What do you consider to be a challenge or problem in the field?

The issue is Mr. McSleepy. He works without taking breaks, does not require money for motivation, never gets tired, and only requires a 110-120 volt outlet with a cyclic frequency of 60Hz to stay happy. All you need is a random monkey (CRNA, Anesthesiologist, Anesthesia Assistant, Piggly Wiggly bag boy, hell even an orthopedic surgeon) to secure the airway. He will put the patient at ease and take care of everything else.

A big problem is everyone looking like a slob. I see so many nurses coming to work wearing rumbled uniforms looking like they just rolled out of bed..dirty tennis shoes..unkept hair..dirty fingernails..eating takeout at the nurses station while charting ..sloppy, sloppy!! no pride in their professional appearance!

continued battles over scope of practice, educating the community about liability regarding CRNA's, educating the public about us and nursing and general (no I am not there to get your mother a cup of coffee) the list like the beat goes on.

The poor preop H&Ps I get on a daily basis. For instance had one the other day. 69 y/o Male patient Patient hx. CHF, SOB with exertion, diabetic neuropathy, hx of atrial fibrillation (NSR on current EKG), Past hx of TIAs, PVD, HTN, cardiomyopathy, Extensive family history of MI. Couple of caths in the past for cardiac related issues (non-specific) Do you think the that maybe this patient might need an a stress echo, or a cardiac workup from someone other than a family practice physician? See this type of thing all day long and have to cancel cases until this gets resolved. The biggest thing to remember is when things go wrong in the OR anesthesia gets blamed. So don't ever let a surgeon bully you into doing a case you don't feel comfortable with. You have a right and a duty to the patient to cancel/ reschedule that case if you don't feel comfortable!!!

People caring too much about what they look like and not enough about things that actually have an impact on lives.

Oh and also what stanman said.