HISTORIQUE DES SOINS INFIRMIERS ET L’ANESTHÉSIE AU CANADA
Résumé
ll existe peu de détails sur l’histoire du rôle des infirmières dans l’anesthésie au Canada. Selon les quelques sources disponibles, au début du XXe siècle, les infirmières au Canada administraient l’anesthésie. L’historiographie limitée existante révèle que les infirmières travaillant dans les petits hôpitaux ruraux à travers le Canada participaient à l’administration de l’anesthésie en raison d’un manque de médecins spécialisés et de personnel adéquat. Afin d’en apprendre davantage sur le rôle des infirmières dans ce domaine, les auteures ont puisé la collection de sources orales de la British Columbia History of Nursing Society située au College of Registered Nurses à la British Columbia Library. Plusieurs récits indiquent que, entre 1917 et 1953, l’occasion d’administrer l’anesthésie se présentait aux infirmières canadiennes. Les histoires orales identifient le besoin d’administrer l’anesthésie, la capacité des infirmières de fournir ce service, et une flexibilité dans la pratique de la profession leur permettant d’assumer ce rôle. Il existait un besoin grandissant pour l’anesthésie que ne pouvait combler les médecins. Pour explorer plus en profondeur le rôle des infirmières, les auteures ont également examiné les revues contemporaines traitant des soins infirmiers et médicaux.
Le pourquoi de la disparition de ce rôle au Canada tandis qu’il s’établissait fermement aux États-Unis n’est pas clair. Plusieurs causes juridiques de cette période, ainsi que la très grande différence entre les résultats des causes canadiennes et américaines, jetent un peu de lumière sur les raisons possibles pour lesquelles les anesthésistes infirmières ont été exclues de la pratique de l’anesthésie au Canada. Le domaine des soins de santé n’a jamais cessé de changer, et le besoin de services d’anesthésie augmente toujours.
Il s’ensuit donc que de nouvelles questions se posent sur la possibilté de rôles avancés en anesthésie pour le personnel infirmier au Canada. La demande de services d’anesthésie s’agrandit de pair avec le vieillissement de la population canadienne, et le manque de services est le plus prononcé dans les petits hôpitaux ruraux. Cet article offre un contexte historique important sur l’évolution du rôle de l’anesthésiste infirmière au Canada.
Références
There is little historical knowledge available
about nurses’ role in anaesthesia in Canada. It
appears, from the few sources available, that
nurses did administer anaesthesia in the early
th century in Canada. The limited
historiography reveals that nurses who worked
in small rural hospitals across Canada were, due
to the lack of physician specialty and coverage,
involved in the administration of anaesthesia.
To learn more about nurses’ role in this area the
authors explored the oral history collection
from the British Columbia’s History of Nursing
group at the College of Registered Nurses of
British Columbia Library. Several stories
indicated that between 1917 and 1953 there
were opportunities for Canadian nurses to
administer anaesthesia. The oral histories
identified that there was a need for the
administration of anaesthesia, that nurses had
the skill to provide it, and that flexibility in their
nursing practice enabled them to fulfill this role.
There was an increasing need for anaesthesia
service that was not being filled by physicians.
To further explore nurses’ role the authors also
examined nursing and medical journals from
that time period.
There is limited understanding of how this
role ceased to exist in Canada while it became
well established in the United States. Various
legal cases from that time period, and the
substantially different results between
Canadian and America cases, provide some
insight into the reasons why nurse
anaesthetists were excluded from anaesthesia
practice in Canada. As the Canadian
healthcare environment continues to change,
and the need for anaesthesia services increases,
new questions have begun to arise about the
potential for an advanced practice role in
anaesthesia for Canadian nurses. The demand
for anaesthesia services is increasing in-line
with the aging Canadian population and the
shortage of available services is most dramatic
in small, rural hospitals. This article provides
important historical background on the
development of the role of nurse anaesthetists
in Canada.
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