Introduction to This Module

Anesthesia is essential for the practice of surgery. Since its beginning in 1842 it has evolved in to a recognized specialty providing continuous improvement in patient care based on the introduction of new drugs and techniques possible. It is a great responsibility that anesthesia providers receive lives of patients undergoing surgery in her/ his hands. It is the anesthetist duty to administer the safest anesthetic possible, to protect the patient and to give full attention for the anesthetized patient. In order to carry out the responsibility, every anesthetist needs a foundation of basic nursing/ medical science and understand the principles of anesthesia for her/his clinical techniques. A sound knowledge of physiology and pharmacology is essential, together with an understanding of changes brought about by illness or injury.

Competence in airway management is a critical skill for safely administering anesthesia. Difficult or failed airway management is the major factor in anesthesia-related morbidity (dental damage, pulmonary aspiration, airway trauma, unanticipated tracheostomy, anoxic brain injury, cardiopulmonary arrest) and death. Competence in airway management requires knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the airway, ability to assess the patient's airway for the anatomic features that correlate with difficult airway management, skill with the many devices for airway management, and appropriate application of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) algorithm for difficult airway management.

In this module, the first module of level V nurse anesthetists you will learn principles of anesthesia which is intended to introduce the students with principles of anesthesia, realizing their role in the surgical health care team, induction of general anesthesia with different methods and management of the air way (basic initial skill for anesthetist) which enable the student to start their clinical exposure as early as possible in their training period.