Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 22, 232-240, Copyright © 1975 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Participation of Allied Health Professionals in the Practice of Anaesthesia: Report of a Study

¹ Department of Anaesthesia, University Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta. Supported by the Department of National Health and Welfare, Project No. 609-20-8

Four recently graduated nurses received three months' training in the supervision of healthy adult surgical patients in whom surgical anaesthesia had been induced by specialist physician anaesthetists. During the course of this training the original project plan altered and the nurses assumed responsibility for administering atropine, opiates, barbiturates, and relaxant drugs. The training period was followed by a three months' evaluation period. One object of the project was to determine whether they could be trained in three months to look after certain anaesthetized patients safely and it appeared that this was almost invariably so. Conclusions from such a small sample must be viewed with great caution but it appears from independent questionnaires that each of the nurses found the work in its final form unrewarding and that if their work had been altered to make it acceptable to them, then some of the physician anaesthetists would themselves have been unable to obtain sufficient job satisfaction. It is emphasized that adequate practical instruction rather than theoretical knowledge is necessary for nonphysician personnel undertaking this type of work.