Anesthesia Nurses Strike Again!

A while back I wrote about a comment from here; Colonoscopy Sedation Medications  The comment and commentary can be found here on this blog;  No Midazolam: I'm Sorry For The Anesthesia Nurses! 

When I went back to the original site I found (no surprise here) that an anesthesia nurse had taken exception to Jessica's remarks.  It's so odd that real MDA's, you know those insufferably arrogant, insecure and expensive DOCTORS don't go on sites and vandalize them like the nurses do!  The quote below epitomizes the absolute arrogance and disregard for human suffering that these nurses feel.  Gotta love it.

Julia says:

April 7, 2013 at 7:15 pm

That is just MD elitism. A little insecure about your position in medicine?
How unfair to blame the nurses for treating the patients badly (“brutal, painful, and traumatizing” as you put it) during colonoscopy procedures…how about the gastroenterologist maneuvering the big scope.
Anyone in medicine realizes that there is a fine line between adequate sedation and over sedation resulting in harmful and potentially fatal side effects.
CRNA are well educated professionals and trained to administer anesthesia just like the anesthesiologists without the overinflated salaries. Good luck with health care reform!

Excuse me, but JESSICA, an internist, is suffering from "MD elitism"?  Rofl!  Oh dear God, this Julia can't see her own "medical elitism?  Is Julia just a little insecure about her "position in medicine" as a NURSE?  This is hysterical.  The proverbial "pot calling the kettle black".  I sure don't see anesthesiologists looking for things to be offended by, just the nurses.

Then we move on the the crybaby part.  It's so UNFAIR (boo hoo) to blame the nurse for her lack of skill in her primary job of alleviating suffering.  If there wasn't a gastroenterologist maneuvering a small scope, not BIG as the nurse puts it, then there would be no need for pain control.  She blames the doctor, which is typical.  Not herself for failing to give pain relief.  It is her fault the patient experiences "brutal, painful and traumatizing" treatment.  Yes it is.  That's her job to alleviate.  Julia needs to go back and read what her job description is...

At least Julia ADMITS that Versed can cause harmful and potentially FATAL side effects.  What she doesn't want to talk about, despite all the posts about it on the hospital soup site, is that "adequate sedation" as she puts it, ALSO causes severe side effects.  There is no "safe" dose of this medication even if  you omit FATALITIES, of which there are many.  It doesn't matter WHO injects Versed, the drug is dangerous and unpredictable.  It causes severe side effects in almost any minuscule amount!  The very nature of the drug is a "severe side effect" in my opinion.  Abject obedience, amnesia, blood pressure spikes, all severe side effects.  Of course the obedience and amnesia are desired effects for anesthesia nurses.  Nonetheless this is pretty severe brain poison to cause these symptoms.

The next bit of incredible hubris is where Julia claims that anesthesia nurses are "professional" and trained to administer anesthesia JUST LIKE THE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS!  This is not true.  Anesthesiologists have far more education and training, in anesthesia and everything else medical, hence the MD behind their name.  It's just a fact and not subject to discussion.  In my own experience, my crna was completely and undeniably UNprofessional.  This Julia also seems to admit that she is UNprofessional, as she is accepting zero responsibility for her patients pain.  (her job) Blaming the doctor instead for doing HIS job.

I'm almost done, I promise.  Julia references "overinflated salaries" of MDA's.  Pardon me, but just WHO has an overinflated salary?  That would be little anesthesia nurses getting a six figure salary for being a NURSE.  Apparently these nurses make as much or more than your gp.  That's without medical school or the additional expense of running an office.  Crna's are usually EMPLOYEES of an anesthesia firm!  Another factoid that needs to be kept in the forefront is that it costs JUST AS MUCH to have an anesthesia NURSE as it does to have a real doctor do your anesthesia.  This is also just a fact, as I have the proof in my own medical billings.  The nurse involves ZERO medical savings.  None whatsoever. 

Julia's last snide comment about "good luck with health care reform" is a non sequitur, but I will try to analyze it anyway.  I think she is referring to the cost savings (non existent) in the health care reform bill.  She apparently thinks that anesthesia nurses will supplant doctors...  I think Julia should worry more about HER job in the reform of health care.  The cost needs to be brought down and the easiest, quickest way to do that is to turn "sedation" into an out of pocket expense.  You want "sedation" YOU pay for it, not me through my premiums.  That means less work for anesthesia nurses.  It's my understanding that "sedation" (and easy procedures) is what most anesthesia nurses do.  The hard cases are left for the real doctors.  You know, the ones that Julia claims she is on par with.  It is also my hope that medical salaries will be decreased and deflated, especially for mid level providers.  Why have an np, pa or crna when there are no SAVINGS attached to it?  It makes no sense.  Crna's have really inflated salaries for their amount of training, and this needs to be reined in.  Just my opinion.