Certified Nurse Anesthetist

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Every year, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) administer anesthesia to more than 26 million people in the U.S. (“Mayo”). No one wants to experience or even remember pain, especially during a procedure or surgery. These trained professionals provide patients with an insensitivity to pain. A CRNA’s job is to make operations and procedures swift and painless for each patient. However, this occupation is in no means easy. To be successful in the CRNA profession, an individual has to overcome many challenges such as completing required training, allowing for strict time commitments, and being both mentally and physically prepared for unexpected occurrences. One of the many challenges while working to become a Certified Registered…show more content…
Time schedules associated with this occupation vary. However, CRNAs are often on-call due to the possibility of intensive and emergency situations. This need for availability can interrupt a normal life schedule. It is common for a nurse anesthetist to work between 6am and midnight (“Nurse Anesthetist”). Since CRNAs do not have a strict or routine work schedule, they often find themselves feeling fatigued during on call shifts. Feeling fatigued not only has an effect on the CRNA’s health, but also impacts patient safety. In this profession, workplace fatigue creates public health and safety concerns. Rogers et al has reported that health professionals who work longer than 12 hour shifts are 3 times more likely to make a patient error. Focus and performance concentration can be hard to achieve in CRNAs who work weekends, long shifts, and work more than the average daily shift. To be successful in this occupation, CRNAs should practice a healthy sleep schedule, avoid stimulants before sleep, have a routine and strict sleep schedule, and sleep before a long shift. It is important to be both alert and dedicated to this profession (Domen). Catching up and maintaining a healthy sleep schedule will allow CRNAs to be mentally and physically ready for unexpected situations during work…show more content…
CRNAs work in settings where anesthesia is regularly distributed. This occupation comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility, independence, and professional respect. For this reason, it is crucial that a CRNA is ready to provide for unexpected occurrences (“Explore”). These individuals are highly trained and skilled professionals that apply their knowledge and understanding to critical care surgery, pediatrics, trauma and injuries, and obstetrics. Every patient’s life is in the hand of CRNAs when administering anesthesia. This responsibility is very demanding and requires these individuals to used their gained anesthesia education, nursing expertise, and obtained scientific knowledge everyday. This can be a fast-paced job so it is important to be physically prepared and also to have the ability to respond both quickly and appropriately in the case of an emergency (“Nurse Anesthetist Schools”) (“Questions”). CRNAs are responsible for the safety of each patient undergoing a procedure. Specifically, they are required to know a patient’s history, conditions, and how to deliver accurate anesthetics in each situation. To be successful with this task, individuals are expected to have

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