Stewart joins CRNAs around the country in celebrating a history of exceptional patient care and anesthesia safety during National Nurse Anesthetists Week, January 9-15, 2000.
Patient safety is, and always has been, the number one priority for nurse anesthetists.
We administer to the patient s physical and emotional needs, offer reassurance and comfort, and stay right by the patient s side throughout the surgery. Supporting Stewart s statements are data. Studies have shown a dramatic reduction in anesthesia mortality rates during the last 20 years to the present low of one death for every 240,000 anesthetics. Thanks to improved technology and pharmaceuticals, and increased education for nurse anesthetists and physician anesthesiologists, anesthesia safety is at an all-time high. CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered, including traditional hospital surgical suites, obstetrical delivery rooms, physicians offices, ambulatory surgical centers, and medical facilities of the U.S. Military, Public Health Service, and Veterans Administration.