JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Citing the ongoing turf war with physician anesthesiologists, certified nurse anesthetists gathered in the Capitol today to oppose a bill that would repeal a sunset on 2012 legislation prohibiting CRNA’s from performing certain types of procedures.
Currently, pain management in 39 Missouri counties is handled exclusively by CRNA’s. But in 2012, the Missouri legislature passed a bill prohibiting CRNA’s from performing a small number of procedures that involve injections near the spinal cord. Physician anesthesiologists at the time said that if CRNA’s added higher training standards for members wishing to perform such procedures, they would relent.
But former and current presidents of the Missouri Association for Nurse Anesthetists (MoANA) say that when they presented their new, higher standards to the Missouri Association of Anesthesiologists, they were flatly rejected. Current president, Cassandra Decker, says the physicians “didn’t even want to negotiate,” and says they went back on their explicit agreement.
Physicians argue that CRNA’s don’t have appropriate training to perform some spine-related procedures, while CRNA’s counter that they have designed a board certification exam and a one-year fellowship training program specifically to train for that very task.
“Some people don’t even understand that there’s someone other than an anesthesiologists that performs anesthesia,” Decker said. “In fact, we’ve been around since the 1800’s as the first clinical nurse specialty and we’ve been performing anesthesia since then, safely, I might add.”
After a rally which featured state lawmakers Rep. Jeanie Kirkton, D-Webster Groves, Sen. Gary Romine, R-St. Francois (featured image, with MoANA president Decker), Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, about 130 CRNA’s circled the hallways of the capitol to urge lawmakers to vote against HB393 and SB217, both of which remove the sunset on the 2012 legislation.
CRNAs contend that nearly 1.5 million Missourians live in areas that no anesthesiologists are available to provide pain management services. Supporters of the bill say that spine-related procedures are highly technical and that rural citizens frequently must drive longer distances to receive specialized medical treatment.
The nurse’s demonstration included 1,000 surgical masks representing the patients served by CRNAs.
Decker said she expected members to return to the Capitol later this year if necessary to lobby against the legislation.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
