The Role of the Anesthesiologist/ Anesthesiology Department in the Education and Privileging of Non-Anesthesiologists to Prescribe and Administer Deep Sedation

摘要

Anesthesiologists have long been involved in the process of making sedation safer for all patients. The specialty has played a critical role in the development of guidelines for sedation practice from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics . The stalwart defense of appropriate patient assessment, good monitoring, and the establishment of appropriate backup systems have doubtless saved lives and improved the practice for all specialties that have been involved sedation over the past 20 years. Anesthesiologists have also played leading roles in individual hospitals worldwide, where they have been asked to help develop appropriate training for sedation providers and participate in the ongoing quality assurance in the various sedation venues each institution uses. The specialty now faces a new challenge: defining its role in training and educating the next generation of sedation providers who are much more aggressive in their application of potent sedatives.