Awake

If you’ve read about who I am, then you know that I am, in addition to a wife and mommy, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.  And, if you watch much television, then you’ve probably seen the preview for a new movie called “Awake.”  It is about a phenomenon called anesthetic awareness.  While extremely rare, this is something that can occur when a patient is under general anesthesia.  It happens when the paralytics to control muscle movement work, but the brain doesn’t respond to the anesthetics.  So, patients can hear and feel things, but they can’t move or speak.  We don’t know why this happens, but research is continuous on this subject.  Of course, in order to make the movie more dramatic, while experiencing awareness, the patient hears his surgeons plotting to kill him.  Sounds wonderful, huh?  With all the focus on awareness under anesthesia right now, I wanted to point out some of the positive things about my career.

Until high school, I didn’t even know CRNAs existed.  I thought that the only people who did anesthesia were anesthesiologists.  The difference?  Anesthesiologists go to medical school and do their residency in anesthesia.  CRNAs get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and attend a 27-month program to get a Master’s in Nurse Anesthesia after obtaining experience in an Intensive Care Unit.  CRNAs are highly skilled nurses who may work independently or under the supervision of an anesthesiologist.  This is based on hospital by-laws.  I work for an all-CRNA group with no supervision by any anesthesiologist, and I feel very comfortable working independently.  CRNAs provide more than 27 million anesthetics in the US every year.  We provide anesthesia in every setting where surgeries are performed.  We are also the sole providers of anesthesia in two-thirds of rural areas.  We perform general anesthetics, sedation, spinals, and epidurals.  We take care of the young and old, and we do it with the compassion of a nurse and the knowledge and skill of a professional. 

And, while anesthetic awareness is an actual thing that can happen, a vigilant CRNA uses every resource to ensure that it doesn’t.  Every patient has on a blood pressure monitor, a heart monitor, and a probe that contantly monitors the amount of oxygen in the blood.  There is a fairly new monitor available and in use in most hospitals that constantly watches brain waves like an EEG.  It is a consciousness monitor that gives a second by second EEG reading so that we will know at all times how asleep our patients are.  We do explain to our patients that anesthetic awareness is a risk of anesthesia, and it is stated on anesthesia consent forms, but it is an extremely uncommon risk. 

So, if you go see the movie “Awake” and you begin to wonder how in the world an anesthesia provider could let a patient go through surgery feeling everything and unable to move or speak, remember that we are not bad guys (and girls) :-)  We are caring, compassionate individuals who want to help make your surgical experience, which can be scary enough for some, more positive.  We stay at the head of the bed the entire time surgery is taking place.  We want our patients to do well.  I encourage you to visit the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists website for more information about Nurse Anesthesia and anesthetic awareness.  I’ve also included the link on the right.