PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate the implementation of nursing actions in anesthesia guided by the Patient Safety Checklist: Nursing Anesthetic Procedure and the difficulties in performing patient care. DesignA cross-sectional study. MethodsNursing actions were evaluated in 282 anesthetic procedures of adult patients undergoing general anesthesia in three periods of anesthesia in a private hospital operating room in Brazil, from January to July 2018. The evaluated outcomes were the number of items performed by nurses during anesthesia periods and limitations for applying the Patient Safety Checklist: Nursing Anesthetic Procedure instrument. FindingsExecution of the nursing actions presented a mean percentage of 85.6, highlighting the anesthetic induction stage and differences between the periods before induction and reversal. The main items not performed in evaluating the nursing care in anesthesia were as follows: the anesthesia equipment test (84; 29.78%) in the preinduction period; the evaluation of adequate ventilation (132; 46.81%) in the induction period; and the tracheal aspiration assistance (62; 21.98%) during reversal. Receiving a call from another room with care interruption was highlighted among the nurses' justifications for not performing the activities and difficulty in continuing care because of shift change. ConclusionsThe execution of nursing care actions in anesthesia mainly occurred during the period related to induction, with limitations because of dimensioning of operating rooms and simultaneous procedures.