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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' sedation standards detail the differences between sedation and anesthesia. These standards, however, note that it is important that those applying sedation be trained to rescue patients who may slip from moderate sedation into deep sedation or from deep sedation into anesthesia.

The perioperative nurse's role in anesthesia management of the surgical patient begins with a preoperative patient assessment and ends when the patient recovers from the effects of anesthesia. An understanding of the following concepts enhances the perioperative nurse's ability to collaborate with anesthesia care providers in providing optimal care: anesthesia risk classifications, choice of anesthetic agents, importance of patient positioning, anesthesia induction and intubation techniques, levels of general anesthesia, inhalational agents, malignant hyperthermia, and patient monitoring parameters during local and regional anesthesia.

Registered nurses who are not CRNAs and are undertaking the administration and/or monitoring of patients receiving IV conscious sedation should consult their state board of nursing, undertake and document the additional education or training to monitor IV conscious sedation patients safety and document the successful achievement of competency in these services, and work with nursing, surgery, and anesthesia staff members to develop written protocols and policies. Written policies must include the provisions, if any, as prescribed by the state's board of nursing. The provisions of other state boards of nursing could be considered for possible inclusion. Policies should reflect nursing practice as described in the professional literature. Professional association position statements, such as those issued by the ANA and endorsed by AORN and other specialty associations and those issued by AANA, should be consulted. AORN's "Recommended practices for monitoring patients receiving intravenous conscious sedation" in the 1993 edition of AORN Standards and Recommended Practices for Perioperative Nursing should be incorporated into the institution policy as appropriate.