A report on the AANA Manpower Study--Part I

Future reports to be released by the Center for Cybernetic Studies will present the occupational structure of the nurse anesthetist and will combine demographic data with a task analysis of the profession. This report has selected some variables of interest and analyzed them. Most important, however, is the intended flexibility that this data based information system should offer. For example, human resource modeling will forecast the number of nurse anesthetists who remain in or leave a given region. This modeling capability could aid schools of anesthesia in their curriculum planning by showing which tasks are predominant in a given location. It could also aid members by providing pertinent employment information. Future reports will present a scenario to exemplify how a data based information system can derive a series of human resource models. The purpose of such an exercise is to develop for the AANA the planning methods some of the larger corporations are already utilizing. The difference, of course, is that these planning methods could be used by the professional association of nurse anesthetists for the advantage of its members. This article has presented a short review of the Manpower Study. We welcome your ideas and suggestions to aid us in making future analyses of this information.