Anesthesia Care Team
Statement on the Anesthesia Care Team
Directed by an anesthesiologist, the Anesthesia Care Team consists of anesthesiologists supervising qualified nonphysician anesthesia providers and/or resident physicians who are training in the provision of anesthesia care. The anesthesiologist may delegate patient monitoring and appropriate tasks to these nonphysician providers while retaining overall responsibility for the patient.
Members of the Anesthesia Care Team work together to provide the optimal anesthesia experience for all patients. Core members of the anesthesia care team include both physicians (anesthesiologist, anesthesiology fellow, anesthesiology resident) and nonphysicians (anesthesiologist assistant, nurse anesthetist, anesthesiologist assistant student, student nurse anesthetist). Other health care professionals also make important contributions to the perianesthetic care of the patient.
To provide optimum patient safety, the anesthesiologist directing the Anesthesia Care Team is responsible for management of team personnel, patient pre-anesthetic evaluation, prescribing the anesthetic plan, management of the anesthetic, post-anesthesia care and anesthesia consultation.
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Anesthesiologists.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.