almonds, celery, watermelon, green beans, and even potatoes turned out to be doing me the most harm. After I found out that I couldn't eat these things, finding foods that didn't contain any of these things became very hard, along

The senator’s aides said their office had received more than 1400 letters in favor of the bill.

Regardless of the number and type of practitioners involved, the MDA retains virtually all responsibility of the patients. The anesthetic management is delegated by the MDA to any of the team members that participate in this model. The CRNA’s role, in this model, would be to implement the concluded plan formulated through collaboration of the team.

The skilled CRNA is not only proficient in the operating room, but also comfortable dealing directly with patients and their family members. Once in the operating room this is where their wealth of knowledge, experience, and critical thinking really comes into play. Taking into account the patient’s history and current medical issues, the CRNA lays out a plan of care for the patient and makes decisions regarding the type, dose, and rate of medications needed to induce a safe anesthetic effect for the patient during the procedure. While the procedure is underway it is the duty of the CRNA to keep the patient stable and successfully handle any bumps in the road that might occur. This is the role of the nurse anesthetist that I have been most impressed with. The time that I spent in the OR following a CRNA I witnessed him handle difficult situation after difficult situation. As the patient’s respiratory status started to decline, I watched as he manipulated the ventilator; switching between modes and changing settings until a safe respiratory rate and saturation level was achieved. Later the patient went into an adventitious heart rhythm that began to affect their

Kathy is a professional candidate with a background working with medical insurance billing. Her most recent position was with IU Methodist Hospital as a Release of Information Specialist. In this role, she would prep patient’s information to be sent out, answered inbound and outbound calls, and transmitted records in a timely manner. Her time came to an end when they started to eliminate many different positions. They did gave them a warning before hand and possible end dates. Previously, she had worked a temporary position for JWM Neurology as a Medical Records Specialist. She would schedule appointments, process patient’s information, review medical bills, and responded to requests for medical records. Prior to this, she worked for Select

Nurses have played an important role in medicine throughout the years. When people hear the word “nurse” they often think of the ones in the hospital given care and educating. Many people don’t think about the other branches of nursing like the nurse Anesthetist. A nurse Anesthetist has contributed a great deal in administering anesthetics for about 150 years. Nurse anesthetist have struggled with autonomy and being able to practice without being supervised by an Anesthesiologist. They also were limited to work in specific areas but now they work in many hospital and outpatient settings. Nurse anesthetists have come a long way and are conducting research and are helping improve

I have learned the significant role of the nurses working within the PACU, where patients are cared for and monitored as they recover from the effects of anaesthesia. PACU nurse responsibilities include all aspects of patient care following surgery. This care includes monitoring heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and respiration, temperature monitoring, as well as managing the pain and nausea that often follow anaesthesia. Additionally, I learned about the critical role of the PACU nurses in ongoing evaluation of surgical site for potential bleeding or other complications, as well as, in patient’s overall assessment of condition during the delicate post-anaesthesia period, providing care and intervention as needed. Documentation, patient reassurance and patient education are also components of this critical nursing discipline. In particular, it is pleasant to see patients in attenuated state regained their homeostatic state after surgery in PACU.

Over the last few years, there has been strong and necessary integration between anesthesiology and critical care. While research and developments in treatment procedures have affected this integration to a large extent, the contribution of technology cannot be disregarded. Anesthesiologists today rely extensively on technology for carrying out their roles and responsibilities. With advanced airway devices, electronic infusion pumps, radiology imaging and other technologies changing the manner in which patient health management takes place, it’s not surprising to notice significant dip in mortality caused by anesthesia. So let’s try to understand how technology is used by anesthesiologists.