Nurse Anesthetists

Request anesthesia equipment repairs, adjustments, or safety tests.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can monitor equipment status, detect anomalies, and automatically generate and route repair or safety-test requests within maintenance workflows.

Select, prepare, or use equipment, monitors, supplies, or drugs for the administration of anesthetics.

AI: Partial - AI can recommend appropriate equipment, monitoring configurations, and preparation steps based on patient and procedure data, but cannot physically set up, sterilize, or operate equipment without human action and oversight.

Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.

AI: Partial - AI systems can continuously collect, analyze, and alert on physiologic signals and trends, effectively performing monitoring and interpretation, but cannot replace bedside interventions, invasive line management, or final clinical decisions.

Select, order, or administer anesthetics, adjuvant drugs, accessory drugs, fluids or blood products as necessary.

AI: Partial - AI decision support can select and suggest anesthetic regimens, dosages, and orders, but legal prescribing, final clinical judgment, and physical administration of drugs remain human responsibilities.

Perform pre-anesthetic screenings, including physical evaluations and patient interviews, and document results.

AI: Partial - AI can conduct thorough pre‑anesthetic interviews, review records, risk‑stratify, and draft documentation, but cannot perform the hands‑on physical components of the pre‑anesthetic exam that require clinician examination.

Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.

AI: Partial - AI can provide real‑time decision support, checklists, and remote guidance in emergencies but cannot physically perform airway maneuvers or administer drugs autonomously in typical clinical settings as of 2025.

Develop anesthesia care plans.

AI: Partial - AI can synthesize patient data and guidelines to generate comprehensive anesthesia care plan drafts, but clinician judgment and individualized adjustments are still required.

Obtain informed consent from patients for anesthesia procedures.

AI: Partial - AI can present procedure risks, benefits, and answer questions to support informed consent, but legally and ethically obtaining and confirming patient understanding remains a clinician responsibility.

Assess patients' medical histories to predict anesthesia response.

AI: Partial - AI models can analyze medical histories and produce risk predictions for anesthesia response, yet these forecasts require clinician interpretation and verification for safe decision‑making.

Select, order, or administer pre-anesthetic medications.

AI: Partial - AI can recommend and help order pre‑anesthetic medications according to protocols, but final ordering and physical administration require clinician oversight and action.

Perform or evaluate the results of diagnostic tests, such as radiographs (x-rays) and electrocardiograms (EKGs).

AI: Partial - AI systems can often interpret radiographs and EKGs with high accuracy, but they cannot physically perform the tests and their interpretations still need clinical validation in many contexts.

Perform or manage regional anesthetic techniques, such as local, spinal, epidural, caudal, nerve blocks and intravenous blocks.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with planning, ultrasound guidance, and monitoring for regional anesthesia, but it cannot reliably perform the manual, sterile invasive procedures autonomously in routine care.

Prepare prescribed solutions and administer local, intravenous, spinal, or other anesthetics, following specified methods and procedures.

AI: Partial - AI can generate preparation instructions and drive automated compounding where available, but it cannot universally perform the manual preparation and administration of anesthetics without human operators.

Administer post-anesthesia medications or fluids to support patients' cardiovascular systems.

AI: Partial - Closed‑loop algorithms can assist titration of post‑anesthesia fluids/pressors, yet full autonomous administration and complex cardiovascular support still require clinician supervision and intervention.

Calibrate and test anesthesia equipment.

AI: Partial - AI can run diagnostics, flag calibration issues, and guide technicians, and some devices self‑test, but routine physical calibration and hands‑on testing of anesthesia equipment remain human tasks in most settings.

Evaluate patients' post-surgical or post-anesthesia responses, taking appropriate corrective actions or requesting consultation if complications occur.

AI: Partial - AI can continuously analyze post-anesthesia monitoring data, detect deterioration, and recommend or trigger consultations, but cannot reliably perform hands-on corrective interventions or fully replace complex clinical judgment.

Select and prescribe post-anesthesia medications or treatments to patients.

AI: Partial - AI can propose evidence-based post-anesthesia medication and treatment plans, but cannot assume legal prescribing authority or fully account for nuanced bedside clinical judgment in all cases.

Insert peripheral or central intravenous catheters.

AI: Partial - AI-guided robotic systems can place some peripheral IVs in controlled settings and provide real-time guidance, but cannot yet reliably perform all peripheral and central line placements across clinical contexts.

Discharge patients from post-anesthesia care.

AI: Partial - AI can evaluate objective discharge criteria, generate discharge instructions, and flag exceptions, but human clinicians retain responsibility for complex disposition decisions and patient communication.

Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.

AI: Partial - AI can automate literature surveillance, summarize research, and facilitate virtual knowledge exchange, but cannot fully replicate human networking, professional engagement, and conference participation.

Insert arterial catheters or perform arterial punctures to obtain arterial blood samples.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with guidance, imaging interpretation, and robotic aid for arterial access, but cannot yet autonomously and reliably perform arterial catheterization or punctures in all clinical situations.

Instruct nurses, residents, interns, students, or other staff on topics such as anesthetic techniques, pain management and emergency responses.

AI: Partial - AI can deliver high-quality educational content, simulations, and assessments on anesthetic techniques and emergency responses, but cannot fully replace in-person supervision, mentorship, and hands-on teaching.

Manage patients' airway or pulmonary status, using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubation.

AI: Not automatable - Airway management (intubation, ventilation, extubation) and immediate pulmonary interventions are invasive, manual, and high‑risk procedures requiring trained clinicians and real‑time human decision and motor skills that AI cannot physically execute.

Disassemble and clean anesthesia equipment.

AI: Not automatable - Disassembling and physically cleaning anesthesia equipment are manual tasks that AI cannot perform autonomously in current clinical environments.