CRNAs and AAs
(Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and Anesthesiologist Assistants)
CRNAs or certified registered nurse anesthetists are nurses who graduate from nursing school as a registered nurse or a bachelor of sciences in nursing, then obtain critical care nursing experience, and then attend a school for nurse anesthesia for 2 to 3 years where most receive a masters degree. In our practice, CRNAs are supervised by anesthesiologists. They work with an anesthesiologist together as a team so that there are 2 sets of hands providing anesthesia during the critical parts of the anesthetic. All of our CRNAs have excellent training and an enormous amount of experience. CRNAs are at the pinnacle of nurse education and training. To find out more about CRNAs, please click on the following link: American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
AAs or Anesthesiologist Assistants are highly educated allied heath professionals
who work under the direction of licensed anesthesiologists to help develop and
implement anesthesia care plans. Anesthesiologist Assistants work exclusively
within the Anesthesia Care Team environment as described by the American Society
of Anesthesiologists (ASA). AA's are trained extensively in the delivery and
maintenance of quality anesthesia care as well as advanced patient monitoring
techniques.
Anesthesiologist Assistants educational programs are based on an masters degree
model and require at least two full academic years. Programs are required to
be co-directed by board certified anesthesiologists. AA educational programs
accept students who have prior education in the sciences that would qualify
the student to pursue careers in medicine, dentistry, or one of the basic medical
sciences. Students are taught course work that enhances their basic science
knowledge in physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, and biochemistry with special
emphasis on the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, nervous, and neuromuscular
systems. Clinical instruction educates students extensively in patient monitoring,
anesthesia delivery systems, life support systems, and patient assessment as
well as in the skills need to provide compassionate, quality care. To find out
more about Anesthesiologist Assistants please click on the following link: American
Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants
Full Time Anesthetists
Sarah Buckner, AA
Jason Butler, CRNA
Alison Colquitt, AA
We also contract independent CRNAs and AAs to help us with our practice. They are listed as follows:
Contract Anesthetists
Scott Duane, AA
Bert Simmons, AA
Talitha ("Tiny") Bonner, CRNA
Cecilia Morales, CRNA
Annette Johnson, CRNA
Veronica Chambliss, CRNA
Veronica Chambliss attended the University of Alabama where she received a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and then underwent nurse anesthesia training at Georgia Baptist School of Anesthesia in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been a CRNA since 1985 and has worked for Rockdale Anesthesia Services since 1995. She is a member of the Georgia Association of Nurse Anesthetists, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.