The evolution of nurse anesthesia in the United States

Abstract

From 1870-1890, many US surgeons asked nurses to provide anesthesia. The Mayo brothers trained Alice Magaw and Florence Henderson, who perfected smooth and safe anesthesia with ether. In 1909, Agnes McGee opened the first school of nurse anesthesia in Portland Oregon. In 1915, supported by surgeon George Crile, Agatha Hodgins opened a more influential school at Lakeside Hospital (later the Cleveland Clinic), spawning 54 schools by 1950. In the early 1900s, legislative efforts and lawsuits unsuccessfully sought to preclude nurse anesthesia, arguing that it allowed nurses to practice medicine. Subsequent state statutes legalized nurse anesthesia practice but specified physician supervision of nurse anesthetists. The second Bush administration modified a federal corollary to these statutes, allowing states to opt out of the supervision requirement. By 2011, 17 of 31 eligible states had opted out.