[dzenkipenki]

Hi! I'm new at allnurses.com forums and I have one question. I'm from Slovenia, working in anesthesia. I work as an assistant to anesthesiologist, MD. Here in Slovenia it is common practice that anesthesia is provided by a doctor and a nurse, who work together as a team. I do not have the knowledge or skills of the CRNA. My question is, what is the common practice in the USA? Do also exist doctor-nurse assistant teams or is anesthesia provided by one person only(MD or CRNA)?

[Pete495]

This has to be a joke.

[SigmaSRNA]

[quote=dzenkipenki]Hi! I'm new at allnurses.com forums and I have one question. I'm from Slovenia, working in anesthesia. I work as an assistant to anesthesiologist, MD. Here in Slovenia it is common practice that anesthesia is provided by a doctor and a nurse, who work together as a team. I do not have the knowledge or skills of the CRNA. My question is, what is the common practice in the USA? Do also exist doctor-nurse assistant teams or is anesthesia provided by one person only(MD or CRNA)?[/QUOTE

Here we go again.

[yoga crna]

I am going to assume that you are really who you say you are. There is plenty of information on "stickies" on this website. Also go to <aana.com> for tons of information, including legal briefs regarding nurse anesthesia practice in the US. The AANA website should also have a link to the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists and information about the growing nurse anesthetist world community.

To personally answer your question, I work totally independent of an anesthesiologist. The last anesthesiologist who was in my operating room was on the table as a patient, and I was giving him a general anesthetic. This is a common practice in many situations in the US and has proven to be safe and economically productive.

yoga crna

[bargainhound]

I would like to apologize for the rudeness of the first two posters who
replied to your post.

Welcome to our site and please do not be run off by their laughing/comments.

[suzanne4]

Originally Posted by dzenkipenki

Hi! I'm new at allnurses.com forums and I have one question. I'm from Slovenia, working in anesthesia. I work as an assistant to anesthesiologist, MD. Here in Slovenia it is common practice that anesthesia is provided by a doctor and a nurse, who work together as a team. I do not have the knowledge or skills of the CRNA. My question is, what is the common practice in the USA? Do also exist doctor-nurse assistant teams or is anesthesia provided by one person only(MD or CRNA)?

I apologize for the rudeness of some of the posters here. In your countr,y you functions strictly as an assistant to the physician, who is normally there at all times. In Eastern Europe, they work in a team approach, but not in the US.

In the US, anesthesia is provided by one person at the head of the bed, either a CRNA, or the anesthesiologist. The CRNA undergoes extensive training here in the US, and it is considered a Master's degree program.

Hope that this helpw.

[MissJoRN]

I'm stepping outside my area, so sorry, but since the OP said she doesn't have the skill or knowledge of a CRNA I wonder if she's asking about an "aide" position. Our hospital uses LPNs to assist the MDAs and CRNAs by setting up between cases, setting up for lines, hanging antibiotics, fetching supplies, transporting sickies, phlebotomy, pre-op meds and EKGs, and being an extra hand for intubation and positioning. They rotate between the ORs and holding, each assigned to a couple ORs because they do not stay for entire cases. It seems like 50% of their job is freeing up the CRNA, and 50% is freeing up the circulator, I know I appreciate when they're there. I know some US hospitals do this, others don't, and I think there was a thread on this topic earlier on this board... what the second posters were getting at??

[suzanne4]

In most of the Eastern European countries, they use RNs as assistants to the MDA. Not the assistants like we have over here. They can draw up and administer meds under the direct supervision fo the MDA, and do what ever else needs to be done. The MDA is in the room the entire time.

[MagicalThinking]

yes. i am so sorry too for the rude response! slovenia is between austria and croatia. i have a friend from nearby hungary and the question doesn't surprise me because alot of their practices are very different from the US. just because we may not understand exactly what he/she means doesn't mean they deserved to be laughed at.

[SigmaSRNA]

Originally Posted by MagicalThinking

yes. i am so sorry too for the rude response! slovenia is between austria and croatia. i have a friend from nearby hungary and the question doesn't surprise me because alot of their practices are very different from the US. just because we may not understand exactly what he/she means doesn't mean they deserved to be laughed at.

Okay, does anyone else feel like they need to apologize for me? Anyone? Okay then.
I wasn't laughing directly at the poster so if the poster feels that I have offended her/him I really am sorry. I've just seen to many times on this board that we hear a story that sounds left of center and it ends up being someone not friendly to the CRNA cause, so forgive me for being skeptical. But I reiterate, if I offended the poster or anyone else from Slovenia, I am sorry.