Common practice in the USA

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.

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 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

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.

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??

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.

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.

OK, I admit I was stunned over the arogance of first few responses.

I am a RN, used to work as a surgical nurse and an ICU nurse and now for the last year and a half I work in anesthesia. As I said i work with the doctor, we are what we call the anesthesia team. He's the one carrying the responsibility. I do have a lot of knowledge in field anesthesia, but most of it come from everyday experience, by long explanations from our doctors and by afterwork studying of literature.

I realize you are independant, I didnt want to diss your knowledge, or competence.

I just asked, if there are also RNs working in field anesthesia, as an assistant to the doctor.

We do not have CRNAs in our country. That's it, we don't. Is it good, is it bad..I dont know.

I love my job, I find my contribution very valuable and so do the doctors and whats most important, the patients.

Your way is not the only way. I wanted to learn about your way, so I asked.

Thnx for the answers.

Greetings from Ljubljana

I too apologize for the unfortunate reception. We frequently get people here who are hostile to the CRNA cause, so the regulars have gotten a little trigger-happy.

Please feel welcome to join us in discussions of anesthetic topics.