The Florida Board of Nursing gave a certified registered nurse anesthetist the authority to use the title "nurse anesthesiologist," according to WGCU, a local news station affiliated with NPR.
The decision only applies to John McDonough, EdD, CRNA, who is a professor and director of the nurse anesthesia program at Jacksonville-based University of North Florida. Dr. McDonough said he has been identifying himself as a nurse anesthesiologist for "years," according to the report.
His move to adopt the anesthesiologist title comes as anesthesiology assistants have begun to use the term "anesthetists" for their work, according to WGCU. In Florida, CRNAs are authorized to administer anesthesia under physician supervision, though in some states CRNAs do not need physician supervision. Anesthesiology assistants, by contrast, work only under direct physician supervision.
"I am not a technician. I am not a physician extender. I am not a mid-level provider," Dr. McDonough said, according to WGCU. "I am, in fact, a scientific expert on the art and science of anesthesia. So I think anesthesiologist is a perfectly acceptable term, especially since the term anesthetist has been hijacked from my profession."
The Florida Society of Anesthesiologists does not agree with the decision, according to the report.
Read the full story here.
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