The relationship between physicians and nurses in the delivery of anesthesia care is politically and financially charged, and hotly debated. Against this backdrop, federal regulators have proposed dropping a Medicare requirement that nurse anesthetists be supervised by a physician. Proponents note that the new regulations would resolve inconsistencies between Medicare supervisory requirements a...

Abstract Ultrasonography use in the emergency department (ED) has been well established. The use of ultrasonography that falls into the traditional practice of the emergency nurse is peripheral intravenous (IV) access. Benefits of using ultrasonography for peripheral IV access include decreasing patient throughput, cost reduction, decreasing complications, increased patient and emergency medici...

Background. Tracheal intubation is a potentially life-saving procedure. This skill is taught to many anesthetic healthcare professionals, including nurse anesthetists. Our goal was to evaluate the learning ability of nurse anesthetist trainees in their performance of orotracheal intubation with the Macintosh laryngoscope. Methods. Eleven nurse anesthetist trainees were enrolled in the study dur...

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently published a policy statement calling for the requirement of the Doctor of Nursing Practice for entry into practice as an Advanced Practice Nurse by the year 2015. Certified nurse-midwives, defined as those educated in both nursing and midwifery, are commonly included in the definition of Advanced Practice Nurses, along with nurse practiti...

Background Coordination of pediatric imaging and anesthesia is a complex logistical challenge involving anesthesiologists, nurses, anesthetists, nurse practitioners, PACU nurses, radiologists, technologists and notwithstanding schedulers and receptionists. Parents often can be stressed, due to the child’s NPO status and/or physical condition. Driving to an unfamiliar hospital and transportation...

Introduction The question of whether anesthesiologists are cost-effective providers of anesthesia services remains an open question in the minds of some of our medical colleagues, the allied health community, the political and regulatory class, and the public. There have been recent publications that claim that there is no difference in outcomes between anesthetics delivered by anesthesiologist...

The "second victim" phenomenon--when a healthcare provider experiences adverse events because of the adverse events of a patient--is not well known or understood among healthcare professionals, including Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). No published research is currently available on the impact of second victim specifically in CRNAs, but it is known that second victim poses majo...

Recently, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) resolved that a new practice degree, the doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), is to become the terminal practice degree and minimum education standard for advanced practice nurses by the year 2015(American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2004). AACN position statement on the practice doctorate in nursing. Retrieved July 1, 20...

Nonphysician clinicians (NPCs) are becoming increasingly prominent as health care providers. This study examines 10 such disciplines: nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), nurse-midwives, chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, optometrists, podiatrists, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. The aggregate number of NPCs graduating annually in these 10 discipli...