Legislation would remove the requirement in state law that certified registered nurse anesthetists receive supervision from a doctor. (File/FS Productions/Getty Images)
South Carolina, I am your native daughter. I couldn’t get any more Southern if every cell in my body turned into a grit.
My family found their place here in the 1700s. They started farming and haven’t stopped since. We’re talking plowing oxen, sweat equity, sink, swim, or die trying. You know that South Carolina independent, backwoods, we-won-the-Revolution-here spirit? That was us.
I need to talk with you South Carolinian to South Carolinian.
Across the state of South Carolina, certified registered nurse anesthetists provide the bulk of anesthetics to anyone having a surgery or procedure.
We practice in every single conceivable area, from military battlefields to private clinics.
We have an established place in health care. Whatever your specific needs or disease processes are, we deliver a fundamental service to you safely, efficiently and as cost-effectively as possible.
Each and every one of us is nationally board certified. We don’t practice unless we demonstrate competency by passing a rigorous national certification exam.
South Carolina has a shortage of anesthesia providers, particularly in rural areas.
Because certified registered nurse anesthetists are trained, skilled and licensed to practice in absolutely any environment, we have risen to the needs of our rural communities. We have partnered with surgeons who serve those communities to provide anesthesia.
The state of South Carolina says we must have written acknowledgment that we are “supervised” by any physician. In some practice scenarios the surgeon, orthopedist, gynecologist, plastic surgeon, or even a podiatrist, signs the piece of paper that attests we were “supervised.”
We practice in a collaborative role now. In the strictest sense of the word, a certified registered nurse anesthetist is not being “supervised” by a surgeon.
The surgeon relies on us to provide anesthesia and keep their patients safe and comfortable and, God forbid, intervene in an emergency.
In an emergency situation, the nurse anesthetist provides the critical decision-making and skill that delivers you safely to the recovery room.
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That is the very reason the state of South Carolina requires that we are present.
Surgeons must sign a piece of paper stating they supervised the nurse anesthetist because the state says they must in order for us to provide anesthesia to their patients.
The reason is outdated rules conceived over 50 years ago. Much has changed since then.
Legislation, S.360 and H.4044, would remove the ambiguity that surrounds the misalignment of certified registered nurse anesthetists’ actual practice model and an almost 50-year-old practice model.
It will enable us to better serve the people of South Carolina and give us the written direction that clarifies how we currently function.
Acknowledging that we currently practice collaboratively, hand-in-hand with physician anesthesiologists, will allow South Carolina to be better served.
It will bring cost containment and better usage of our health care spending funds while maintaining, not degrading, standards of care. It is a win-win for South Carolina.
There is a plethora of information documenting the efficiency, safety, and cost-saving benefits attributed to anesthesia administered by certified registered nurse anesthetists.
When we approached our legislators with our request to sponsor our efforts, they asked if we had the insurance data to prove it. We handed them over. Nurse anesthetists are safe, efficient and cost-effective.
Anesthesia was first used in surgery about 180 years ago. Nurses began using anesthesia on Civil War battlefields.
We established the safety standards that shape the modern practice of anesthesia in the United States of America.
You can thank us for your safety because we made it a priority from the very beginning.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
