Administering Anesthesia

By: Kevin Kruse

Anesthesia is the loss of sensation in the body with or without the loss of consciousness

The loss of sensation is induced through administering certain drugs either through Iv’s, shots, or the inhalation of the drug

What is anesthesia?

This is an image of an anesthetic being induced through inhalation. The drug is being breathed in through the mask over the face.

Elective surgery occurred infrequently prior to the use of anesthesia

Anesthesia is administered prior to surgery and the medicine is used to prevent pain during and after the surgery takes place

Anesthesia is important because it changed the option of surgery from a last resort method to something more plausible and less gruesome

Now surgery is a very key and life saving tool used by doctors to treat, prevent, and cure patients

Why is Anesthesia Important?

In the United States most of whom administer anesthetics to patients are specialized nurses who take graduate level courses and take a certification exam to be what is called a Certified Registered Nurse in Anesthetist or CRNA

The drug being administered is made by an anesthesiologist and then given to the patient under going surgery by a CRNA under the supervision of a physician

In some states a physician is not required to be present when the drug is being administered

Who is administers anesthetics?

In the preoperative assessment, or a patient assessment prior to surgery, you must identify the anesthetic consideration for the patient

Identifying the anesthetic consideration means identifying anything a patient may be allergic to or may be harmful to them as well identifying the correct amount of anesthesia that should be administered to the patient

Step 1: Preoperative assessment

Any medication that is needed for sedation before the anesthesia is administered must be ordered as well as any other drugs that may be needed

Start an IV in a patients arm that is the appropriate size

Step 2: Premedication

Step 3: IV Access

Here is an image of a patient who is receiving an IV.

The CRNA must check the machine that administers the anesthesia through an IV

Also emergency drugs must be prepared incase the patient has a bad reaction to the drug or it doesn’t work as planned

Step 4: Equipment and preparation

This is an example of the type of machine that administers the anesthesia.

Before the anesthesia is induced an electrocardiograph (a machine that produces a graphical recording of the events in a heart beat from the beginning of a beat to the start of the next) must be attached along with a blood pressure cuff

After the IV has been given various other monitors must be attached to the patient that monitor the body to help ensure everything is going according to plan

Step 5: Attach Monitors

This is a modern electrocardiograph.

Preinduction drugs are drugs given through IV’s that may help the induction of the anesthetic to go smoother

The use anesthetics such as thiopetal, propofol, or other drugs may be induced through IV’s to render the patient unconscious

A patient must also me connected to a machine that helps them breath because while under the affects of the anesthesia they can’t breath on there own

Step6: Preinduction Drugs

Step 7: Induce General Anesthesia

Use muscle relaxing drugs to paralyze the body when under the influence of the anesthetic so that the patient can not move

Make sure the anesthetic is working properly and the patients is unconscious and doesn’t wake up during the procedure

Step 8: induce muscle relaxers

Step 9: Monitor the patient

When the procedure is coming to an end slowly discontinue the anesthetic agents and allow the patient to breath on their own

Make arrangements so that the patient has everything they need in order to be kept healthy, comfortable, and stable after the procedure

This includes giving the patient antibiotics, feeding orders, and performing other tests to ensure the health and safety of the patient

Step 10: Waking the patient and caring for

the patient after surgery