Question: The United States of America is home of the free because of the brave. Our Veterans were quick to accept the call to serve this great country and it's unfortunate that we are slow to give them the best and fastest healthcare possible! It is simply unacceptable that our Veterans should have to wait months upon end to receive necessary healthcare treatment. Senator Jeff Flake shared his story of how his father, a Veteran, had to wait an entire month before being seen by a physician for a medical condition. In order to get quicker service, Senator Flake's father elected to seek medical help outside of the VA system (Flake, 2017). This problem could have been easily avoided had all Advanced Practiced Registered Nurses been able to practice to the full extent of their medical training and ability without the supervision of a physician. Unfortunately, this is not the case, especially for CRNAs. "CRNAs already working in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities across the country continue to be underutilized despite their ability and willingness to help ensure veterans have access to the timely, high-quality healthcare that is their right and reward for service to our country" (Nimmo, 2017). "Just imagine how many more veterans could be cared for if start times for surgical and other types of cases requiring anesthesia were no longer delayed unnecessarily while waiting for supervising anesthesiologists to become available" (Thew, 2017).
What's ironic about this whole situation is that since WWI, CRNAs have been the main providers of anesthesia care to injured military personal on the front lines of all US military actions overseas ("Certified," 2016). For combat anesthesia, CRNAs are the primary providers, and they have to be able to do it all (Wentling, 2016). It is quite sad to read that the Veterans Affairs Department is taking heat over this issue. One article even put it that nurses are "acting" as doctors by administering anesthesia without a doctor's supervision (McKelway, 2016). CRNAs are not "acting" as doctors! CRNAs are highly trained compassionate nurses who have been administering anesthesia for over 150 years ("Certified," 2016). Dr. Daniel Cole, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, ignorantly states that "surgery and anesthesia are inherently dangerous requiring physician involvement, particularly for veterans who are sicker and often have multiple medical conditions that put them at greater risk for complications," (Feller, 2016). My rebuttal to this statement is a simple question: Who are the anesthesia providers caring for the acutely injured military personal on the front lines?