What exactly is conscious sedation?

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How is it different from general? I assume general leaves you in a paraletic state, and conscious puts you to sleep?

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Actually now called procedural sedation. This can be administered in a controlled environment by an RN with ACLS training, and full monitoring capabilities. Many times consists of either versed and some type of narcotic. Can be used in the endoscopy lab for many procedures, placing a central line, PICC line insertion in some patients, MRI, etc.

General anesthesia must be performed only by an anesthesiologist or a CRNA.

There is a difference is how "sleepy" that the RN can make the patient. Each patient handles drugs differently, so even though you are giving only a very small amount, you may actually need to assist breathing for the patient, that is why full monitoring capabilities must be available, as well as ambu bag, etc.

Hope that this helps................. :)

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han

Actually now called procedural sedation. This can be administered in a controlled environment by an RN with ACLS training, and full monitoring capabilities. Many times consists of either versed and some type of narcotic. Can be used in the endoscopy lab for many procedures, placing a central line, PICC line insertion in some patients, MRI, etc.

General anesthesia must be performed only by an anesthesiologist or a CRNA.

There is a difference is how "sleepy" that the RN can make the patient. Each patient handles drugs differently, so even though you are giving only a very small amount, you may actually need to assist breathing for the patient, that is why full monitoring capabilities must be available, as well as ambu bag, etc.

Hope that this helps................. :)

That's pretty much what I thought. I just remember when I had a general when I had a shoulder arthroscopy and repair how miserable I was, but with endoscopy I recovered very quickly and comfortably. But I wonder now, I had a partial menisectomy and it seems like that should have been general but it felt like the versed or valium. Also with some cosmetic surgery.

Thanks for your post. Med/surg nurse.

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The cases that you mentioned are done with local or blocks and sedation, with an anesthesiologist or CRNA there. Stronger medications are used.

Conscious sedation is still something else.

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

I think when I had my oral surgery, they put me under conscious sedation. I was given Versed and Fentanyl. I don't remember the procedure or getting home. My perio had an RN with him that day who monitored me, they had me hooked up to an O2 sat and BP monitoring. I wish I could have that with all my dental appointments as they tend to run 3-4 hours long. :uhoh21:

Melanie :p

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Specializes in OR.

If you are talking about Propofol, then RN's should not administer this drug because it is out of their scope of practice. It is recommended that only those who are anesthesiologists be the ones to administer Propofol. I have had involvement with many conscious sedation surgeries but only the anesthesiologist was giving the meds. RN's usually are the ones involved in the local-only cases.

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

Now is that for IV push or drip? Because we do quite a bit of propofol drips in the ICU. I'm not sure if the protocol differs when you are pushing the med as opposed to titrating it.

Melanie :p

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Specializes in Critical Care.
If you are talking about Propofol, then RN's should not administer this drug because it is out of their scope of practice. It is recommended that only those who are anesthesiologists be the ones to administer Propofol. I have had involvement with many conscious sedation surgeries but only the anesthesiologist was giving the meds. RN's usually are the ones involved in the local-only cases.

You don't work in an ICU - RNs use Milk of Amnesia aka Diprivan/Propofol all the time. But not as 'conscious sedation'.

Conscious sedation is anytime you are chemically altering a patient's sensorium in order to do something to that patient.

If we give versed so that the doc can put a chest tube in at the bedside, that's conscious sedation.

If we give diprivan to a vented patient that's not - we aren't doing a procedure on the patient, we are maintaining sedation to assist ongoing ventilation.

Technically, if you give morphine so that you can give a bedbath, that's conscious sedation, but you'd find few nurses willing to call it that if it means having to do that paperwork.

The idea of calling something 'conscious sedation' is that you can't just give someone versed, etc., help the doc insert whatever tube/line, and then walk away. That patient needs close monitoring of respirator/circulatory response to the med. Creating a category that defines that kind of situation is designed to ensure that kind of monitoring.

You cannot give versed, diprivan, etc outside a specialty area that has ACLS monitoring/resus equip at hand and conscious sedation by JCAHO requires much more documentation. Most hospitals have a huge double paged foldout conscious sedation flowsheet to satisfy JCAHO.

~faith,

Timothy.

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How is it different from general? I assume general leaves you in a paraletic state, and conscious puts you to sleep?

It is what I demand when I have to undergo any painful procedure. I certainly like not remembering a thing.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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Actually now called procedural sedation. This can be administered in a controlled environment by an RN with ACLS training, and full monitoring capabilities. Many times consists of either versed and some type of narcotic. Can be used in the endoscopy lab for many procedures, placing a central line, PICC line insertion in some patients, MRI, etc.

General anesthesia must be performed only by an anesthesiologist or a CRNA.

There is a difference is how "sleepy" that the RN can make the patient. Each patient handles drugs differently, so even though you are giving only a very small amount, you may actually need to assist breathing for the patient, that is why full monitoring capabilities must be available, as well as ambu bag, etc.

Hope that this helps................. :)

This is not about conscious sedation, but just wanted to tell you somewhere I found your message about clearing my box. Thank you again. Oh, when I was posting my miseries about the wait for the reply to the results of my NCLEX, I emailed the webmaster and asked if it would take longer for my results since I was an 8-year-retake. It was posted on the board next day. What a relief.

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It is what I demand when I have to undergo any painful procedure. I certainly like not remembering a thing.

Grannynurse :balloons:

Thanks for the education.

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Specializes in ER.

Here's what the AANA says Conscious sedation is...

http://www.aana.com/patients/conscious.asp

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