Nurse Anesthesia Specialists

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)

Nurse Anesthetists are also known as CRNA, which means Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. Being a CRNA, one has big shoes to fill when it comes to their job. CRNA’s work with anesthesiologist surgeons and other physicians and medical professionals to give anesthesia to patients undergoing medical and surgical procedures. CRNA’s care for patients before, during and after a medical or surgery by doing a patient assessment , preparing the patient for anesthesia, they must maintain the anesthesia throughout the whole procedure to secure the proper sedation, and pain management, and as a CRNA they must make sure the patient recovers from the anesthesia properly. CRNA’s usually overshadow anesthesiologists. They perform much of the work

With change comes evolution. Most professions, specifically nurse anesthetist, as we know them today did not begin in the state they are in today. They grew through trial and error. Before revealing the history of this profession and most important, its leading pioneer, one must be familiar with the role of a nurse anesthetist. Nurse anesthetists, often confused with anesthesiologists, are nurses with baccalaureate degrees in nursing and master degrees in anesthesia who are responsible for administering anesthetics to patients preoperational. Contrary, anesthesiologists are physicians whose education requires a baccalaureate degree as well as medical schooling with special education in anesthesia. However, the anesthesia part of the education is very similar for both providers (KANA. 2011).

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

Nursing is a profession concerned with human responses to actual and potential health problems. Nursing focuses on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. The best qualities that every nurse should have is being compassionate, understanding, honest, and ethical. Nursing offers a variety of specialty areas to further your knowledge. In the future, I would like to aspire for a certification in the specialty area of anesthesia. To become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), it is important to keep in mind the many years of study that is required, why CRNAs are important in the healthcare field, and the job outlook along with the best places to work.

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

Service personnel experience a tremendous number of traumatic experiences while in service. These traumatic experiences include situations such as different forms of explosion, gun battles, vehicle crashes, helicopter crashes, intense fear, seeing fellow service members dying as well as a feeling of helplessness (CITE). These are situations that an average American can simply not fathom. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) who work with service personnel typically do understand these traumatic experiences. In this article, Wilson and Pokorny conducted a study to understand the experiences CRNAs have with service personnel who have traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are emerging from general anesthesia with emergence delirium (ED) (CITE). There are no studies in literature that contain information on patients with these specific problems, which makes this study important. Wilson and Pokorny hope other researchers will get involved to help learn more about this subject and get the service personnel and CRNAs the advanced medical help they need.

The relationship between the perioperative nurse and the patient has suffered a long process of mutation throughout the last decades. If before all the dynamics experienced within an operating theatre were based upon organizational and logistical aspects, these days the focus lies on the patient and all the comfort and security demanded throughout a process that already reveals itself aggressive for the patient. Being the front-line person in this dynamic, the anaesthetic nurse plays a crucial and intense role on the patient’s experience.

Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for more than 150 years. The credential CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) came into existence in 1956. CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer approximately 40 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) 2014 Practice Profile Survey. CRNAs are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural America, enabling healthcare facilities in these medically underserved areas to offer obstetrical, surgical, pain management and trauma stabilization services. In some states, CRNAs are the sole providers in nearly 100 percent of the rural hospitals. According to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, anesthesia care is nearly 50 times safer than it was in the early 1980s. Numerous outcomes studies have demonstrated that there is no difference in the quality of care provided by CRNAs and their physician counterparts. CRNAs provide anesthesia in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other qualified healthcare professionals. When anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is recognized as the practice of nursing; when administered by an anesthesiologist, it is recognized as the practice of medicine. Regardless of whether their educational background is in nursing or medicine, all anesthesia professionals give anesthesia the same way.

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

According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) there are more than 44,000 nurse anesthetists that are essential to today’s healthcare system (AANA, CRNAs). Administering over 32 million anesthetics to patients annually, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are part of one of the most highly trained accelerated fields of nursing (AANA, CRNAs). When looking into nurse anesthesia, candidates for this job must be able to handle many stressful situations, be a kind, comforting person, and be able to handle whatever comes their way. Anyone aspiring to become a nurse anesthetist should research the levels of education needed, characteristics and skills required, salary, job outlook and availability, and the stressful aspects, to become more aware of the potential responsibilities placed on their career. A nurse anesthetist’s job consists of administering anesthesia to patients undergoing a procedure that could cause much pain and anxiety, such as a surgery.

As a nurse there are several courses that you have to take such as anatomy, physiology, microbiology, chemistry, nutrition, and other science related courses. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics also states, “To become licensed, nurses must graduate from an approved nursing program and pass the National Council Licensure Examination,” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Currently, in my educational journey I am taking courses like anatomy, chemistry, and other science related courses. My anatomy class is teaching me the basics about the human body that will be crucial in my future nursing

In conclusion, math isn't just used to count money or determine measurements in a career like most people assume. There's a lot more to the involvement of math, even if you can't seem to find how math is related to it. There's always a way of math being used for the movement, the concentration, and the measurements of certain objects and people in every career

In order to even consider this career student need to have certain calcifications for this career. If you are pursuing a career in nursing there are few prerequisites that are needed to even qualify for this job. For instance you must have graduated from a high school or obtained a GED if you did not finish high school. If a high school students has advanced placement classes in sciences it is a bonus for them because students will have experience in how these classes will be and the potential that is needed in order to pass this classes of nursing. Another qualification to be a registered nurse is either to go to school and get a diploma for nursing, go to a community college and obtain an associate’s degree that can take up to two years to complete or go straight inn to a cal state university or a university of California which can take four ears and you will earn your bachelors degree when finished with those four years.