[A survey of Japanese nurses' opinions on nurse anesthetists].
BACKGROUND
A shortage of anesthesiologists is having a serious impact on Japanese medicine. The adoption of nurse anesthetists is currently a matter of debate among Japanese surgeons and anesthesiologists. To probe whether future nurse anesthetists exist in Japan, a questionnaire survey of nurses was carried out.


METHODS
Anonymous questionnaires were sent to 99 acute-care nurses in our hospital. Inquiries included those on their backgrounds, the shortage of the anesthesiologists, and issues related to the nurse anesthetists.


RESULTS
Eighty-four answers (85%) were obtained. Sixty-seven nurses (80%) were aware of the shortage of the anesthesiologists. Although only 19 (23%) had certain knowledge of nurse anesthetists before this survey, 71 (85%) were willing to become, or interested in nurse anesthetists. The majority (56%) described nurse anesthetists' job should be limited to endotracheal intubation, vascular catheter placement, and intravenous medication solely under the supervision of the anesthesiologists. Virtually all respondents claimed the qualifications of the nurse anesthetists should include both training in the acute care setting as certified nurses and training in anesthesia school.


CONCLUSIONS
Our preliminary survey denotes that future nurse anesthetists exist in Japan.
Sanui
Masamitsu
M
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Jichi Medical School Saitama Medical Center, Saitama.
Matsuo
Koichi
K
Otsuka
Yuji
Y
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D007564:Japan; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires