This morning I woke up to an email sent by Anuj, the founder of Feedspot. I will admit, I haven’t heard of Feedspot before today (and maybe for you as well). I’ve never been listed as a top blog so I was surprised and honored to be awarded one of the top 30 anesthesiology blogs.
As I browsed the list, I noticed that I was the only personal nurse anesthetist blog. The rest consists of anesthesiologists and larger organization blogs. I will do my best to continue to represent the nurse anesthesia community.
As I transition from a graduate to a new nurse anesthetist in a new community, I learn a lot. Part of becoming an anesthesia professional is
- recognizing your limitations and when you need an extra set of hands,
- asking your colleagues for their professional opinion as you develop your anesthetic plan (especially for cases you’re less familiar with, for cases with different surgeons, for cases with different patient populations),
- asking for mentorship and help for improving your weaknesses, and
- knowing that the health field will change.
For example, the United States has a shortage of several anesthetic drugs. And there’s an opioid epidemic that has torn this country apart. The healthcare costs continue to rise, and the length of stay continue to decrease. To help prevent potential complications such as respiratory depression and opioid addiction and to improve pain management strategies, I believe that it begins preoperatively with the patient, continues intraoperatively, and postoperatively.
After the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol came out for colorectal surgery, many more ERAS protocols have developed for different surgeries (and each institution has their protocols). The ERAS peaked my interest in providing opioid-free anesthesia. Part of that process requires providing blocks (or ‘numbing’) for a specific area of the body. Tom Baribeault, one of the founders of the Society for Opioid Free Anesthesia (SOFA), spoke at the University of Michigan-Flint’s anesthesia conference last year. He added fuel to this fire.
After speaking with several of my colleagues who already provide opioid-free anesthesia, reading peer-reviewed journal articles, and completing the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) course on enhanced recovery after major abdominal surgery, I set off to do just that. In between my cases, I’ll follow up with the patient and the post-anesthesia recovery unit (PACU) nurse and see how the patient did. I will continue to improve this technique.
In the end, the goal is to provide safe and effective patient care for every patient.