What do anaesthesiologists do?
WITH regard to surgery, there are three levels of providers. <br>The anaesthesiologist is a medical doctor who has done intensive care medicine, pain management, regional anaesthesia, paediatric and cardiac, neuro or obstetric anaesthesia.
LAST week, we published an introductory article on understanding the myths about anaesthesia. In today’s article, Dr Arthur Kwizera discusses what people who provide anaesthesia do.
WITH regard to surgery, there are three levels of providers.
The anaesthesiologist is a medical doctor who has done intensive care medicine, pain management, regional anaesthesia, paediatric and cardiac, neuro or obstetric anaesthesia.
On the other hand, an anaesthetic officer, may be a registered nurse, clinical officer or an A’level leaver who has done a two-year diploma in anaesthesia.
In an effort to bridge the anaesthesia gap, the Government put up training programmes at diploma level to ease the burden arising from surgical and obstetric emergencies.
The third group is the anaesthetic assistants who are also enrolled nurses trained to make health centre IVs functional. They were trained for one-and-a-half years.
However, the programme stopped and many of them have recently upgraded to anaesthetic officers.
In the US and Canada, the term anaesthesiologists is used to distinguish doctors from certified registered nurse anaesthetists; while in the UK the term anaesthesiologists is used because they do not have any other cadre other than doctors.
However, all of them are mandated to practise independently and adhere to the strict standards of practice set by the Uganda Society of Anaesthesia and the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
What do they do?
Anaesthesiologists are physicians who provide pain control, pain relief and care for the general wellbeing of the patient in the operating room.
They regulate all the patient’s vital signs (heart rate, breathing, brain, kidney, liver functions) that are important to the patient’s condition during surgery. He is the advocate for the patient in their unconscious state.
They also do the pre-operative assessment, planning for surgery, post-operative recovery and take care of the patient’s post-operative pain needs.
The anaesthesiologist is also a core member in the intensive care unit as the primary life support giver.
The scope and knowledge to practise acute and advanced life support that anaesthesiologists possess make them the most ideal candidates to paediatric, obstetric, cardiac, surgical, neuro, general and pulmonary intensive care units.
They are also involved in retrieval or emergency rescue work and resuscitation.
This applies in countries where they are many and can provide support out in the field.
WITH regard to surgery, there are three levels of providers.
The anaesthesiologist is a medical doctor who has done intensive care medicine, pain management, regional anaesthesia, paediatric and cardiac, neuro or obstetric anaesthesia.
On the other hand, an anaesthetic officer, may be a registered nurse, clinical officer or an A’level leaver who has done a two-year diploma in anaesthesia.
In an effort to bridge the anaesthesia gap, the Government put up training programmes at diploma level to ease the burden arising from surgical and obstetric emergencies.
The third group is the anaesthetic assistants who are also enrolled nurses trained to make health centre IVs functional. They were trained for one-and-a-half years.
However, the programme stopped and many of them have recently upgraded to anaesthetic officers.
In the US and Canada, the term anaesthesiologists is used to distinguish doctors from certified registered nurse anaesthetists; while in the UK the term anaesthesiologists is used because they do not have any other cadre other than doctors.
However, all of them are mandated to practise independently and adhere to the strict standards of practice set by the Uganda Society of Anaesthesia and the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
What do they do?
Anaesthesiologists are physicians who provide pain control, pain relief and care for the general wellbeing of the patient in the operating room.
They regulate all the patient’s vital signs (heart rate, breathing, brain, kidney, liver functions) that are important to the patient’s condition during surgery. He is the advocate for the patient in their unconscious state.
They also do the pre-operative assessment, planning for surgery, post-operative recovery and take care of the patient’s post-operative pain needs.
The anaesthesiologist is also a core member in the intensive care unit as the primary life support giver.
The scope and knowledge to practise acute and advanced life support that anaesthesiologists possess make them the most ideal candidates to paediatric, obstetric, cardiac, surgical, neuro, general and pulmonary intensive care units.
They are also involved in retrieval or emergency rescue work and resuscitation.
This applies in countries where they are many and can provide support out in the field.