Posted by HAHAHA on December 24, 2006, 11:42 am, in reply to "Re: R.N. to A.A."
DD,
What type of major medical center would let Advanced Practice Nurses run their Anesthesia Department? Are you so delusional with AANA propoganda that you actually believe an Advanced Nurse could do the job of a good Anesthesiologist?
Well, the Surgeons are not buying your delusional statements and do not prefer CRNA's to run the department. The smallest hospitals in America can not afford an Anesthesiologist so they utilize Nurses. The fact that you believe Nurse Anesthetists can do it all is proof that the AANA is pushing the limits of what even the best CRNA can do "solo." The sickest patients are a challenge for the best trained MD Anesthesiologist to do alone; yet, for a CRNA to take on the task only shows your arrogance and foolishness. Of Course, the patients are the ones that end up paying the price.
AA students need to know that USA Medicine has not fallen to the point of Advanced Nurses practicing MEDICINE at our major medical centers; fortunately, most CEO's recognize the value of good Anesthesiologists and want their Anesthesia department run by Doctors.
Thus, the hospitals hire the CRNA's to provide a subsidy to the department. CRNA's are so expensive that hospitals must subsidize most Anesthesia departments. This subsidy takes the form of the following: 1) allow the Group to hire and pay everyone but provide money directly to the department 2) hire the CRNA's and figure out how to adjust the revenue stream (60% MDA vs. 40% hospital). Both provide the MDA's a way of getting additional money from the hospital.
The fact remains that an AA can do your job and the MDA makes the same amount of money as if a CRNA did the case. In fact, MDA's make a few more dollars from CRNA's than AA's due to more flexibility in case supervision. Thus, CRNA's are the real billing opportunity for MDA's and have been so for the past 50 years. AA's represent a return to "quality" over "quantity" so CRNA's like yourself feel threatend about your job security.