I am an RN starting CRNA school later this year. Anesthesia intrigues me, and I have highly enjoyed every shadowing experience I've had with CRNAs. I have spent years of my life committed to joining this field. While preparing for school, I've perused the internet regarding the state of the field of anesthesia, and it is worrying. I've seen so much animosity between physicians and nurse anesthetists.
I hate drama. I don't like politics distracting from the quality of patient care. I know people can be entirely different behind the computer screen (e.g. keyboard warriors), but I am still worried. Are these online wars of malicious opinions a true reflection of the field? Is there animosity in the clinical setting? Maybe it is all over-exaggerated, but I've seen so many negative opinions of the field of anesthesia and the direction it's heading from both sides (nurses and physicians). I just don't want to join a field that is in the middle of a huge war.
I respect physicians and the years of their lives they've spent dedicated to the practice of medicine. I equally respect nurses and APRNs who've done the same. Any reflections and experiences would be appreciated.
There is a campaign by the ASA to call Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAs) anesthetists. Instead of AA-C, now it’s CAA. This is the reason for Nurse Anesthesiologist. For years I have corrected people, often people who clearly were aware I’m a nurse, when they called me an anesthesiologist. Now I realize they don’t think anesthesiologist means physician.
So your solution to a patient not being sure what an anesthetist is to appropriate a physician's title? I will say, the most important part of transparency there is that you identify that you work in anesthesia and that you're their nurse, so (legit no sarcasm) I can say the most important part is fine.
I don't see why the ANAA wants to keep blurring lines with patients.
Definition of anesthesiologist (taken from Webster's)
: anesthetist specifically : a physician specializing in anesthesiology
DO: Just call yourself physician anesthetist.....like Webster says.
All I know and care about, is when I had my twins in an emergency c section, I insisted upon an MD anesthesiologist. My daughters had no problems at birth, were taken care of by neonatologists and are now fellowship trained, board certified physicians in their own specialties.
I thank God for that everyday. I worked for 10 years at a Children's Hospital in the OR that only used MD anesthesiologists. They were there every step of the way during our open hearts. Those wonderful doctors earned my respect every day,
A competent and excellent MD anesthesiologist is worth their weight in gold.
Now that I have seen first hand what an anesthesiologist goes through in medical school and 4 years of residency and fellowship there is no comparison to what a CRNA especially with BSNs with on line training.
Yes, I worked just out of a BSN program straight into the SICU taking care of fresh open hearts. I did know WHAT to do but didn't know the WHY. And was coming from the most highly rated BSN programs in the country.
That is my rationale for preferring medical school trained MDs instead of CRNAs.
Please feel free to disagree. Nothing will change my mind, but may influence others.
Glad it worked out for you. Too many years back I attended my 20th high school reunion and spoke with an old grade school classmate who had just recently given birth to twins in her 40's (previously told she would not be able to get pregnant by her GYN). Anyway, her husband was an MD on staff at the hospital where she had her section so she was given "Cadillac" anesthesia by an MDA and she had a miserable experience getting her epidural. Her husband told her afterwards that the CRNA's actually do all the epidurals but that because she was a VIP patient she got the MD who doesn't actually do nearly the numbers that the CRNA's do. Kinda like when Joan Rivers got Cadillac anesthesia for her EGD and died ...just because she was a celebrity and got someone cocky enough not to intubate before that vocal cord biopsy. We just have to be better than that to survive as a profession. Our profession was given to us by the Mayo brothers at the iconic clinic when they decided that anesthesia was too important to be left in the hands of medical students and surgeons were unwilling to split their fees with another doctor in the room. Viola! The patients started to survive and a good idea spread around the world. But you've already said ....nothing will change your mind. Insert emotican of chimpanzee with hands over eyes here.
The patients started to survive and a good idea spread around the world. But you've already said ....nothing will change your mind. Insert emotican of chimpanzee with hands over eyes here.
Oh wow, thanks so much for your demeaning remark. If you had experienced the CRNAs who came before the Board with drug abuse, diversion, and theft of emergency medical equipment you might have the same opinion.
The theft nurse agreed that he stole the equipment so he could be prepped in case of a national emergency. When I asked him what he thought about the fact that a patient could die because of his theft...he gave me the most stone cold look that have ever seen. No remorse at all.
This and many other experiences with CRNAs have led me to believe the way I do. If am characterized as a " see no Evil " then I am totally happy with that.
Debating a professional issue actually can be accomplished without degrading remarks. My husband, my daughters and my SIL are MDs. And yes, I am biased....so be it.
You seem to be telling me to stop twice. I'm expressing my opinions from many years in the OR and the Army. I'm certain that good and qualified CRNAs exist in practice.
Wish I could meet one.
This past week, I celebrated 43 years since my graduation with a BSN. 10 years later, I followed with a Master's degree.
Unless someone else has degrading remarks, I really am done with this topic.
The patients started to survive and a good idea spread around the world. But you've already said ....nothing will change your mind. Insert emotican of chimpanzee with hands over eyes here.
Oh wow, thanks so much for your demeaning remark. If you had experienced the CRNAs who came before the Board with drug abuse, diversion, and theft of emergency medical equipment you might have the same opinion.
The theft nurse agreed that he stole the equipment so he could be prepped in case of a national emergency. When I asked him what he thought about the fact that a patient could die because of his theft...he gave me the most stone cold look that have ever seen. No remorse at all.
This and many other experiences with CRNAs have led me to believe the way I do. If am characterized as a " see no Evil " then I am totally happy with that.
Debating a professional issue actually can be accomplished without degrading remarks. My husband, my daughters and my SIL are MDs. And yes, I am biased....so be it.
I actually used to work in a substance program for RN's and my boss had come to the nurses' program from the doctors' program so I am very familiar with what is going on in substance abuse among all the healthcare folks. The rate of addiction between MDA's and CRNA's is the SAME. The difference is that many CRNA's are hauled away to the more punitive nurse programs and the MD's get to go to their less punitive programs. Substance abuse in anesthesia is a different beast for us than it is for the other specialties...so you are going to see a higher incidence in anesthesia settings. Why are you so bitter against CRNA's? Something else is going on here since you seem to be the only one railing against us on this site. CRNA's aren't better providers than MDA's. We provide the SAME quality and that is a fact. It's just simply a fact and you are putting so much emotion into your lack of an argument. If you go through the posts here you will find that you were the first one to post demeaning remarks. We need both level of practitioners. It's just our argument that we need less MDA's and more CRNA's as part of a rational national plan to get anesthesia to everyone that needs it. Are you opposed to all advanced practice nurses or just us? Have a blessed day.
You seem to be telling me to stop twice. I'm expressing my opinions from many years in the OR and the Army. I'm certain that good and qualified CRNAs exist in practice.
Wish I could meet one.
This past week, I celebrated 43 years since my graduation with a BSN. 10 years later, I followed with a Master's degree.
Unless someone else has degrading remarks, I really am done with this topic.
My comments were NOT directed at one specific person....
1. The nurse anesthesiologist description dates back to at least the early 1950’s.
2. The reason that CRNAs felt compelled to start using the term nurse anesthesiologist was because of the ASA. The ASA pushed having anesthesiologist assistants use the term anesthetist to try to complicate knowing who was an AA and who was a CRNA. The ASA continues to promote the idea that AAs and CRNAs are completely interchangeable which is a lie and I have proved that everyday I have worked for the last 10+ years. The ASA then still wasn’t happy that anesthesiologists weren’t being recognized enough and started advocating the use of the term physician anesthesiologist. During that entire time no nurse, surgeon group or anyone else outside of CRNAs complained that AAs were trying to pass themselves off as CRNAs, but as soon as CRNAs advocated using the term nurse anesthesiologist suddenly this is inappropriate according to the ASA.
3. The DNP/DNAP move for CRNA/APRNs was done for several reasons, and none of those reasons was to replace MD/DOs. Physicians aren’t threatened by any other medical profession having a doctorate, but when nurses start getting doctorates in large numbers somehow this equates to the medical world ending and all patients are suddenly in danger.
4. There is no study that has shown that anesthesiologists are safer than CRNAs. I know about the Silber study that wasn’t replicable by its own data, was not designed to look at the information it stated, it measured post op outcomes not anesthesia outcomes, and the only place that would publish the study was the ASA.
5. Anesthesiologists and CRNAs can both work independently. When there are no artificial barriers to limiting scope of practice and both practice independently patients benefit and the amount of surgical cases can increase using less anesthesia providers. The overall costs to the hospitals and healthcare in general is decreased. Whether that cost is ever transmitted to patients is another discussion.
loveanesthesia
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There is a campaign by the ASA to call Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAs) anesthetists. Instead of AA-C, now it’s CAA. This is the reason for Nurse Anesthesiologist. For years I have corrected people, often people who clearly were aware I’m a nurse, when they called me an anesthesiologist. Now I realize they don’t think anesthesiologist means physician.