Nurse Anaesthetist’s History and Role: Local Anesthesia and Complex Procedures

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Table of Contents

History of early anesthesia
Role of early anesthetists
Anesthesia leaders, Alicia Magaw and Sister Mary Bernard
History of nurse anesthetist’s education up to the present
Present job roles of the nurse anesthetists
Conclusion
Annotated Bibliography

History of early anesthesia

Administration of anesthesia on patients undergoing surgery started in the early 1840s and gained a lot of impact in 1946 when William Morton used ether on gilbert as anesthesia at Massachusetts hospital in Boston. Before its discovery, surgery was very agonizing and was only done as a last resort to save a life. The efficiency of a surgeon then was determined by his or her speed as many patients did not survive the agony experienced because they used alcohol and morphine to reduce the pain.

Latter chloroform was used but caused liver damage in spite of its good work and popularity. Today anesthesia has achieved objectives like causing patients to get asleep faster and in a pleasant process as well as the development of local anesthesia. Nowadays surgeons have enough time to be more accurate especially on complex procedures. They are also well trained and anesthesia is very safe with an estimated number of 1 death in 250,000. (Bankert, 2005 pp23-35)

Role of early anesthetists

Catherine S. Lawrence became the first nurse to provide anesthesia with the assistance of other nurses during the civil war between 1861 to 1865 but just a little of the medicine was administered as it was considered too unsafe. However, Sister Mary Bernard was the first nurse to be officially recognized in1878 when she was practicing as a nun at St. Vincent’s Hospital. The roles of the early anesthetists were to find out if the patient was fit for the process and gave the framework for a professional assessment. They did all the tests required ahead of the surgery and checked the outcomes of the screening. They also explained the effects of anesthesia to the patients for them to make the final decision. (Thatcher, 2004 pp4550)

Anesthesia leaders, Alicia Magaw and Sister Mary Bernard

Alicia Magaw became the most popular anesthetist and was recognized as the mother of anesthesia of the 19^th century because of her effectiveness in her work especially in the use of open-drop inhalation using ether and also because of her publishing of her research. However, the earliest records regarding the care of anesthesia patients showed the works of Sister Mary Bernard who was also a Catholic nun at St. Vincent hospital.

History of nurse anesthetist’s education up to the present

In America, the education of anesthetists is monitored by the American association of nurse anesthetist’s council through the established programs. The education and titles awarded vary depending on the state of the trainee where he receives a degree or a certificate after meeting all the requirements for the program. By 1982, registered nurses were required by AANA to be baccalaureate and have a master’s in anesthesia program. After the study, anesthetists practice in countries that are developed as the undeveloped ones do not have adequate knowledge although this is to the disadvantage of the developing countries. (Ganado, 2005 pp25-36)

Present job roles of the nurse anesthetists

The anesthetist cares for the patient throughout the process and even after by carrying out the assessments and offers preoperative teachings to the patient as well as making preparations for the process management. They also administer the medicine to free the patient from pain and oversee his or her recovery through the postoperative process in the care unit.

Conclusion

The impact of nurse anesthetist’s today is that they are the only providers in more than 67% of all hospitals in the U.S serving more than 70 million patients. They are allowed by the law to practice anywhere in the states as long as they are registered. An average certified nurse in America earns about $ 140, 000 which is a registered scale arrived after a survey in several human resource departments in almost all types of employers.

Current issues in the field of nurse anesthesia include serving the community with competent service and extend their participation to the leadership that supports their profession. Anesthetists have made a major breakthrough in healthcare trends by finding solutions to major challenges and offering safe care to patients. The life of a patient under surgery largely depends on the anesthetist and therefore they need the application of every bit of knowledge and skills learned in college.

Annotated Bibliography

Bankert M. (2005): A history of American nurse anesthetists: continuum New York pp. 23-35.

The research question was finding the effectiveness of alcohol in minimizing pain during a minor surgical operation involving rats. The method used a sample of 10 rats aged 1-2 months administered on alcohol and a control group that received no administration on alcohol. The significance of the findings was much reduction in pain when alcohol was administered shortly before surgery although the little pain felt also caused some agony. The implication for practice was that alcohol intervention as anesthesia can reduce pain during surgery inhuman beings and it requires minimal training and is not expensive.

Thatcher V. (2004): History of anesthesia with emphasis on nurse specialists: JB Lippincott. pp. 45-50.

The research question was whether chloroform reduced pain during painful operations on rats and whether the effects persist for a long period of time. How does the practice of chloroform in surgery perceived by another scientist as an intervention towards relieving pain during surgery in human beings? Methods used involved 5 rats aged 3 weeks being administered on chloroform and a control set of the same number that did not receive chloroform. There was a reduction in pain on the rats administered with chloroform and the effectiveness of this practice was proved because of an even greater reduction of pain applicable even in human beings compared with alcohol.

Ganado T. (2005): History of anesthesia: Churchill Livingstone pp. 25-36.

The research question investigated the effect of morphine as a sedative during major surgical operations where the first experiments were done on rabbits. The research method involved 10 rabbits administered on morphine and 10 rabbits not administered on morphine for comparison. Rabbits on morphine copped well with the surgery while those on the control experiment suffered distress. The implication was the same medicine on controlled dosage was applied equally on human beings. However, there was still some agony caused by the little pain as the medicine was not 100% effective. It is not there commended anesthesia for human beings.

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