NURSE ANESTHESIA OF ALABAMA LLC

(1) A licensed registered nurse with advanced specialty education in anesthesia who, in collaboration with appropriate health care professionals, provides preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care to patients and assists in management and resuscitation of critical patients in intensive care, coronary care, and emergency situations. Nurse anesthetists are certified following successful completion of credentials and state licensure review and a national examination directed by the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists. (2) A registered nurse who is qualified by special training to administer anesthesia in collaboration with a physician or dentist and who can assist in the care of patients who are in critical condition.

A physician assistant is a person who has successfully completed an accredited education program for physician assistant, is licensed by the state and is practicing within the scope of that license. Physician assistants are formally trained to perform many of the routine, time-consuming tasks a physician can do. In some states, they may prescribe medications. They take medical histories, perform physical exams, order lab tests and x-rays, and give inoculations. Most states require that they work under the supervision of a physician.

An individual certified by the state to perform anesthesia services under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist. Anesthesiologist Assistants are required to have a bachelor's degree with a premed curriculum prior to entering a two-year anesthesiology assistant program, which is focused upon the delivery and maintenance of anesthesia care as well as advanced patient monitoring techniques. An Anesthesiologist Assistant must work as a member of the anesthesia care team under the direction of a qualified Anesthesiologist.

Source: NUCC, CMS