Beyond Technical Tasks: Making Nursing Care Visible in Nurse Anaesthesia Practice—A Focused Ethnography

Aim To explore how nursing care is enacted in daily nurse anaesthesia practice when caring for patients requiring anaesthesia services. Design A focused ethnography. Methods The study involved non‐participant observation of nine nurse anaesthetists totalling 63 h, along with nine semi‐structured individual interviews at a Norwegian university hospital. Data were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis. Findings The overarching theme, Striving to provide holistic nursing care , captured how NAs integrate clinical, technological, relational and organisational competencies in complex, high‐risk environments while navigating tensions between efficiency demands and person‐centred care principles. Conclusion Nursing care in nurse anaesthesia practice is enacted through the continuous integration of clinical, technological, relational and organisational competencies. While nurse anaesthetists strive to provide holistic, person‐centred care, practice is shaped by tensions between efficiency demands, organisational constraints and patient‐centred priorities. Despite these challenges, nurse anaesthetists play a key role in maintaining patient safety, continuity of care and high‐quality anaesthesia services. Implications for the Profession and Patient Care This study sheds light on the often‐overlooked relational, holistic, and coordinative dimensions of nurse anaesthesia practice. By making these contributions more visible, the findings may support service development, enhance collaborative models of care, and strengthen the utilisation of nursing expertise in anaesthesia services. The findings also highlight the broad scope of nurse anaesthesia practice and may inform future professional, organisational, educational, and workforce‐related discussions. Impact This study contributes to a broader reconceptualisation of nurse anaesthesia practice, with relevance for education, leadership and quality of care, and may inform countries seeking to integrate nurse anaesthetists to improve access to safe anaesthesia care. Reporting Method The Standard for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist was used to enhance trustworthiness and transparency. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.