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Nursing Practice > You Asked Us Online
Last modified Jan. 26, 2006
Nursing Standards
Outreach Program
Anesthesia Assistant Role
Q
I’m an operating-room nurse looking for an opportunity to expand my role. I’ve come across an anesthesia assistant program that prepares RNs and Respiratory Therapists to become basic or advanced anesthesia assistants. Does the College approve of this role for Registered Nurses?
A
While the role of anesthesia assistant is within an RN’s scope of practice, it is beyond the basic preparation of RNs and dependant on the direction and close supervision of an anesthesiologist. The Medication practice standard indicates that RNs who have obtained additional education may assist the anesthesiologist with the administration of general anesthesia and client monitoring.
The anesthesia assistant program is one way to obtain the additional knowledge, skill and judgment to administer sedating agents. Note that members who take on this role are accountable for meeting the standards of nursing practice for RNs, which includes the ability to manage unpredictable outcomes or have appropriate resources available to manage outcomes.
The College supports, and is exploring, the role of nurse practitioner – anesthesia for RNs prepared at the master’s level to be registered in the Extended Class [RN(EC)s]. The College believes that this role, rather than the anesthesia assistant role, reflects the ability of RNs to utilize autonomous clinical decision-making skills through critical thinking and judgment in the context of a larger nursing role.
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