I read in the Nursing Times recently that Nurses were finally being allowed to move deeper within the world of anaesthetics. i awas looking at anaesthetics in the U.S. where not only did i discover that 65% of all anaesthetics in the US are given by Nurses! But that anaesthetics was the oldest Nursing specialty with records of the practice going back to the early 1900's. A Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetist (CRNA), undertakes 24 to 36 months of intensive training to gain a Master Degree and license to practise as a Registered Nurse Anaesthetist. There are currently some 29,000 CRNA's practising all over the US.
I personally feel that this training model could be imported over to the UK with no problems at all. The course is not solely intended for theatre nurses. In fact many recommend that Intensive Care nurses should consider it as a career as in their job they monitor the patient closely and see the effect of the drugs and also make tough decisions on what is best for the patient. By the way the average salary for a Nurse Anaesthetist is $123,000!! (Which is £83,900!!!)
So who is with me? Anaesthesia can be a Nursing Specialty!!!!!!!!!!