Materials and methods:

Data collection was done through a non-systematic bibliographic search, a survey of nurses from the surgical block area in eight public and private institutions in the country, and a semi-directed survey of Cap. (M) Karina Rando, Former Assistant Professor of the Chair of Anesthesiology (UDELAR) and Head of the Anesthesiology Services of the Central Hospital of the Armed Forces and the National Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology.

Results:

From the data collected we can affirm that in Uruguay the education and training of the nurse specialized in anesthesiology is not adequate. There is no formal education or specialized technicature and informal education occurs in a heterogeneous way in different institutions. Non-specialized nursing is the one who mostly fulfills the role of anesthesia assistant and education is incidental and informal, usually taught by Surgical Block Graduates or anesthesiologists.

Conclusions:

Although there are defined roles in Latin America for Anesthesia Assistants, there is no education in Uruguay according to the requirements required in these roles.

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