| Abstrakt: |
Background: Induction of anaesthesia, traditionally, was performed by the surgeon but a nurse took over during maintenance of anaesthesia. The surgeon was ultimately responsible for the entire operation, including the anaesthesia. In order to understand the challenges non-medical anaesthesia professionals are faced with today, it is essential to look back to the roots and to study the early days of anaesthesia. Results: In the early days, late 1870 onwards, anaesthesia was considered an indispensable part of surgery. It was considered a boring, insignificant matter. Religious nuns, nurses or general practitioners performed the anaesthesia under strict supervision of the surgeon. After WWII the speciality of anaesthesia took off. Surgeons were no longer responsible for anaesthesia; this was taken over by the anaesthesiologist, often in combination with nurses specialised in anaesthesia. Conclusion: It is virtually impossible to give an accurate, detailed account of the development of anaesthesia and non-medical anaesthesia professionals in each country because the progress of anaesthesia in each country differed as much as did the development of medicine. Ongoing efforts in areas such as education, the granting of national diplomas and organisation of national professional societies produced different types of non-medical anaesthesia professionals. Nurse anaesthetists (NAs), specifically, challenged the boundaries between the nursing and medical practices of organised medicine. Nowadays, the NA’s position is often regulated and indicated by the government and the nursing and physician communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
