Running head: DECISION MAKING 1

Dynamic Decision Making

Kyle Wescott

Mount Marty School of Anesthesia

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Dynamic Decision Making

Anesthesia professionals are required to be prepared for crisis situations at all times. The

ability to manage emergency situations is a skill that comes with time, practice, and

implementation of medical knowledge. Using medical knowledge to anticipate a potential

problem and assist with patient care during the anesthetic period. Anything can go wrong at any

time during surgery and a skilled anesthesia provider should be able to manage the entire

situation (Gaba, Fish, Howard Burden, 2015). However, the decisions and actions implemented

to manage the patient will determine positive or negative outcomes.

As a new SRNA, I know that there will be times where a crisis occurs during a case and I

may not know what to do. Anticipation and planning is one of the key principles of crisis

management I plan to utilize in my practice (Gaba, Fish, Howard Burden, 2015). Planning ahead

and being prepared for things that may go wrong will minimize risk to my patients and will also

help me improve my skills in crisis management. I feel that the most important thing I can do is

anticipate and plan for things that may go wrong with the patient. Obtaining a detailed medical

history and performing a thorough assessment of the patient will assist me with equipment

planning and case management.

Another step I plan on utilizing in my practice is understanding and learning about the

resources I have available to improve. When a crisis occurs, there is no way I will be able to

handle everything by myself. Knowing what resources I have available will assist me in

distributing the workload among the staff in the operating room (O.R.) (Gaba, Fish, Howard

Burden, 2015). I fully understand that my attention to detail will be tested in the O.R. setting

during the first few months of clinical. For this reason it is crucial that I take my time and plan

accordingly for each patient who is placed in my care.

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References

Gaba, D. M., Fish, K. J., Howard, S. K., & Burden, A. R. (2015). Fundamentals of dynamic

decision making in anesthesia. In Crisis management in anesthesiology (2nd ed., Pp. 6-

24). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders.