Shawna Alfano, MSN, RN, administrator and director of nursing of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based BASS Surgery Center, joined Becker's to discuss the biggest lesson her team learned this year.
Editor's note: This response was edited lightly for clarity and length.
Shawna Alfano: In terms of the biggest lessons learned this year, I would say that has to land with having an anesthesia backup plan, when there could be immediate shortages of coverage combined with learning the critical role CRNA's may be playing in the future of ASC's. Without anesthesia, it really does not matter whether a center can run successfully, from a financial standpoint, as you are not running anything without the proper medical staff to perform the cases.