AANA

Courage to Lead: 2010-11 AANA President Paul Santoro, CRNA, MS

It has been more than a decade since Paul Santoro, CRNA, MS, served as the president of the AANA, but his impact on the organization can still be seen today. In this installment of our Courage to Lead series, we were finally able to catch up with Paul to talk about a busy year at the AANA, which included the new Affordable Care Act, time spent on the elimination of physician supervision under Part A of Medicare, the 50 state service strategy, and much more.

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AANA Launches Rm8 Initiative to Support CRNAs & Healthcare Innovation

Board members Tracy Young, CRNA, MBA and Jeff Molter, MSN, MBA, CRNA sat down with us at the AANA Annual Congress in Seattle to explain the new Rm8 innovation lab and what they hope it provides CRNAs around the country.

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How Does the AANA Attract More Young Members? Let’s Ask Two Students

During our trip to the mid-year assembly recently, Sharon and Tracy Castleman, DNP, CRNA, APN-A, FAANA were having a conversation about declining student membership at the AANA when they met Haley Johnson and Kelby Stanko, who are both students at Saint Vincent College Excela Health School of Nurse Anesthesia. We decided to spend time with both of these bright, young ladies to learn more about their experience attending this AANA event, being part of the mentorship program, and how they plan to help spread that positive message with other students.

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Early Anesthesia: Dagmar Nelson and Nurse Anesthesia After the Trial (Part 2)

In part two, we’ll go on an exploration to uncover the untold chapters of Dagmar’s post trial years and witness how her victory reshaped the landscape of nurse anesthesia, breaking down barriers and paving the way for countless nurse anesthetists who followed in her footsteps. Join us as we delve into part two of our conversation about Dagmar Nelson with show historians Nancy and Sandy.

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Early Anesthesia: The Life and Trial of Dagmar Nelson (Part 1)

Most people know about Dagmar Nelson in terms of her being involved in the only court trial ever to test the legality of nurses administering anesthesia, but there’s much more to her than just that. We’ll lean on Nancy Bruton-Maree, CRNA, and Sandy Ouellette, CRNA to learn more about how amazing she was as a woman and what happened at the trial.

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Ep 250: Strengthening Advocacy Efforts with the AANA’s New Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer Ingrida Lusis

We had a chance to spend some time with the new AANA Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer Ingrida Lusis during our time at the mid-year assembly to learn more about her background in government affairs and how she plans to strengthen advocacy by bringing state and federal affairs all under one umbrella. Join Sharon and guest host Tracy Castleman, CRNA, as we go on the offensive with our newest advocacy leader.

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Ep 248: Hear from the Candidates for 2023-24 AANA Board of Directors

Voting started this week for the next round of AANA Board of Directors elections, and we want to help you get to know your candidates a little better. Thanks to our friends at the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, we will share the opening statements from the Board of Director Candidates’ Forum during the Mid-Year Assembly so you can hear first-hand from each of the talented CRNAs running for office.

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Ep 235: 2023 AANA Update with CEO, Bill Bruce

Bill Bruce, MBA, CAE, took over as the CEO of the AANA last summer so we caught up with him to get an update on how the organization has progressed over his first eight months. It’s already been a busy term already with staffing changes and the AANA moving into a new building, but there are many policy issues to be managed and addressed as well. Join us as we find out what’s happening inside the AANA and how the organization is tackling key issues.

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Ep 234: The State of Nursing Today with Becky Patton

We focus quite a bit on specific people or issues in nursing, but it’s always great to take a few steps back and take a high-level view of the profession. Today we’re excited to welcome someone who has been incredibly influential and has used that position to give back through service and endowment. Becky Patton, DNP, RN, CNOR, FAAN joins the show to give us a thorough assessment of the state of nursing today and address some of the industry’s key questions and challenges.

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Ep 228: Betty Lank’s Role in Boston Children’s Hospital

The 20th century was filled with advancements in nursing and anesthesia with much of the innovation coming in the world of pediatrics. One of the women who had a huge hand in improving the care for children was Betty Lank, who worked as the Chief Nurse Anesthetist at Boston Children’s Hospital for decades. Today we’ll look back and her life and career with Nancy Bruton-Maree, CRNA, and Sandy Ouellette, CRNA and try to capture the im-pact she made on a hospital and a profession.

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Ep 214: Where is VA CRNA Practice Headed?

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?

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Ep 213: Moral Injury and Nurse Anesthesia

With the increased distress and rationing of care that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of Moral Injury (MI) has started to garner much more attention in the world of healthcare. This repeated conflict between an individual’s morality and the management of care causes a deep emotional wound that often drives workers out of the profession altogether. Jerry Hogan, DNSc, CRNA wrote an article about this subject, so we’ve asked him to explain the effects of MI and how CRNAs can resolve this conflict.

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Ep 212: Thankful for the AANA and Its Ongoing Efforts for CRNAs

It hasn’t been the easiest year for a lot of people, but we know there’s still plenty to be grateful for as we approach another Thanksgiving. Specifically, we wanted to shine the light on the AANA and everything they do for our profession each year. New AANA President Angie Mund, DNP, CRNA is a friend of the show and someone we appreciate quite a bit so we wanted to spend some time with her on this holiday to talk about everything she’s hoping to accomplish over the next year.

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Ep 210: The Dangers of Button Batteries & the Immediate Care Required

When Sharon visited the NCANA meeting in Wilmington, she sat through a lecture full of people with children and grandchildren that were panicked listening to the speaker. It was eye-opening and something we wanted to bring awareness to because it can be avoided. The person speaking that day was Emily Funk, DNP, CRNA and we asked her to come on to talk to us about the danger of button batteries and the harm they can cause almost immediately when ingested.

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Ep 209: Tips for Getting the Right CRNA Job with Lt. Col. (ret) Tom Davis

CRNAs continue to be in high demand so finding a job isn’t always the challenge, but how do you go about identifying and landing the right job? Thomas Davis, DNAP, MAE, CRNA is an Air Force-trained CRNA who learned a lot about leadership during his time in the military and has used that to start ProSynEx Authentic Leadership. Today we’ll dive into the hiring process and share tips for any CRNA exploring new employment so that you have the best chance at landing that perfect job.

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Ep 207: Normalization of Deviance and Production Pressure for CRNAs

When you look at how critical mistakes happen in the workplace, the normalization of deviance is often the culprit. You can find examples of this in all different areas of life, but CRNAs frequently face the pressure of doing things as fast as we can to meet the demands of production pressure. Today we want to explore this idea of normalization of deviance with Randy Cornelius, DNP, ARNP, CRNA, and discuss how CRNAs can work to overcome this.

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Ep 206: From the OR to the C-Suite with Randy Moore

Randy Moore, DNP, MBA, CRNA, left his role as the AANA CEO about a year ago to take over as Chief Anesthetist Officer at NorthStar Anesthesia. It was a little surprising because it seemed like a great long-term position, but the reasons for his departure make sense when you hear him explain his vision moving forward. That’s why we’ve invited our friend and colleague onto the show to catch up on this huge career change.

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Ep 204: CRNA Strong – Inspirational Stories from Four CRNAs

  Check out the timestamps below to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed. On This Episode: Our profession is filled with incredible individuals who are resourceful and know how to make the most out of whatever comes their way in the operating room and in life. During our time at the AANA…

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Ep 201: Why Member Engagement from Everyday CRNAs Is Vital to the Health of the AANA

  Check out the timestamps below to help you navigate through the many topics we discussed. On This Episode: Every member of the AANA is taking an active approach by paying dues and being a part of the organization, but the success of the AANA relies on participation by each and every CRNA. On this…

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Ep 199: Olive Berger, CRNA – Founding Member of the AANA

The early years of anesthesia were a time when nurses proved just how valuable they were as this new world was being explored. Olive Berger, CRNA was one of the women that rose to the occasion and helped shape the profession through her work with ‘blue babies’ and with the AANA. Today we look back on her career with show historians Nancy Bruton-Maree, CRNA and Sandy Ouellette, CRNA.

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