What it takes to be a Nurse Anesthetist
Anesthesiologists are doctors who specialize in dealing with pain: either by numbing the pain receptors in the body or by putting a person to sleep. Determining the right type of anesthesia to use, balancing how much is needed for effect without harming the person, and ultimately applying the anesthesia are their main responsibilities when it comes to surgery.
And then there are nurse anesthetists.
Nurse anesthetists do not possess the complex technical capabilities of the doctors they assist, but they provide a wide range of services to support them: pre and post-operation care, therapeutic procedures, regular diagnosis of a patient's conditions and obstetrical procedures chief among them.
The duties of a nurse anesthetist are wide and varied, but specialized to a certain degree. Thus, the following traits are necessary for a good nurse anesthetist to do his or her job competently and professionally:
Patience and Dedication
Nursing is a profession that requires a lot from its students: medical proficiency, competence in one's responsibilities and the patience to deal with patients is just some examples of a nurse's dedication to his or her profession.
The same goes for nurse anesthetists. They must learn to competently care for patients who are in pain, monitor their condition, and deal with their patients in such a way that befits a nurse's conduct.
Attention to detail
Human pain is something that is sometimes loud and dramatic, and at other times very quiet and subdued. A nurse anesthetist must learn to look over the slightest changes in a patient; identifying and acting on his or her needs as they arise.
This is particularly essential for patients who are bound to the pain of surgery – preparing for and identifying for telltale signs of even the slightest pain or buildup of pain is one of the chief responsibilities of nurse anesthetist. This fact requires a near-compulsive need for great attention to detail.
Level-headed Thinking
Nursing is hard enough when you have to take care of a bedridden patient. The whole story changes when you have to take care of a patient who suddenly screams out loud due to a sudden shot of pain.
All nurses have to learn to stay level-headed in case of an emergency, but nurse anesthetists have to be especially so when their patients experience bouts of pain; especially when these bouts of pain result in life-threatening problems like asphyxiation due to adverse reactions to the anesthetic used.
Stress Management
The entire profession of anesthesiology deals with handling and managing pain. The mere sight of watching a person feels no pain even when he or she is being cut open is emotionally exhausting; even if the pain is deadened by chemicals. It is this little aspect of the human psyche that burns out unprepared nurses.
This clearly makes stress management a subtle but essential part of a nurse anesthetist's life. Learning how to deal with watching grotesque scenarios like this and often having to take part in it requires great emotional fortitude, especially from newcomers to the profession of nurse anesthetist.
And then there are nurse anesthetists.
Nurse anesthetists do not possess the complex technical capabilities of the doctors they assist, but they provide a wide range of services to support them: pre and post-operation care, therapeutic procedures, regular diagnosis of a patient's conditions and obstetrical procedures chief among them.
The duties of a nurse anesthetist are wide and varied, but specialized to a certain degree. Thus, the following traits are necessary for a good nurse anesthetist to do his or her job competently and professionally:
Patience and Dedication
Nursing is a profession that requires a lot from its students: medical proficiency, competence in one's responsibilities and the patience to deal with patients is just some examples of a nurse's dedication to his or her profession.
The same goes for nurse anesthetists. They must learn to competently care for patients who are in pain, monitor their condition, and deal with their patients in such a way that befits a nurse's conduct.
Attention to detail
Human pain is something that is sometimes loud and dramatic, and at other times very quiet and subdued. A nurse anesthetist must learn to look over the slightest changes in a patient; identifying and acting on his or her needs as they arise.
This is particularly essential for patients who are bound to the pain of surgery – preparing for and identifying for telltale signs of even the slightest pain or buildup of pain is one of the chief responsibilities of nurse anesthetist. This fact requires a near-compulsive need for great attention to detail.
Level-headed Thinking
Nursing is hard enough when you have to take care of a bedridden patient. The whole story changes when you have to take care of a patient who suddenly screams out loud due to a sudden shot of pain.
All nurses have to learn to stay level-headed in case of an emergency, but nurse anesthetists have to be especially so when their patients experience bouts of pain; especially when these bouts of pain result in life-threatening problems like asphyxiation due to adverse reactions to the anesthetic used.
Stress Management
The entire profession of anesthesiology deals with handling and managing pain. The mere sight of watching a person feels no pain even when he or she is being cut open is emotionally exhausting; even if the pain is deadened by chemicals. It is this little aspect of the human psyche that burns out unprepared nurses.
This clearly makes stress management a subtle but essential part of a nurse anesthetist's life. Learning how to deal with watching grotesque scenarios like this and often having to take part in it requires great emotional fortitude, especially from newcomers to the profession of nurse anesthetist.
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