Paper Topic:

Agatha Hodgins Impact on Nurse anesthesia

Running header : AGATHA HODGINS

Agatha Hodgins : Nurse Anesthetist Pioneer

ABSTRACT

Many fine women have helped in the field of nurse anesthetist . Some nurse anesthetists helped during war time , others by perfecting the administration of anesthesia . All are important to the history of this profession , but have done more academically or organizationally for the nurse anesthetist than Agatha Hodgins . It was her vision of consistent education and accredited programs that provided the world wide standards of today . It was Hodgins who created a national association for the nurse anesthetist . This organization

, the AANA still exists today and continues Hodgins work for the profession to which she dedicated her life

Nurse anesthetists have been around since the around 1887 and it was trial and error for many of the nurses . Doctors at that time had begun using the nurse anesthetists to enable them to concentrate on the surgery while the nurse concentrated on the patient . The patient then received a much better quality of care , both from the physician and the nurse . Until the use of nurse anesthetists , many patients died or had severe complications during and after surgery . This was due to little training on the part of the person administering the anesthesia and the physician having to divide his attention between the anesthesia and the actual surgery (Postotnik ,

. 1984

There have been quite a few famous women who pioneered the field of nurse anesthetist . One of these was Agatha Hodgins . She was appointed to be the nurse anesthetist to Dr . George W . Criles in 1908 . Under Dr Crile 's tutelage , she became and expert in the administration of nitrous oxide anesthesia . Dr . Crile was an advocate for the use of nitrous oxide because he felt that ether or chloroform lead to surgical shock . By 1909 , Hodgins had administered anesthetics to 575 patients

At this time , nurse anesthesia was in its infancy and although great strides would be made in this field , it was the courage and foresight of people like Agatha Hodgins who set the stage for today 's nurse anesthetist

This study is to educate the public about the advances and improvements that have been made in the field of nurse anesthesia during the last 125 years . Agatha Hodgins not only perfected the application of nitrous oxide anesthesia , she led the way on organizing education and accreditation for the future of nurse anesthetists . Hers was a vision of unity and compliance for the nurse anesthesia profession and it still exists today . While she may not be well known to the

public , she is an icon among the current nurse anesthetists as they continue to benefit from her work

The first nurse anesthetists were trained by the few doctors who had experience with anesthetics . During the Civil War (1861-1865 ) most anesthesia was administered by people with little or no training . This made using anesthesia on the wounded very dangerous and so it was used very little

During World War I , Agatha Hodgins served in France from 1914 to...

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