Alice McGaw: Mother of Anesthesia

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the field of nurse anesthesia would not be as advanced today but for the achievements of certain women in the field. One of these women was Alice McGaw, who worked tirelessly to perfect the specialty of nurse anesthetist. It looks at how it was her advancements in the application of open drop inhalation anesthetic that paved the way for others to follow. It also looks at how it was the showcasing of her methods to others that encouraged them to use what she had learned in their own practices.

From the Paper:

"Alice McGaw went on to publish five papers total on the subject of nurse anesthesia. The paper in 1906 published in Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics was titled "A Review of 14,000 Surgical Anesthetics". It noted that in the 14,000 surgical procedures for which she had been the anesthetist, there had been no complications or deaths attributed to problems with the anesthetic or its application. This was a milestone in the field of nursing anesthesia."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2006) History of Nurse Anesthesia Practice Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://www.aana.com/aboutaana.aspx?ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetID=173&ucNavMenu_
• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2006) A Brief Timeline of Nurse Anesthesia Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://www.aana.com/archives/timeline.asp
• Bankert, M. Watchful Care: A History of America's Nurse Anesthetists. New York: Continuum 1989
• Evans, T. CRNA, MS What is a CRNA? (1998) http://www.anesthesia-nursing.org/wina.html
• Michigan Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2006) History of Nurse Anesthesia Practice Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://www.miana.org/history/history.html

More papers on Alice McGaw: Mother of Anesthesia:

• Analytical Essay # 52499 : "James Kincaid's "Alice's Invasion of Wonderland"
• Descriptive Essay # 113814 : "Aurelia, Mother of Caesar"
• Term Paper # 140543 : "Mothers of Children With Autism"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: