Oklahoma CRNAs Traditional Scope of Practice Threatened

Oklahoma state legislature - Senate Bill 1133, would remove certified registered nurse anesthetists’ (CRNAs) ability to provide chronic pain services, making Oklahoma the first state to prohibit CRNA's from providing chronic pain management.

Relying on physician referral, CRNAs chronic pain practice was not viewed as the unauthorized practice of medicine, according to a 2008 Oklahoma Attorney General Opinion.

Don Mordecai and Victor Long representing the Oklahoma Association of Nurse Anesthetists, clarified their position in a Guest Opinion on Edmondsun.com, "...Oklahoma’s nurse anesthetists aren’t asking for an expansion of their responsibilities as has been the case with other health care providers in the past. Nurse anesthetists simply seek to provide the care they are trained and qualified to provide and have been providing for decades to the public’s benefit...". See March 3, 2010 Edmondsun.com