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Legal issues in nursing
Legal issues in nursing
Legal issues in nursing
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Throughout the years, there has been an ongoing controversy over whether or not nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) should be allowed to administer anesthesia. There are various legal issues surrounding nurse anesthetists ranging from the illegal practicing of anesthesia to physician supervision requirements. A nurse anesthetist is a specialized nurse who has been adequately trained to administer anesthesia—drugs that induce loss of pain or sensation. These types of nurses are registered and have completed additional years of college in order for them to practice anesthesia. At the minimum, it takes seven calendar years to become a nurse anesthetist. And before completing their studies, an average CRNA student completes 2,500 clinical hours and administers at least 850 anesthetics (AANA). So, ask yourself. Would you feel comfortable letting a “nurse” administer you anesthesia before your own surgery?
The first documented occurrence of anesthesia being practiced by civilian nurses was during the 1870s in the Midwest. Sister Mary Bernard, who founded the Sisters of St. Joseph in Kansas, entered the St. Vincent Hospital in Pennsylvania to train as a nurse. Only twelve months later, she took on the anesthesia obligations at the hospital (Nagelhout, Plaus 3). Her efficient administering of anesthesia caused this practice to repeat throughout the Midwest and eventually the United States.
In 1900, Agatha Hodgins went to Cleveland, Ohio to work at Lakeside Hospital. It was eight years later that Dr. George Crile selected her to be a nurse anesthetist. Alongside Crile, Agatha initiated the use of nitrous oxygen anesthesia, which was introduced in WWI and went on to open a conspicuous school for nurse anesthetists. It was then that nurse anesthet...
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...mpletely disagreed with it. Dr. Debbie Malina shot back arguing that it could be easily proven that nurse anesthetists handled all types of surgical procedures regardless of any types of physician or anesthesiologist supervision. Malina added that nurse anesthetists had little to no restrictions when it came down the cases they were involved with, the different types of anesthetics they could administer, and no limitations on what types of facilities they were allowed to work in. But, due to the many technological advances, the critical nature of anesthesia, and the increase in the amount of ill and “sick” people, doctors feel as if supervision of CRNAs is more essential than ever before. Several CRNAs added that they are able to provide proficient and efficient health care to all patients, given that most CRNAs were the primary caregivers in rural areas. (Medscape)
Nuland, Sherwin B, M.D., F.A.C.S. The Origins of Anesthesia. Birmingham, Alabama: The Classics of Medicine Library, 1983.
Identifying and maintaining the appropriate number of mixed nursing staff, RN/LPN/CNA, is critical to the delivery of quality patient care. Many studies reveal an association between a higher level of experienced RN staffing and lower rates of adverse patient outcomes (“Nurse staffing plans,” 2013). The nurse-patient ratios will in turn improve the nurses working conditions, decreasing the risk of errors to patients.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell. "We Have Conquered Pain": The Discovery of Anesthesia. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Division, 1996. Print.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are advanced practice nurses who administer anesthetics to patients in the clinical setting, for a variety of surgeries or procedures. CRNAs often work in collaboration with anesthesiologists, surgeons, dentists, and other qualified healthcare professionals. They can work at many different sites including the traditional hospital setting, the offices of dentists, podiatrists, plastic surgeons, pain management specialists, and military health care facilities ("Certified Registered Nurse," 2014). They are responsible for administering different types of anesthetics as well as monitoring the patient before, during, and after the procedure. The CRNA will always begin by evaluating the patient’s medical history and the plan of treatment. Then they will administer necessary medications to be used on the patient during the procedure. The nurse anesthetist must closely monitor the patient’s vital signs to ensure they are receiving the correct amount of medication. They may have to make adjustments to the delivery, speed, or dosage at this time. After the procedure has been completed, the nurse anesthetist will conti...
Both Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Practitioner-students work closely with patients to monitor their health and provide care for acute and chronic illnesses. However, in the academic-clinical setting, the NP-student may only perform this function at the discretion of the supervising NP. Although work environments and responsibilities bestowed upon these distinctive nurses can be quite different, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses and students is bound to the same laws and regulations governed by all states and territories that have enacted a nurse practice act (NPA). The NPA itself is insufficient to provide the necessary guidance for the nursing profession, therefore each NPA establishes a state board of nursing (BON) that has the authority to develop administrative rules or regulations to clarify or make the governing practice law(s) more specific (NCSBN
There is growing need for professionals in the health field due to the growing amount of patients and health care needs. One field in particular, is a rapidly growing field with the need for 100,000 more each year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nurse anesthetists work under anesthesiologists and provide care before, during, and after a surgical procedure. They are also known as CRNA’s or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. In order to become a nurse anesthetist, you must first obtain a bachelor’s degree is nursing. After you complete that challenge, you are required to work in a critical care unit for two years prior to going to anesthesia school. You will then complete an 18 month – two-year program that will allow you
Nursing has been around for many years; it began back in 1751 around the time of war. At this time nurses were volunteering their time to take care of the sick and wounded, some would even nurse at others homes, due to the fact that hospitals weren’t founded quite yet. The nation’s first hospital was founded in 1751, it was thought
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. Professional Aspects of Nurse Anesthesia Practice. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1994. Print.
Advanced practice nursing began in the mid-20th century. Nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives were established in the 1940’s, followed by psychiatric nursing in 1954. The first official training for nurse practitioners was created by Henry Silver.
In the 1700’s things were very different to life today; this included the medicine of the time. The idea of medicine came from the Greeks and they came up with the four humours (consisting of water, fire, air and earth.) By the 1840’s most anaesthetics were accepted as James Simpson presented a powerful case for them; however they didn’t make surgery safer and the amount of people dying from operations increased. The final breakthrough for anaesthetics was when Queen Victoria accepted the use of Chloroform during the delivery of her eighth child. Even though being anesthetised was less painful surgeons did not take any precautions to protect open wounds and infections were spread by the reuse of old bandages!
In addition, they also diagnose and prescribes treatments and medication, are able to get advice from other health care professionals, and are trained to handle medical equipment (“Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners”, 2014).To be a nurse practitioner, many skills are required. A nurse practitioner needs to be a leader, work with others, have sympathy, likes to figure out problems , think critically, have good communication skills, and being resourceful (“Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners”, 2014). They must gain experience as working as nurse for a few years (“Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners”, 2014).The top organizations for nurse practitioners are American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCBSN) (Career Information Center, 2014,
Davenport, Joan M., Stacy Estridge, and Dolores M. Zygmont. Medical-surgical nursing. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, 66-88.
In order for an anesthesiologist to give the right amount of anesthesia to a patient, he or she must be well educated about medicine and the human body. When discussing the education needed for anesthesiologists, the Arizona Career Information System states that interns must take the following courses: biology, dentistry, chemistry, business, and anatomy (“Anesthesiologist”). For one to complete all these courses it would be very time consuming, but in the long run it is beneficial because not only do anesthesiologists make so much money but they are very knowledgeable about many parts of the body. Also, learning about the sciences would be interesting and also help an anesthesiologist learn more about his or her life as well as the patients and know exactly what procedure would be taken during surgery. With only being able to prosper from these required courses, self-employed anesthesiologist would be on average making 300,000-450,000 while the salary for the ones who...
Attempts at anesthesia have been around since people have been preforming surgery, no matter how primitive. Early anesthetics were soporifics or narcotics, these dull the senses and induce sleep. A few of the early anesthetics were belladonna a type of plant, alcohol, marijuana, jimsonweed, mandrake, and opium. While all of these gave some pain relief, none of them guarantee sedation. There has also been attempts to use hypnosis to make people fall asleep. By the 1840’s there was two regularly used anesthetics, opium and alcohol. The only bad thing about both of these is they had negatives to go along with the positives. Two of these negatives were addiction, and neither of them could typically completely dull the pain. If you took doses big enough to get the full affect could just as easily kill you. But this all changed when Dr. William Morton soaked a sponge with ether and put it over his patient’s mouth and nose which made him unconscious. When the patient woke he said he had no memory of the surgery and felt no pain. This discovery changed the world of anesthetics forever.
...the patient’s safety, gathering supplies needed and checking if equipment needed are working, setting up the sterile field, maintaining its sterility, and completing all the documents. Hamlin (2010) further states that RNs may be required to provide emotional support during the induction phase of anaesthesia.