The use of anesthesia emergency manuals for intraoperative crises

Purpose of Project: Anesthesia providers are often faced with new responsibilities and alterations in patient management. High stress conditions impair clinicians’ ability to elicit evidence-based courses of management in an organized and timely manner. Recall and prospective memory of even the most experienced providers’ declines during stressful situations. Emergency manuals introduced in anesthesia have improved compliance to guidelines during emergencies and improve patient outcomes. Practitioners who are introduced to cognitive aids during simulation training are more likely to use these checklists in a real emergency. Methodology: This study is an experimental qualitative design. The study population is CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists) and SRNAs (student registered nurse anesthetists). A pre-survey was administered, then the participants were given copies of the AEMs and a PowerPoint presentation was given regarding the efficacy of AEM use during OR emergencies. First a simulation scenario without the use of an AEM was conducted and then another simulation scenario with the use of AEM was conducted. Participants were debriefed and then an immediate post-survey was given. A follow-up survey was sent a month after simulations were conducted. Results: The results of this study supports that the use of AEMs improved adherence to critical steps in a crisis situation, while also supporting that simulations utilizing the AEMs increased future likelihood of AEM use. Implication for Practice: A presentation and simulations were conducted to provide increased awareness and benefits of Anesthesia Emergency Manuals (AEMs), in order to increase its utilization during real crises that occur in professional practice.DNPIncludes bibliographical reference