Anesthesia Techs placing lines

gaspassah · Jan 8, 2005

find out the certification of the person first. i have seen rn's that were called anesthesia techs/nurses that functioned to maintain machines etc.

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CougRN · Jan 8, 2005

it's not illegal. our anesthesia tech's were trained to put in a-lines in our OR before i went to school. it was an MDA only facility and the doc's felt they were too busy to be placing the a-lines and delegated it. it's not illegal as long as they are trained and certified by the hospital.

loisane · Jan 9, 2005

it's not illegal. our anesthesia tech's were trained to put in a-lines in our OR before i went to school. it was an MDA only facility and the doc's felt they were too busy to be placing the a-lines and delegated it. it's not illegal as long as they are trained and certified by the hospital.

The legality depends upon state law. Just as we CRNAs have a scope of practice as defined by the BON, physicians must practice within their state law and the rules/regulations of their Board of Medicine.

Some states allow physicians to practice delegated medicine. That means they can have non-licensed assistants do tasks for them, and the physician is taking full responsibility for their actions.

It can make for an odd set of circumstances. Since licensed personnel cannot perform actions outside of their scope of practice, these non-licensed assistants can sometimes have a broader set of "allowed skills" than the people with more training and education!

I am not sure how many states allow this. I know mine does, but I think there are some states in which this is not acceptable practice.

Another good example of why you need to know the specifics of your own individual state law.

loisane crna

stevierae · Jan 10, 2005

I've seen Respiratory Therapists in CA start art lines for many years, both in ER and ICU. They do arterial sticks to obtain blood gases; why shouldn't they insert an art line while they are at it, and save the patient repeated sticks? They are very, very good at what they do.

I've never seen an anesthesia tech do it, but that's probably only because I have mostly worked in teaching instititutions, and there was always some anesthesia resident wanting to do it in the operating room. Also, when I worked where there were only private anesthesiologists, they did their own because, of course, they could charge for the procedure--and we didn't have anesthesia techs, anyway. Most of the PACU nurses could and did start art lines, if they felt like it.

pigtails · Jan 10, 2005

Hey CougRN,

where do you work so I can Make sure I never go there.HA!HA! Just kidding.

I do believe this is a techical skill; however, I don't believe these people have the knowledge of nerve anatomy, paralysis,etc.

forane2001 · Jan 19, 2005

Why don't we just ask the Walmart greeter come up and do lines, epidurals, and IV's. At my hospital I think they get new hires by standing on the corner and passing out applications. I appreciate our anesthesia techs where I am but sometimes they over-value their role.

Once our senior tech(she came with the building) sorry) asked me if Dr. So and So like a tri-jet on the IV for drips. Hello, I am doing the case and managing the drips-What about my preference. I told her to find out for herself since my opinion didn't matter.

Another case in point in which 2 anesthesia techs were talking about "doing a swan. I have not put in a swan in awhile, can I do this one?. Yes all they do is set up the lines and hold for the MDA to put in" but they are doing the SWAN. Its amazing how folks with little or no formal education are so smart and know your job as a CRNA. They do the MDA's the same way at times. The scrub tecks at my facility are the most arrogant people I have seen. I wont go there now.