Conflict with Medicine
Surgeons often testified that nurse anesthetists improved this outcome.
patient safety
These two figures laid the foundation for nurse anesthesia education and accreditation
Agatha Hodgins and Gertrude Fife
Physician anesthetists attempted to use this legal framework to remove nurses from anesthesia practice.
Medical Practice Act
On July 12th, 1934, this nurse anesthetist went on trial for “violating” the California Medical Practice Act by “practicing medicine without a license”
Dagmar Nelson
The main accusation that physician anesthetists filed against nurse anesthetists.
Practicing medicine without a license.
Which group of medical professionals publicly supported nurse anesthetists across multiple states during early disputes with physician anesthetists?
surgeons
This nurse anesthetist pushed for state registrations for nurse anesthetists, which was ultimately limited by financial costs.
Agatha Hodgins
This physician challenged the ethics of surgeons who employed “lay-anesthetists” for their surgeries rather than “competent, licensed practitioners.”
Dr. Francis McMechan
This nurse anesthetist graduated from the Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Seattle and worked for three different surgeons in Orange County.
Adeline Curtis
Court cases against nurse anesthetists often centered on interpreting this law.
California Medical Practice Act
The National Association of Nurse Anesthetists was rejected by this professional organization to oversee the training of nurse anesthetists.
American Board of Anesthesiology
This nurse anesthetist moved from Minnesota to California to work under surgeon Dr. Verne Hunt and was accused of violating the California Medical PracticeAct by physician anesthetists in 1934.
Dagmar Nelson
This physician anesthesiologist society was founded in California in 1922.
The Pacific Coast Association of Anesthetists
She served as the first president of the California Association of Nurse Anesthetists and was a supporter of Dagmar Nelson in her trial.
Sophie Gran Winton
A legal argument claimed that managing a patient under anesthesia required this physician-only function.
making a medical diagnosis/deciding treatment
This famous Supreme Court case ruled that nurse anesthetists were not engaged in the practice of medicine but instead involved the use of “the nurse’s own judgment” when under a surgeon’s direction.
Frank v. South (1917)
This physician led the case against Dagmar Nelson and expressed strong anti–nurse anesthetist sentiment, echoing the views of Francis Hoeffer McMechan.
William Chalmers-Francis
This director of the Highland Hospital of Alameda County and nurse anesthetistadvocate described Eva Wilson as “probably the best anesthetist in this section.”
Dr. Benjamin W. Black
Attorney Thomas L. McFadden of Anaheim was hired by this nurse anesthetist to investigate the legality of her anesthesia practice with California state law.
Adeline Curtis
The 1934 accusations against Dagmar Nelson were triggered after physician anesthetists became aware she was administering anesthesia at _____ hospital. She had been administering anesthetics at _____ hospital for 10 years prior.
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic
Who observed that “paid for anesthesia per year represented a potential cash income of $50,000,000-$75,000,000, so is it any wonder that when the doctors realize this, they should hope to recapture the field of endeavor which they have spurned and scorned in a large measure of being unworthy of their professional attainments?
Dr. Henry Hedden
This nurse anesthetist experienced heavy anti-nurse anesthetist activity in California, leading her to advance the field of dental anesthesia rather than practice in the hospital setting. She would later go on to open an outpatient plastic surgery clinic in Hollywood.
Sophie Gran Winton
Helen Lamb was an anesthetist for this surgeon at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He was also her contact person on the American Board of Surgery.
Dr. Evarts Graham
Dr. Verne Hunt, a surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Los Angeles, invited this nurse anesthetist to join his hospital, but first warned her of the growing hostility in the area towards nurse anesthetists.
Dagmar Nelson
The Nelson trial illustrated how physician anesthetists attempted to use the courts to redefine anesthesia as exclusively this type of professional practice.
medical practice