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Every patient has the right, during anaesthesia, to nursing care that is safe, of the highest quality and person-centred1.
Introduction
The role of the anaesthetic nurse is a dual one that encompasses both the role of nurse and the role of assistant for the anaesthetist. Working collaboratively as a member of the anaesthetic team, the anaesthetic nurse is an integral part of the overall perioperative management of the vulnerable patient in a high acuity environment1. The role of anaesthetic nurse is integral to the patient's safe journey from the preoperative area through to the Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU). In many cases, the anaesthetic nurse is the last person to engage with the patient prior to sedation and therefore deal with the, often high, level of patient emotions. In collaboration with the anaesthetist, the anaesthetic nurse ensures that the patient has a smooth transition into the anaesthetic state and that conditions for surgery are optimised. The aim of this article is to describe the process that was taken in reviewing this anaesthetic nurse role and the changes that have been made to it, as well as to provide some guidance to assist organisations and clinicians to implement it.
Why review the anaesthetic nurse role?
An ACORN nursing role helps to define a minimum standard of care that is due to any patient undergoing an invasive or surgical procedure in any facility in Australia. The anaesthetic nurse role was first introduced into the ACORN Standards in 1998. Prior to 2014, the anaesthetic nurse role had only been reviewed once, in 2009. It is important that a nursing role document reflects the contemporary reality of working in the area and that standards can be contextually applied by the local health service organisation to meet the requirements of both the standard and the organisation.
The aim of periodically reviewing the anaesthetic nurse role is to ensure that the roles and responsibilities of the anaesthetic nurse are outlined as comprehensively as possible and based on the best available evidence so as to provide sound guidance to health service organisations developing policies and procedures in relation to the role'1.
In this review, it was imperative that the essence of the anaesthetic nursing role was explicit and that the components...