New Anesthesia Bill Could Jeopardize Patient Safety
Patients who are undergoing surgical procedures that require the use of anesthesia will expect the most qualified person possible to oversee the process. However, a new bill that has been proposed for hospital patients in California could very well put patient safety and the quality of care that they receive while in hospital, at serious risk.
Proposed Assembly Bill 890
Californian assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas has proposed a new bill, namely Bill 890. If approved and passed, this bill would end up allowing anesthesiologist assistants to practice without supervision in the state of California. This would put the safety of patients at risk because anesthesiologists assistants are trained to work under the supervision of specialist anesthesiologists who may not always be immediately available to assist with making urgent decisions if they are in the process of assisting several other assistants at the time.
Anesthesia A Complex Process
Although anesthesia is performed many times a day in most hospitals, most people are not aware of just how complex it is to perform this procedure correctly on each patient. The procedure of putting a patient to sleep involves providing just the right combination of drugs to him or her by means of an intravenous system or one which requires it to be inhaled in gaseous form. Depending on the procedure that is going to be performed, the patient may require some form of local anesthesia as well. As a result, constant monitoring of the patient is needed which should only be done by a highly experienced and trained anesthesiologist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
Numerous Nurse Anesthetists Available
Along with almost 8,000 anesthesiologists, there are more than 2,200 California nurse anesthetists who are fully licensed and registered by the state. They provide 100%of anesthesia services throughout 7 counties already and they are usually a more cost-effective option than anesthesiologists. They also have the right education; experience and training to make decisions in operating theaters that can help reduce health care costs. Despite all of this, as many as 40% of California nurse anesthetists struggle to find jobs within the state after qualifying.
A Disturbing Trend
It’s rather disturbing to note that there are only 1,800 licensed anesthesiologist assistants in 14 states throughout the country especially when taking into consideration the fact that they are usually not required to have any prior healthcare experience before starting their training. Bill AB890 would not require these assistants to have any form of California license; it also doesn’t establish any oversight whatsoever, which is crucial when it comes to promoting patient safety. If passed, this bill would also end up costing the state even more money because of the fact that 2 anesthesia providers 1 of them being a physician specialist would need to be paid for their services.
Registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, retirees and even labor groups are opposing this legislation because they realize that using anesthesiologist assistants would actually increase healthcare costs and affect patient safety levels. To say that this bill should be considered as a bad idea would be putting it very mildly.