Spring Boards Questions
A patient with diabetic nephropathy is undergoing a radiologic procedure with radiocontrast dye under general anesthesia. What actions by the anesthesia provider will limit the renal effects of the dye? Administration of ketorolac (Toradol) Pre-hydration with IV fluids Pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine Use of hypotensive technique During the luteal phase of [...]
VANA By The Numbers
Here’s a quick look by the numbers at some of the action VANA members have been up to this year: Throughout the General Assembly session in 2023, 318 VANA members sent nearly 900 letters to their Delegates and Senators to stop AA legislation and promote VANA’s bill to end supervision. [...]
VANA Legislative Summary
The 2023 Virginia General Assembly began in the middle of January and finished on February 25, 2023. In that short 45-day time period, hundreds of bills were heard. And while VANA monitored all of the bills for impacts on Virginia’s CRNAs, the following outlines those bills we considered of priority [...]
Where in the World are VANA CRNAs
This month, VANA spoke with Nancy Harrison, a staff nurse anesthetist at University of Virginia in Charlottesville about her experiences traveling abroad providing medical care internationally. If you would like to share your experience on a medical mission trip with The Monitor for an upcoming edition, please reach out to [...]
VANA and the Military: Derek Owens
For this edition of The Monitor, the VANA Communications Committee spoke to Derek Owens about his journey within the military as a CRNA and most recently, his service as an instructor at Mary Baldwin University. If you would like to share your military or instructional experience with The Monitor, please [...]
Recent Retirees: Louise Hershkowitz
This month, Louise Hershkowitz shared her retirement story with The Monitor. If you have retired recently and want to share your story, or how you’re still engaged in VANA, please reach out to Katie Jesaitis at [email protected]. When I retired from the clinical practice of nurse anesthesia at the end [...]
New Graduates: Brittany Pierce
Brittany Pierce graduated from VCU’s nurse anesthesia program in December of 2021. Currently, Brittany works for VCU’s health system. As a 17-year-old senior in high school, I was sitting in church when I decided that I wanted to be a CRNA. One of the members of the church, a nurse [...]
VANA Speaks: A conversation with Inova Health Senior Vice President, Susan Carroll
This month, VANA sat down with the Senior Vice-President of Inova Health, Susan Carroll, to talk about leadership, mentorship and the constantly changing healthcare landscape in Virginia. We’re grateful to Susan for her time and look forward to VANA members learning more from our conversation. Can you tell us a [...]
AA budget amendment update
We updated you previously that the Senate Finance Committee had acted under the cover of darkness to insert a line item into the budget that tasked the Board of Medicine with creating preliminary requirements for AAs later this year. We wanted to provide you with the latest information on what [...]
Why Our Children Deserve Safe Dental Anesthesia Care
By Cathy A. Harrison, DNAP, CRNA During February, National Children’s Dental Health Month, the Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists reminds parents that it is important not only to know how to keep your child’s teeth healthy, but also to ensure that they have access to safe dental care. I am [...]