CRNA this is terrible

VaMedic · Mar 11, 2003

And yet there are only 2 schools in existance......

Brenna's Dad · Mar 11, 2003

It guess the ASA bulletin says it all. It's too bad that our national organizations can not work together.

It is of vital importance, however, that the AANA refuse to relinquish control of nurse anesthesia practice.

"Trade Union," now that is funny.

MICU RN · Mar 11, 2003

MAYBE SOME OF THOSE OLDER CRNA'S i HAVE SPOKEN WITH WHO ARE GREATLY CONCERNED ABOUT AA'S EVENTUALLY TAKING OVER ARE NOT SO PARANOID AFTER ALL? THAT ASA LETTER SAYS ALOT ABOUT THEIR VISION OF THE FUTURE AND HOW THEY WOULD LIKE TO REPLACE CRNA'S. i GUESS THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY IN RURAL AREAS FOR CRNA'S, SINCE THE AA'S COULD NOT PRACTICE ALONE.

sandman · Mar 11, 2003

I would like to believe that the recent push by MDs for AAs is in an attempt to decrease the shortage of anesthesia providers, and not so much a physician vs nursing issue. However; the above exerpt from the ASA newsletter could lead me to believe otherwise.

CougRN · Mar 11, 2003

(AAs are educated by anesthesiologists in a medical school environment, and many of us firmly believe AAs are actually better trained than nurse anesthetists)

It's these kind of statements that worry me the most. Do they really believe that someone who is not required to have critical care knowledge and experience prior to school is a better anesthesia provider? Will the AA really be able to take care of the patient if they start to crash? This just concerns me because I hope to work with MDA's in the future and I can't imagine working with this kind of arogance everday. Plus who is to say the ASA doesn't block out CRNA's from most hospitals except rural and underserved areas.

London88 · Mar 11, 2003

I was under the impression that one of the arguments raised by the ASA was that CRNAs have not completed residencies and are less knowledgeable than MDAs. Now all of a sudden the AA who has less training than all of us are better trained than the CRNA. The ASA fails to take into account that CRNAs come from a critical care background, and that even before becoming a CRNA most of us are able to manage a code situation in the absence of a physician, and are able to manage all the equipment associated with a critical care environment. Unless the AA was an critical care RN at some point where did they get their experience other than the two years of AA school? Even if the AA was a respiratory therapist, since when did respiratory therapists manage emergency drugs and vasoactive drugs? My intention is not to make derogatory statements about any of the other disciplines, but I cannot accept that the AA now outshines the CRNA.

MICU RN · Mar 11, 2003

While I do agree the critical care background RN's have prior to crna school is a big plus. However, if the nursing schools keep adding more fluff to the crna curriculum i.e., all that nursing stuff( nursing fundementals, nursing manaqement,ect) it does make our program look less scientific as opposed to a medical model training program,(AA). In addition, many doctors point out that they put more stock in the actual training as opposed to the prior critical care experience, remember doctors are not required to have any medical background experience prior to their medical school training and residency and they turn out just fine. So I think we need to also highlight our actual training that we receive in crna school, the clinical and didactic portions.

yoga crna · Mar 11, 2003

Anthony,

your points are excellent. I am very concerned about the dumbing down of anesthesia programs, especially those located in nursing colleges. Anesthesia students need to study pharmacology, physiology and pathology, instead of nursing theory. Although I believe a course on healthcare economics and setting up an anesthesia business will be very useful both from a knowledge and professional perspective.

YogaCRNA

dianacs · Mar 11, 2003

And yet there are only 2 schools in existance...

And are there definite plans for more? I have heard only vague rumors. And it's not like you can pop up an AA program overnight. You need faculty, classroom and clinical space, qualified applicants, etc.

Are all MDAs on the AA bandwagon? That article is disturbing (trade union? oookay...), but many of you in the know say that MDAs and CRNAS get along fine and even respect one another in the real world. Would all MDAs be comfortable supervising AAs? Are there enough MDAs to supervise these future AAs? If the growth of AAs is inevitable, what is the worst case scenario? CRNAS limited to rural areas? Or is there such an immense need for anesthesia that any anesthesia provider can practice anywhere? I wish I could be a fly on the wall on old-gas; I bet it's very interesting.

jewelcutt · Mar 11, 2003

It's amazing how this topic always lights a fire, I've seen many discussions on AA's. I think that those of us who are CRNA's or RN's aspiring to be CRNA's get angry at the thought of any other specialty being able to override the nursing route. We worked hard in nursing school and in the ICU to develop assessment skills and practice. Remember how long it took you to feel comfortable on your own in the ICU, we have a big responsibility to our patients. It takes time to become a competent health care provider, why else would anesthesia schools require you to have ICU experience?? Why isn't med surg exp enough? Because they want us to understand hemodynamics and critical assessment skills.

The fact that MDA's are supporting AA's and calling CRNA's unsafe is uncalled for. I understand that there may be a need for AA's but not to serve as a replacement for CRNA's.