POSITION SUMMARY: Administers general anesthesia and provides monitored surveillance and clinical management for patients receiving local or regional anesthesia in the operative or obstetric setting.  Works under the medical direction of an attending Anesthesiologist in providing anesthesia care and post-operative evaluation for patients in the Operating Room, Maternity Center, Cardiac Cath Lab, or Emergency Room setting.  Patient care includes care to patients in the following age groups: neonatal (birth to 30 days), pediatric (30 days through 12 years), adolescent (13 through 18 years), adult (19 through 64 years) and geriatric (65 years and above). 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Qualified individuals must have the ability (with or without reasonable accommodation) to perform the following duties:

• Prepares for the administration of anesthesia, giving attention to required clinical inventory, complete checkout of anesthesia delivery systems (anesthesia machine) and availability of appropriate physiological monitoring.
• Reviews Anesthesiologist-provided pre-operative evaluations and assessment of patients by chart review and interview. 
• Confirms assignment of the appropriate physical status to the patient by the Anesthesiologist. 
• Formulates an anesthesia plan and alternative plan including the discussion of relevant pathophysiology and pharmacology. 
• Administers anesthesia care (general anesthesia, I.V. sedation, and clinical surveillance of the local or regional patient) in accordance with accepted standards of anesthesia care and concern for patient safety.
• Evaluates the post-operative course of the patient to recognize complications that may have resulted from anesthesia and alerts physicians of adverse findings.
• Maintains a clinical record that accurately documents the course of the anesthetic care (physiological monitor data, blood and fluid replacement, physiological output, drugs administered, consultation and untoward events, routine events, etc.).
• Gives a comprehensive and complete report to the Nursing Staff of P.A.C.U. or Critical Care Unit, which accepts care of patient immediately following cessation of anesthetic.
• Visits the patient post-operatively, and documents the visit with a post-operative note, in accordance with Anesthesia Department policy and J.C.A.H.O. requirements.

The following duties are considered secondary to the primary duties listed above:

• Accepts case assignments from the attending Anesthesiologist or Anesthesia Clinical Coordinator and provides appropriate clinical assistance on complex anesthetic cases which require multiple direct-care providers (Anesthesiologist/Nurse Anesthetist).
• Responds to Code Blue or Trauma Codes to offer emergency airway management.  Responds to other requests from Critical Care Units or the Cardiac Cath Lab for emergency airway management.
• Completes customary and expected administrative tasks and remains in beeper contact when scheduled for in-house call duty.
• Other duties as assigned.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Current licensure as a Registered Professional Nurse is required, issued by the PA State Board of Nursing.
• Must be a graduate of a School of Nurse Anesthesia accredited by the Council on Accreditation of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), and eligible to sit for initial certification exam. 
• Must hold a valid certification or re-certification card from the Council on Re-certification of Nurse Anesthetists of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Two (2) years of Nurse Anesthetist experience is preferred for the position.
• One (1) year of Critical Care nursing is preferred.
• Two (2) to three (3) years of training program/clinical experience is preferred for the position.

Disclaimer: This job description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with the job.  It is intended to be a reflection of those principal job elements essential for recruitment and selection, for making fair job evaluations, and for establishing performance standards.  The percentages of time spent performing job duties are estimates, and should not be considered absolute.  The incumbent shall perform all other functions and/or be cross-trained as shall be determined at the sole discretion of management, who has the right to amend, modify, or terminate this job in part or in whole.  Incumbent must be able to perform all job functions safely