Anesthesia leaves room, normal??

[IVyPush-her]

I was just wondering if anyone else has had an issue with anesthesia leaving the room. Is this normal? I came from a very large teaching facility where anesthesia never left the patient. I am now in a small community hospital and my anesthesia provider will leave the room for many different reasons. When I first started I would tell them that I could have gotten that bag of LR when they return to the room. Some would say cool, thanks. But others would say that it was ok they can get it. Some providers would leave and not be seen for more than 5 minutes. I would look into the core and down the hall for them but they would not be anywhere around.

I was told that they do pretty much whatever they want to. I have been in the OR for 4-5 years. Am I missing something? Would I have surgery here? I don't think so. I feel like I am in a place that is not good for me.

[TXCRNA]

I am a CRNA & I never leave my pt. The nurse gets something if I need it. I may step out for 2 sec for an xray, but thats it. There are very small places where there is only one anesthesia provider and it is not unusual for them to run out to quickly use the bathroom, but it is super quick and is unavoidable. Also, if a pt is on bypass sometimes anesthesia can step out, but it still isnt very common. Ive worked @ 2 hospitals and in school had 9 diff clinical sites & never saw anyone leave their pt. Im 9 months preg & sometimes am about to potty on myself & I still never leave unless I have relief from another CRNA or MDA.

[aaaabbbbcccc]

have been an RN for 27 years and have worked in multiple ORs also. have NEVER worked anywhere where the anesthesiologist or CRNA left the room during a case....until now and it definitely troubles me a great deal. it certainly isn't about "chill out".... and i would certainly not want to be intubated on the table with my gas man gone and a nurse with that "chill out" attitude. this isn't right...and i would think if it were that ok/normal, etc in 27 years i would have seen it before now. i also am confused WHY it is ok with the surgeons. i would not want to be an anesthesiologist or CRNA trying to explain in court why i left the room to LEAVE the building and smoke or whatever. some things are/should be common sense.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

This is absolutely horrid practice. A pt can crash for a plethora of reasons in the blink of an eye. I have seen a pt go into V-tach during Gamma Nail insertion, a BP tank during eye surgery, SVT after the surgeon applies cement during a hip replacement...the possibilities are endless.

I hope that this CRNA is out of practice now. I know this is an old thread, so I would be curious to know what the practices are in the hospital now. How 'bout it, OP? Care to give us an update?

[daVinciNurse]

Not the OP, but I've worked in a few facilities. The first OR I worked in, anesthesia routinely left the room (not all, but the same 5-6 anesthesiologists in a group of 17, with 4 CRNAs--who NEVER left the room unless properly relieved). I look back now and realize how WRONG it was, but at the time, it was all I knew and it was accepted practice. If I only knew then what I know now!! How young and naive I was!! I even remember a pt "started bucking" and the assistant surgeon asked ME the circulator to "adjust the gasses and get him back down" HUH?? I looked at him and said I am not an anesthesia provider and he barked at me to turn up the knob on the "middle" gas....I told him he could break scrub and do so himself, and with that, the anesthesiologist came back and intervened. I did document these events with my manager, and as far as I know, it just went into a file to be looked at later. My favorite was when the anesthesiologist would say "I'm just going to the sink to wash my hands" and 10 mins later they would be back!! Most of the rooms there had a scrub sink that had full view of the monitors so it was not a big issue to step out for a 20 second handwash.

Now that I"m more experienced and working in a different facility, the CRNAs and anesthesiologists I work with now are absolute gems. They NEVER leave a patient unattended for any reason, there are always 2-3 providers available for breaks and to help in emergencies and this is the kind of OR I would want to have surgery in. I've learned through the years that if I think something isn't right, it probably isn't and should be discussed with my manager for proper "investigation."

[Scrubby]

Sometimes the anaesthetist may leave the room briefly but we have dedicated and trained anaesthetic nurses who are able to monitor the patient for a few minutes.

But leaving the patient to the scrub/scout nurses is a big no no because we're not trained in anaesthetics. I would be documenting these incidents and notifying the risk department in the hospital.