Nurse Anesthetist Essay

Advanced Practice Nursing has always been my goal for furthering my education to the highest level, even before I started nursing school. Everything I have done since my first day of nursing school has been a step toward that goal. Immediately after graduating from nursing school, I was privileged to accept a position in the Trauma/Burn ICU at the widest burn center in the city. The Burn ICU at Hillcrest Medical Center has solidified my desire to be a Nurse Anesthetist. It is a 16 bed unit where we care for the most critical type of patients (burn patients), with its wide variety of complications such as impaired airway, hypovolemia and sepsis. We also get lots of overflow patients with different kinds of medical conditions.

The Burn ICU
Anesthesia describes drugs and gases that help to block sensation, and they keep patients unconscious while in surgery. Their main goal is to have the patient awake free of pain. Nurse Anesthetist’s scope of practice includes many tasks before, during and after administration of anesthesia in every practice setting. He/She develops and implements an anesthetic technique (general or regional) while managing the patient's airway and pulmonary status using endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation and pharmacological support. As the patients go to sleep for a procedure, they need to be able to trust that their Anesthesia provider is assured and strong and will be their advocate when they can’t advocate for themselves. That is the human touch, and it is vital in order to be a great anesthetist. This is why after the patients wake up from anesthesia and they are hemodynamically stable, I want to ensure that their needs and emotions are my priority. I want the patient to feel as comfortable as possible because he/she will be awake and not receiving any more sedation and it is important for him/her to feel comfortable about what is going on in that very stressful