You might have noticed a surge in articles and stories about the nurse anesthesia profession in recent days and weeks, and that’s because of the push for regulatory reform. Joe Rodriguez, CRNA, has always been one to push for change and advocate for healthcare policy reform, and that’s the position he’s in once again. He joins us on this episode to discuss the changing landscape in the AANA, why leadership needs to be a priority, and explains what reform can mean for the future.
Click the timestamps below to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.
On This Episode:
Just take a look around the internet these days and it won’t take you much time to find a story or an opinion on the changing landscape of the profession. The recent name change by the AANA has been met with criticism within the medical community, but that’s not the first time CRNAs have been met with opposition.
With this being such a polarizing topic right now, we wanted to get some perspective on what’s happening and why it’s such a pivotal time for the CRNA profession. To help us with this, we’ve asked Joe Rodriguez, CRNA, to be our guest once again because he’s been involved in numerous successful healthcare policy reforms and understands the positives and negatives to this process.
Politics are a subject that most businesses shy away from because it impacts the bottom line, but Rodriguez feels strongly about the benefits to reform and why it ultimately generates value for everyone involved.
So if you have any questions or aren’t up to date on what’s been happening around the nursing world, this episode should serve you well. This turned out to be a very detailed and in-depth discussion that was very informative.
As you get started on the episode, keep an ear out for these topics:
- Why we need to be talking about this and why it’s important for CRNAs
- Background on his practice in Arizona and what he’s worked to accomplish
- What it takes to make real change
- The importance of building relationships in this business.
- What fallout comes with advocacy.
- How he defines corporate responsibility.
- The amount of work and time it takes for CRNAs to advocate for the profession.
- What he feels is the value of the nurse anesthesiologist
- Why he feels like leadership is the biggest challenge facing the CRNA profession
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.
4:51 – Welcome in Joe
7:28 – Why we’re discussing this right now
10:55 – Background on Joe and his practice
14:44 – Diving into politics
18:22 – Building relationships
20:57 – How advocacy has impacted business
25:28 – Being scared of losing
30:35 – Corporate responsibility
34:30 – Time and effort it takes
38:36 – Collaboration is key
41:43 – Value in nurse anesthesiologist
44:44 – Biggest challenge facing CRNAs
48:42 – Message to folks that disagree with him
54:09 – Final thoughts
54:43 – Lightning round
“For the nurse anesthesiology movement, I think it’s been really, fundamentally, it’s been about making sure the right people understand who we are and what we do. And I think if that question was answered effectively already, well then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
-Joe Rodriguez, CRNA
