Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse (CPAN)
A certified post anesthesia nurse (CPAN) is a nurse who specializes in caring for patients who have recently had surgery or any other procedure that necessitates the use of anesthesia. Certified post anesthesia nurses must meet the physiological, behavioral/cognitive, safety and advocacy needs of these patients, who may still be under the influences of anesthesia or who may be coping with its after effects.
Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse Career
The duties of a certified post anesthesia nurse include working with patient’s immediately following surgery and treating the side effects of anesthesia. Nurses in this position need to know how to work with ventilators, multi-drug drips and other instruments that stay with patients coming out of the operating room. Patients recovering from anesthesia can be unstable and may fall ill easily.
A certified post anesthesia nurse needs excellent assessment skills to react to a patient’s changing status quickly and efficiently. He or she also works with a variety of physicians, from anesthesiologists to surgeons. Nurses with a CPAN credential may work in hospitals and same-day surgery centers and often work in a special area or unit of a hospital or clinic designated for patients who have had surgery or conscious sedation—such as a colonoscopy.
Post Anesthesia Nurse Education
Post-anesthesia nurse education programs will begin the same way for every student. Completion of an associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing to become a registered nurse. Programs are widely available across the United States, with schedules designed to accommodate full- and part-time students.
Many options are available for classroom or online study with clinical completed on-site. In addition to fulfilling general education requirements, both associate and bachelor’s nursing programs focus on providing core content in patient assessment and care and lead to eligibility to sit for the Registered Nurse (RN) exam in the state of practice.
Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse Certification
To become a Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse (CPAN), a candidate must first obtain unrestricted RN licensure in the United States and have a minimum of 1,200 hours of direct peri anesthesia clinical experience in the two years prior to applying to take the certification exam. Once the application, documentation and fees are submitted and approved, the candidate may sit for the exam. The American Board of Peri anesthesia Nursing Certification, Inc. (ABPANC, Inc.) also offers another certification program, Certified Ambulatory Peri Anesthesia Nurse (CAPA). Depending upon the patient setting and the level of involvement with the patient throughout the anesthesia process, the post-anesthesia nurse may opt to get both certifications.
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