AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MODERATE SEDATION NURSES

Is a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act.

The American Association of Moderate Sedation Nurses is an educational organization and is organized and shall be organized exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or a related section of a successor statute, and for the benefit of the American Association of Moderate Sedation Nurses and its constituents.  In every case and in every act and in pursuit of or adoption of any policy or method, or in practice or association, the American Association of Moderate Sedation Nurses does and shall do so as a free organization, always retaining its sovereignty and independence.

AAMSN is in partnership with Healthy Visions and www.healthyvisions.net for training materials, workshops and administrative support.  Healthy Visions is a privately owned business established in 1999.

AAMSN is in partnership with Healthy Visions and www.sedationcertification.com for training materials, workshops and administrative support.  Healthy Visions is a privately owned business established in 1999 and an approver of Nurse Continuing Education.

The mission of the AAMSN is to:

• Foster high standards of nursing practice.
• Advance health care quality promoting safe and effective sedation.
• Support the professional development of nurses in the promotion of patient safety.
• AAMSN shall be unrestricted by consideration of nationality, race, color, creed, religion, sex or age.

The American Association of Moderate Sedation Nurses (AAMSN) membership fosters its mission to promote high standards of nursing practice; advance healthcare quality and access for all populations; support the professional development of nurses; and promote the economic and general welfare of nurses.

Nurses are involved with managing the nursing care of patients receiving sedation or analgesic medications while undergoing invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Medication administration, patient monitoring, discharge instructions, family teaching and patient safety concerns are all nursing care critical elements of patients undergoing sedation.

The AAMSN was founded in April 2008 to foster patient safety through an education and communication resource for non-anesthetist RNs.  The 1980’s advent of same day surgery centers and the rise in office based procedures that required sedation rose dramatically. Determining what constituted sedation and what constituted anesthesia createdpolitical, legal and ethical dilemmas among anesthesia providers and physicians over determining the patient ASA status and the drugs that would be used for sedation. Many states and nursing organizations are taking a passive role waiting for someone to take the lead in filling this massive void.  AAMSN is stepping forward to offer guidelines and resources for nurses who have had no additional training to give sedation with drugs they may not be familiar with.  

AAMSN has a potential growth supported by the many nursing organizations that utilize sedation as a part of their specialty. The following nursing organizations are an example of nursing organizations that sedation is a factor; the Association of Operating Room Nurses, Emergency Room Nurse, Society of Gastroenterology Nurses, Critical Care Nurses, Pediatric Nurses and the Society of Urologic Nurses

AAMSN is the only organization dedicated to patient safety by setting standards for non-anesthetist nursing sedation.  Through affiliation with Healthy Visions Seminars sedation certification and continuing education credits are available at www.sedationcertification.com and www.mycecredit.com

The functions of the American Association of Moderate Sedation Nurses shall be to:

1. Promote adherence to ANA, AANA and ASA standards and guide lines for Registered Nurses who practice conscious sedation and are NOT Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.
2. Promote state Boards of Nursing scope of practice and legal intention in the administration of conscious sedation by non-anesthetist nurses.
3. Promote ANA Code of Ethics;
4. Provide for the continuing professional and educational development of practitioners;
5. Represent and speak for the nursing profession;
6. Assume an active role as consumer health advocate;
7. Collaborate with the other recognized organizations concerning moderate sedation

Board of Directors:
President/ Treasurer Karen Eslinger