The effects of a shortage of anesthesiologists could be improved if specially trained nurses were allowed to provide anesthesia care — something they do in the United States, nursing advocates say.

But physicians’ groups have pushed back against the idea in at least two provinces since it was raised more than 25 years ago, even as surgical wait times have grown since the pandemic.

Now nurse associations, and some Canadian nurses working in the U.S. as nurse anesthetists, are calling attention to how effectively they could solve the dearth of anesthesia care providers in this country.

  • streetfestivalEnglish
    7·
    20 hours ago

    Yes. There are so many different specialized kinds of nurses, nurses are highly skilled, and not every procedure needs an MD anesthesiologist. A healthy adolescent or young adult getting wisdom teeth extracted is very different from a medically complex older adult undergoing hip replacement

  • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works
    16·
    1 day ago

    Can someone explain to me why we have such a shortage in Canada when it’s simple supply and demand.

    If supply is low, can’t the province run healthcare just pay more or even just lower tuition for new doctors?

    It sounds similar to the other labour shortages where they refuse to pay more and act like they’ve tried everything.

    • prodigalsorcerer
      9·
      20 hours ago

      if supply is low, can’t the province run healthcare just pay more

      Best we can do is cap raises at 1% per year.

    • i_love_FFT@jlai.lu
      5·
      18 hours ago

      From what i know, anaesthesiologists are some of the highest paid MDs. I often ear people in the medical field saying that the anaesthesiologist is not available because they’re paid so well that they can work part time and get the same salary as many other physicians…

      • OutlierBlueEnglish
        7·
        18 hours ago

        So there should be lots of students lining up to become one.

    • streetfestivalEnglish
      61·
      20 hours ago

      This is conjecture, but I think it’s protectionism by strong Canadian physicians’ unions. More physicians in the job pool means less job security and earnings potential for those already in it. There are many ways we could get more physicians in the workforce and/or in rural/remote communities that domestic MDs may not want to work in