Certified registered nurse anesthetists provide competent care in the operating room | PennLive letters

Published: Jan. 12, 2025, 10:00 a.m. by PennLive.com

Patients undergoing surgery or procedures requiring anesthesia are safe when cared for by a physician anesthesiologist, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), or both. The perceived shortage of anesthesia providers (“Pennsylvania doctors are sounding the alarm over health insurers putting profits above patient care,” Jan. 3) relates to outdated and restrictive laws that prevent CRNAs from practicing to their fullest scope.

Certified registered nurse anesthetists are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, practicing in every setting where anesthesia is administered. In fact, nurse anesthetists are usually the last person a patient sees before a surgical procedure begins, and the first they see when they awake. They are with their patients for every breath during the procedure.

Because of their training and experience – the average nurse anesthetist completes an average of 9,369 clinical hours of training prior to becoming a CRNA – numerous medical studies show there is no statistical difference in patient outcomes when a nurse anesthetist provides treatment compared to a physician anesthesiologist, even for rare and difficult procedures.

Physician anesthesiologists’ concerns about safety are undermined by attempts to push regulations that would allow a new category of unlicensed and unproven anesthesia providers, posing serious liability concerns for health-care facilities, driving up health-care costs, and doing absolutely nothing to increase access to anesthesia care in rural and underserved areas, where CRNAs are the primary providers of anesthesia care, often practicing independently.

As health-care demands grow, empowering CRNAs to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training is key to containing costs while maintaining the highest level of care.

Jodie Szlachta, Ph.D., CRNA, President-elect, Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Miller’s wiping away stereotypes about what Black women can do

As an African American female, Black History Month holds a special significance for Lexus Miller, RN, BSN, CCRN, who currently is enrolled in the Bloomsburg University DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program. The month gives her --- and others --- the opportunity to learn about and celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Black people throughout history.

Black History Month provides a space for reflection and conversation about the ongoing challenges Black people still face today, and how these issues impact their lives and experiences.

As SRNAs, Black women have the opportunity to make a positive impact in the health-care field by providing quality anesthesia care to diverse patient populations and increasing diversity in the field of anesthesia.

Being a first-generation college student, and as an African American SRNA, Miller hopes to inspire young Black women to pursue careers in anesthesia and help to break down barriers and wipe away stereotypes about what Black women can and cannot achieve.

She’s already doing her part and promises to be a force for future success.

VIEW MORE BLACK HISTORY MONTH STORIES

End of session is just the beginning of AA legislative fight

Only a few session days remain—six in the Senate, three in the House of Representatives—before Pennsylvania’s 2021-22 legislative session ends.

Any bill that hasn’t made it entirely through both chambers of the state General Assembly to get to the governor’s desk for his signature and enactment must be reintroduced and work itself through the whole legislative process again when the new two-year session starts in January 2023.

The end of session is good news when it comes to bad policy like House Bill 1956 and Senate Bill 1258, two companion measures that would license anesthesiologist assistants (AAs) for the first time in Pennsylvania.

Neither bill received consideration and no votes are pending in these waning days of session. But that doesn’t mean the issue is finished—far from it.

The Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) successfully pushed back against the legislation this year, but we fully expect the measures to be reintroduced in the 2023-24 session.

We’ll be ready, too. We have to be, because we’ve already seen some of tactics proponents will use to advance their bills. Consider the lengths they’ll go:

• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and SRNAs heard rumors that the legislation passed. Nope. Never happened. In fact, on April 25, PANA testified against the legislation during a House Professional Licensure Committee hearing. The measure never received a vote.

• In an unprecedented attempt to circumvent the legislative process, AAs began reaching out directly to both physician-owned and CRNA-owned anesthesia companies with notice that they are authorized to work in Pennsylvania under delegatory authority. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has made clear that anesthesiologist assistants are not recognized as an anesthesia provider in the state and therefore cannot operate as such in the commonwealth.

• Working with their state and national organizations, anesthesiology assistants also have been claiming publicly that AAs and CRNAs can be used interchangeably, alleging an anesthesia shortage, as part of an attempt to move AAs into facilities where CRNAs are already working. Nonsense. AAs are limited by their training to only provide support as a technical assistant to a physician anesthesiologist and cannot provide anesthesia care apart from their direct supervision. Any scenario that has an AA working apart from a physician anesthesiologist is in direct violation of federal law.

So, while this legislative session is ending, it’s really just the beginning of the fight against a misguided policy that will NOT improve patient safety or enhance care; will NOT reduce health-care costs, but instead contribute to costlier care models; and will NOT improve access to anesthesia services.

Learn more at www.PANAforQualityCare.com.