Advocacy is the driving force behind elevating our profession and continuing to push nurse anesthetists and CRNAs forward. One of the key people advocating for us is Lorraine Jordan, PhD, CRNA, CAE, FAAN. As the Chief Advocacy Officer for the AANA and the CEO of the AANA Foundation, Dr. Jordan works tirelessly for her peers and devotes countless hours to research that benefits us all. Today we want to spotlight the work she’s doing and learn more about the goals and purpose of the AANA Foundation as it leads us into the future.
Click the timestamps below to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.
On This Episode:
The AANA provides a wide range of resources, tools, and support for CRNAs across the country, but their role in the advocacy of our profession doesn’t get as much attention.
On this episode of Beyond the Mask, we want to spotlight this side of the organization along with the role the AANA Foundation plays. To do that, we invited Lorraine Jordan, PhD, CRNA, CAE, FAAN, onto the show. She’s the Chief Advocacy Officer for the AANA and the CEO of the AANA Foundation, and devotes her life to growing and elevating nurse anesthetists.
The majority of our conversation will deal with the AANA Foundation, which focuses on funding education and research to support nurse anesthesia, but we’ll also learn more about her day-to-day role as the Chief Advocacy Officer.
We stress the importance of advocacy quite often on this show, and today’s episode should help give CRNAs a better perspective on the reasons why this is critical. Without this work, it’s impossible to substantiate the nurse anesthetists practice nor can we move ourselves forward in the health policy world. That’s why donating to the AANA Foundation is an investment in your future.
So as you get started on the episode, keep an ear out for these topics:
- Everything that her role includes in this role with the AANA.
- What the purpose of the AANA Foundation is and how it’s funded.
- The importance of the research and some of the studies they’ve done.
- CRNA and SRNA contributions are a critical piece of funding.
- What they have planned for the 40th
- The Friends for Life program and ways to donate.
- How they’re trying to align the organization with the new administration in DC.
- What they’re focused on from a state advocacy level.
- The opportunities that exist for CRNAs to help at a grassroots level.
Check it out the interview at the top of the page and use the timestamps to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.
2:46 – Welcome in Lorraine
3:03 – Everything she does with the AANA
6:09 – What is the Foundation’s purpose?
9:48 – The research
14:44 – How expensive these studies are
16:50 – Spending
18:33 – Other methods for funding
19:53 – 40th Anniversary
21:42 – Friends for Life program
25:22 – Her role as Chief Advocacy Officer
29:21 – State advocacy issues
30:33 – Opportunities for CRNAs to help
33:19 – What drives Lorraine
36:05 – Lightning Round
“My role and my jobs – both my jobs – really fit well together at moving our profession forward as CRNAs. I feel that it’s an extremely valuable position and I truly enjoy it. It allows me to engage in all facets of the organization.”
-AANA Foundation CEO Lorraine Jordan, PhD, CRNA, CAE, FAAN
