LONGVIEW REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

(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 perioperative registered nurse who works in collaboration with the surgeon and other health care team members to achieve optimal outcomes. The RNFA has acquired the necessary knowledge, judgment, and skills specific to the expanded role of RNFA clinical practice. Intraoperatively, the RNFA assists the surgeon.

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 anesthesiologist is trained to provide pain relief and maintenance, or restoration, of a stable condition during and immediately following an operation or an obstetric or diagnostic procedure. The anesthesiologist assesses the risk of the patient undergoing surgery and optimizes the patient's condition prior to, during and after surgery. In addition to these management responsibilities, the anesthesiologist provides medical management and consultation in pain management and critical care medicine. Anesthesiologists diagnose and treat acute, long-standing and cancer pain problems; diagnose and treat patients with critical illnesses or severe injuries; direct resuscitation in the care of patients with cardiac or respiratory emergencies, including the need for artificial ventilation; and supervise post-anesthesia recovery.

Source: NUCC, CMS