Florida Medical Board Rethinking Nurse Anesthetist Rule

Orlando Business Journal

Nurses, already in short supply, say board decision will shrink pool of talent

Susan Lundine Associate Managing Editor

ORLANDO -- Milton Taylor used to make a living administering general anesthesia to patients of three Orlando-area plastic surgeons.

Today, however, the nurse anesthetist has to travel all over the state to hospitals and surgery centers to work in his chosen field -- and his income has fallen by about 30 percent.

"Now I have the expense of motel rooms, gas and mileage on my car to make a living," says Taylor, who has 24 years of medical experience and thousands of dollars invested in anesthesia equipment he's no longer allowed to use.

It's an increasingly common plight: Some of his nurse anesthetist colleagues recently have sold their anesthesia equipment and moved up north, the upshot of a controversial new Florida rule limiting the work they can do.

The rule -- passed by the Florida Board of Medicine in the midst of a national nursing shortage -- could drive many other nurses out of state, warn leaders of several nursing groups...

Full story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/health_care/hospitals/2002/07/01/orlando_story1.html