Check out the timestamps below to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.
On This Episode:
The VA CRNA practice has been a topic of importance for a while because the VA hospital is the largest healthcare system in the country and currently employs more than 1,100 CRNAs. The worry is that if it fails, it will have a huge domino effect across the country. So what direction is the Association of Veterans Affairs Nurse Anesthetists (AVANA) headed? Executive Director Peter Kallio, DNP, CRNA, APNP, FAANA, joins the show today to talk about the state of the VA and what they’re focused on improving for CRNAs.
Kallio has been involved with AVANA for more than 20 years and has a great understanding of the organization, its challenges, and the reason CRNAs are so passionate about serving the VA patients. The goal on this episode is to learn more about how the AVANA is trying to overcome some of the challenges and give CRNAs the opportunity to work to their full ability.
Here are some of the things you’ll learn on this show:
- The current state of the VA. [5:49]
- The reason why so many VAs have one-to-one supervision. [7:56]
- Why are there so many different types of models? [14:46]
- Why VA CRNAs choose to work in that environment. [18:04]
- The benefits that working for the government provides CRNAs. [20:57]
- What can we do to improve the situation? [26:50]
Check out the interview at the top of the page and use the timestamps to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed.
“There are some very bright things on the horizon for CRNA practice, we feel, because people are listening to what’s happening. And I certainly think that once people realize the fiscal damage that the current practice at a lot of facilities is providing, we’re hoping that message rings true. We shouldn’t have access problems anywhere in the VA from an anesthesia side ever because we have plenty of providers.”
-Peter Kallio, Executive Director of the AVANA
