n the 1840s the anesthetic qualities of drugs such as nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform
were first demonstrated in the United States and paved the way for modern surgical procedures.
Florence Nightingale’s work as a nurse in the Crimean War during the 1850s ushered
in the advent of professional nursing, and women began to choose nursing as a vocation. Soon after,
nurses first gave anesthesia while caring for wounded soldiers on the battlefields of the Civil War. It is
from these beginnings that the specialty of nurse anesthesia was formed.
Nurses were the first professional group to provide anesthesia services in the United States, and
nurse anesthesia has since become recognized as the first clinical nursing specialty. The discipline of
nurse anesthesia developed in response to surgeons seeking a solution to the high morbidity and mortality
attributed to anesthesia at that time. Surgeons saw nurses as a cadre of professionals who gave
their undivided attention to patient care during surgical procedures, unlike medical residents who
often were more interested in observing the surgery. Serving as pioneers in anesthesia, nurse anesthetists
became involved in the full range of specialty surgical procedures, as well as in the refinement
of anesthesia techniques and equipmen