It seems like about once every six or eight months, someone goes over to the Student Doctor Network and finds some particularly inflammatory remarks about nurse anesthetists. Then, we get a thread here with a title like "Look at What Those Nasty Guys Are Saying about Us!"
Okay, everybody take a deep breath, step back and relax. First, realize that Student Doctor Network is just that; a forum for STUDENT doctors. Just as we did when we were student nurses and student CRNA's, they are bound to run into things during their education that will surprise them, and perhaps frustrate them. They need a place to go vent about these things. Add to that the fact that new residents in anesthesia have only what they have been taught to go by. If they're taught that nurse anesthetists are mean, evil and out to take the practice of anesthesia away from physicians, then they're going to start out with a bias against CRNA's. That bias will show up in their posts. But in continuing their residency, most physicians find that nurse anesthetists are an important part of the anesthesia care team.
Frankly, I'm sick to death of the arguments between CRNA's and anesthesiologists, particularly since these arguments are promulgated by our professional organizations. Down here in the trenches, nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists get along quite well. I have found that most anesthesiologists I have worked with prefer to work in a collaborative environment, particularly when presented with complex or difficult cases. Having the initials CRNA or MD behind your name does not guarantee that you know everything. Most CRNA's and MD's are more than happy to hear other viewpoints. Generally, I have found the more experience you have, the more willing you are to listen to other viewpoints.
As to some of the most inflammatory comments made, don't worry about it. Generally, these people will do more harm than good for their "cause." If the American Society of Anesthesiologists were to completely get their way, and place all nurse anesthetists under the medical direction of anesthesiologists, there are a number of hospitals that would have to close down. Surgeons at these hospitals would find themselves without a place to practice. As a result, the ASA would quickly find themselves at odds with the American Hospital Association, and the American College of Surgeons. Smaller hospitals, with just a few OR's generally cannot afford to hire an anesthesiologist to supervise the two or three nurse anesthetists that they have on staff. Were there suddenly to be a nationwide requirement as desired by the ASA, these hospitals would have to shut down their operating rooms. I know this for a fact, because I have worked at hospital like that. And should that hospital have to close it's OR's, the hospital itself would likely have to close within about six months.
The short version is don't worry about what's posted at the ISDN. Just as we need a place to vent, so do physicians. If an anesthesiologist goes on the board and refers to nurse anesthetists in a derogatory manner, let it go. Frankly, we need a lot less infighting and a lot more cooperation.
there is no study out there that shows that driving with your feet is safer or as safe as driving with your hands.. But you can intuitively gather which one is safer....
Point is... more knowledge is better and safer.. and the physicians have more knowledge than a CRNA... even AA's have more knowledge than crnas// Name a crna school that requires One year of organic chemistry with a lab....
Intuition? I can tell you're not a nurse. Nurses used evidence-based practice. You know, interventions based on research. CRNAs to an even greater degree.
Lots of things in life are counterintuitive. I just learned that increased cardiac output actually SLOWS the onset of a volatile anesthestic. (This is probably Greek to you, but trust me on this.) It seems backward, shouldn't an increased CO help the gas circulate faster and have its effect faster? But no, that's not how it is.
Good luck going through your professional life on intuition. There is a place for it in health care, but only when combined with a solid knowledge base and experience.
Oh, and if a car was designed to be driven with your feet, then driving with your feet would be safer. Obviously it is unsafe to use a product in a manner other than it was designed - i.e. drive with your feet. Baaad analogy.
Why are you guys even bothering to entertain this troll. DeepZ gave him the reference on the 35 million dollar law suit. There is no come come back to that from him. I personally would like him to conduct the study on driving with his feet.
Why are you guys even bothering to entertain this troll.
Because it's too much fun to argue and there's too much animosity between the two sides. People can say they don't want to fight but, in reality, they really do.
It's funny. A thread calling for peace and cooperation has turned into yet another brawl. I knew this would happen as soon as the thread was posted.
darienblythe79
160 Posts
UT Houston