The nurse anesthesia profession. A past, present, and future perspective.

The author presents a very detailed description of the history of the nurse anesthetist, including a time line of important dates in history. Discussion of the present state of affairs in nurse anesthesia centers around the practice setting, requirements for attaining Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) status, and educational qualifications and capabilities. The article ends with a brief history and current status of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists as well as a discussion about the future of the CRNA.

A survey of nurse anesthetists-1977. A condensed review: part II.

This is the second of a two-part condensed review of data compiled from a survey conducted during December, 1977 by the Council on Nurse Anesthesia Practice. The survey questionnaires were originally sent to 14,344 active members of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. A total of 5,980 usable surveys were returned, reflecting a response rate of 41.7 percent. Part I of this review, published in the December, 1979 issue of the AANA Journal, centered upon the responses of hospital employed Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). Part II addresses itself to the responses of those CRNAs in a freelance or group practice setting. Survey questions were formulated to illuminate trends in anesthesia practice, training, continuing education, areas of responsibilities and the milieu in which anesthetists work. All statistical tables in this report are identical to those in Part I to eliminate redundancies and ensure the integrity of this review. The intent is to help readers extract information, make comparisons, and develop a useful information base for their clinical practice and professional growth.

The national distribution of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan settings.

The purpose of this study is to describe the metropolitan and nonmetropolitan distribution of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists actively practicing across the United States. More than 3,000 counties of the United States were categorized according to degree of urbanization by utilizing the rural-urban continuum codes for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties developed within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Zip code information was used to locate all actively practicing CRNAs by county of residence. Applying the rural-urban continuum codes to this database revealed a descriptive national distribution of CRNAs across geographical areas. Data show that 81.3% (18,086) of CRNAs reside in metropolitan counties and that 18.7% (4,182) reside in nonmetropolitan areas. The greatest number of CRNAs (8,519) are found in central counties of metropolitan areas of one million population or more. The lowest number of CRNAs (90) are found in completely rural counties of fewer than 2,500 urban population adjacent to a metropolitan area, and 160 CRNAs reside in counties of fewer than 2,500 population not adjacent to a metropolitan area. Differences in age, gender distribution, educational credentials, and population ratios are also noted between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan CRNAs.

The practice and distribution of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists in federally designated nurse shortage areas.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) provide the majority of clinical anesthesia services to underserved populations in rural America. The United States Office of Shortage Designation, Bureau of Primary Health Care, has compiled a list of counties in the United States with a shortage of nurses. This study examines the distribution of CRNAs within these predominantly nonmetropolitan areas employing the Department of Agriculture's Rural-Urban Continuum classification system. Findings indicate a shortage of CRNAs in designated nurse shortage areas, and demographic characteristics of these practitioners hint at incentives and disincentives for nurse anesthesia clinical practice in rural areas.

Anaesthesiological manpower in Europe.

Information about physician anaesthesiologist manpower in the countries of the European Union was collected from questionnaires sent to the delegates representing their respective countries on the European Board of Anaesthesiology. In the countries of the European Union and Switzerland and Norway 40,259 specialist anaesthesiologists are recorded. The number of anaesthesiologists in relation to population varies between as little as 4.4 and 4.6 (Ireland and UK) and as many as 15.6 (Italy), with a mean of 10.8/100,000 inhabitants. There are 11,610 physicians recorded in training in anaesthesiology. The ratio of trainees to specialists in the European Union countries was 28.8/100, varying from as low as 6.5 in France, to as high as 96.7 and 98/100 in Ireland and the UK respectively. These figures indicate a wide difference in the numbers of specialists and trainees between the European countries studied. However, the overall mean figure is close to that reported in the USA (9.2/100,000).