ASA advocates for physician-led care in Arkansas, Florida
In March, a guest editorial by Heather Carter Whaley, M.D., urging Arkansas citizens to oppose a bill that would dismantle the anesthesia care team model and allow nurses to administer anesthesia without physician supervision was published in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) and Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Fayetteville, Arkansas). A former registered nurse, Dr. Whaley wrote, “As a nurse we are trained that when things go wrong, turn to the physician. We are not taught to be an end-of-the-line decision-maker, nor are we equipped to make those decisions and judgment calls.” In opposition of the bill, Joshua Dilley, M.D., was featured on NBC-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, in March, where he expressed his support of the anesthesia care team model.
Also in March, the blog Florida Politics examined the results of a survey commissioned by the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists...