Patients in South Dakota Now Have Access to Affordable, Quality Anesthesia and Pain Management Care

PARK RIDGE, Ill., Nov. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- (AANA)—As the final step of the implementation of South Dakota Senate Bill 50, the South Dakota Board of Nursing this week adopted rules regarding full practice authority for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in the state. Enacted in February 2020, the law grants nurse anesthetists the ability to collaborate with healthcare providers in chronic pain practice; expands collaboration in anesthesia care to include podiatrists, dentists, and other providers; and grants prescriptive authority. 

"Patients and health systems across South Dakota depend on CRNAs to provide anesthesia and pain management care, especially in rural areas," said Kara McMachen, MS, CRNA, APRN, president of the South Dakota Association of Nurse Anesthetists (SDANA). "There are patients whose conditions make long car drives to get to the closest town with physician-led pain management services painful or even impossible. Having a CRNA who can meet those needs locally is very important. Being a CRNA is more than just a job. It's about connecting to our patients and caring for our communities."

Consistent with the statute, the rules provide that a nurse anesthetist may order, interpret, and supervise radiographic procedures including fluoroscopy. CRNAs may also provide pain management procedures, including the use of medications, regional anesthetic techniques, therapeutic injections, and sympathetic blocks. The rules include facility requirements and educational content for CRNAs utilizing fluoroscopy and providing pain management procedures and also address controlled substance prescribing. 

South Dakota is one of 19 states that have opted out of the federal physician supervision requirement. CRNAs provide anesthesia in every hospital and ambulatory surgery center in the state, where anesthesia care is required for surgery, labor and delivery, trauma stabilization, and pain management. There are 509 CRNAs serving 41 of the 66 counties in the state.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse anesthetists across the country have, in addition to providing top-of-the-line anesthesia care, been essential in addressing the deadliest part of disease. They have served as experts in airway management, hemodynamic monitoring, management of patients on ventilators, and overall management of critically ill patients.  

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SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthetists