CRNA

Alarmed at the alarming array of alarms? Alarm Fatigue and Patient Safety

OK, you wonder about the redundancy in the title of this month’s blog. We admit it’s a bit cheeky, but we are surrounded by a dizzying, if not downright baffling, flood of audible alarm alerts. …

The Great Wanderer of Our Body: The Vagus Nerve

Second in length only to the sciatic nerve, our paired cranial nerve 10 arises from the brainstem, migrates through the neck and thorax, and terminates in the gut. Along its course, aptly deriving its …

We’ve Kicked the Can Down the Road Long Enough—Let’s Resolve the Problem of Medical Bias and Healthcare Waste!

Long before electronic amusements, ‘kick the can’ was a backyard game, representing a hybrid of hide-and-seek, but it disappeared in the 1960s. The phrase was reimagined in the late-70s by the media to ‘kick the …

Fraud and Deceit on Our Side of the Surgical Drapes: Should We Be Concerned about Medical Malpractice?

CRNAs look to import the most recent clinical evidence into their practice, the goal being to provide the patient with the most up-to-date, effective, and safe care. It’s a target we aim for. We partly …

Helping or Hurting: Color-Coded Labels for Syringes

| Table of Contents Introduction The Case for Color-Coding Drug Syringe Labels Human Factors The Mandates of Drug Administration The Case Against Color-Coding Drug Syringes Uniqueness of the Anesthesia Workstation Where Does this Leave …

Of Typewriters and Videolaryngoscopes: Technology Accelerates Retirement

You’ve come to know that your APEX crew likes to examine the history of how we got to where we are. In the case of oral endotracheal intubation (OETI), an essential skill CRNAs perform with …

A Venomous Snake, Postoperative Residual Block, and the Train-of-Four: Reducing Uncertainty

The banded krait, a primarily nocturnal Southeast Asian reptile, produces and envenomates with a highly lethal compound that irreversibly and with great affinity binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). As a result, it competes with …

Listen to Your Body! Ergonomics Is No Joke

Up early, long days, rushed eating, too few bathroom breaks, and nagging neck and back pain. Have you been giving anesthesia for so long that you can’t imagine feeling any other way? In this month’s …

APEX & TrueLearn: All Your Questions Answered

We love that you have questions about APEX joining the TrueLearn family, and we understand that change might feel a bit scary. Rest assured, the APEX you love and trust isn’t going anywhere! Sadly, we’ve …

Under Pressure: The Application of Cricoid Pressure in Pediatrics

Cricoid pressure was first described in the 1770s to prevent stomach insufflation during artificial ventilation of the lungs. However, it was not until 1961 that Sellick promoted cricoid pressure (Sellick maneuver) to prevent regurgitation and …