Incoming AANA President: Jan Setnor
This month, VANA spoke with Jan Setnor, MSN, CRNA, Col (Ret) USAFR, NC, incoming president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) about her election, experience testifying before Congress, and the year ahead.
Let’s start by talking about your AANA election and why you felt it was so important to represent CRNAs as AANA President:
It’s a way of giving back! AANA and VANA are both incredibly supportive of our practice, and of students getting involved in the work that we’re doing. This year I retired from full time practice to be able to devote more time and attention to my role as AANA President-Elect, but I’ve always volunteered when I’ve had the time and ability, and when my family is in a place where their schedules allow me to spend more energy on my passions. This is my way of giving back and utilizing some of the skills I’ve learned throughout my career in the Air Force, as a CRNA, and throughout my time in VANA.
Can you share more about your responsibilities and goals as AANA President-Elect and President?
Coming into this position I won’t be empty handed – AANA has a strategic plan that is re-evaluated every three years. Furthermore, the FY24 AANA board is one of the strongest boards I’ve ever served on, so we’re in a good place to make progress. This year is the third year of the current strategic plan, so I had the opportunity to participate with the planning meetings during the development of our next three-year plan. We’re evaluating places where we’ve made progress and identifying spots where we could have done more during our last plan so we can focus on those areas during our next three years. We want to continue to grow and move items that aren’t as important to the back burner, so we don’t spend energy on items that no longer serve our purposes. Being able to work with a group that is so amazing – it’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling. Have I used the word amazing enough here?!?
Do you have any specific goals you’re planning to focus on throughout the next strategic plan?
Really, my goal is to grow the board. Every one of our board members has the potential to be the next president and they are each focused on how to make things better for our members. As a member-centric organization, we bring out the best in each other. We aim to include every one of our board members in our decision-making processes to ensure the strongest process and the best outcomes for members, and right now, we’re successful in that.
We’re working for all 50 states and Guam, so our strategic plan needs to serve every one of those communities, not just one. It’s a huge undertaking but one that we’re excited about. It’s a completely different experience serving as a national leader than it is serving as a state leader, so it’s critical that our national leaders don’t begin their work with a personal agenda to serve primarily the communities from which they came.
At the state level, leaders are certainly strategic on behalf of their states, but they also play a critical role in implementing strategy and operationally executing any plan. I love the implementation part of a strategy but couldn’t possibly effectively create unique operations and execution plans for member states across the country. It’s important that, at the national level, the AANA board sticks to ideas that will work for all 50 states and that are critical to moving the goals and mission of AANA forward, without getting lost in the details of how any one state will execute on those ideas. That transition is difficult.
How can VANA membership support AANA and vice-versa?
AANA is here to support VANA and Virginia CRNAs! So, the best way to be supportive of our work is to keep us informed of what your teams are up to, the legislation you’re introducing and supporting, and any events you’re hosting, so we can support your work and promote it more broadly.
Keeping us up to date on legislation also guarantees that we won’t inadvertently hurt you in some way through our own legislation or similar work in other states. We can also share best practices: if a state is doing something and finding great success, we want to be able to share it broadly and replicate it wherever possible.
Can you share about your recent experience testifying before the House VA Committee Subcommittee on Health when you visited Congress earlier this year?
It was fun! AANA was absolutely incredible throughout my testimony experience. They put together some talking points and we practiced over and over again. I had five minutes to give a speech, so we wrote it and picked it apart until we had it exactly the way we wanted it, down to the second. They also set me up in front of a panel so I could practice responding to both friendly and unfriendly questions. I needed to learn how to pivot my answers, how to handle being interrupted and still get my message across, and how to regroup when Members of Congress try to throw me off. After all of my prep, I’m proud to say I had a really positive experience.
Sitting next to the head of the American Medical Association (a physician anesthesiologist) and the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, it was absolutely infuriating to hear lie after lie coming from them, and then it was enormously gratifying to be able to publicly correct their fabrications and have members of Congress then take them to task for their outright deceptive testimony. However, there is a long history of members of Congress speaking one way and then voting another, so no one should feel too good about winning one battle before the end of the war. Remember…this fight is about people who want to line their pockets with your money…so the war will continue for the foreseeable future.
Why is it important for VANA members to speak with their legislators about the work VANA and AANA are doing?
Because our antagonists are lying! As CRNAs, we have to constantly defend our profession and what we do, and those who are trying to steal from us are spreading disinformation and lies about our skillsets, our training, and more. If we don’t get our honest and accurate message out there, someone else’s lies will win by default.
It’s important that we share our stories as widely and broadly as possible. There’s an expression, “if you’re not sitting at the table, you’re probably part of the meal,” In other words, if we aren’t educating legislators, someone else is persuading them with lies instead. Share your stories with legislators! By keeping it simple and connecting on a human level, we give our legislators the opportunity to understand why it’s important for each of us to succeed as fully as possible.
How has your military background helped you throughout your time as a CRNA and as a healthcare advocate?
One of the most consequential things I learned during my time in the military, that was missing during my CRNA and nursing training, was the focus on how to become a leader. Leadership doesn’t just happen. Aside from the character qualities required, there are actually tangible mechanics involved. Things like never asking people to do things you yourself would be unwilling to do…always praising in public and reproaching in private…always working harder than what you require of others…always being the first one in and the last one out…and always remembering that there is ONLY ONE true form of leadership, that is, leadership by example. The people who you aspire to lead will not do what you tell them to do, they will do exactly what they see you doing. CRNAs are leaders. In the military, one of the first experiences we each go through is being identified to take over a particular leadership role. Throughout that process, we focus on very specific leadership skills that allow us to excel when working with new teams of varying ages and skillsets. As a CRNA, a VANA member, and now an AANA leader, I’ve tried to implement those same skills often. Finally, in our profession, just like in the military, the first duty of a leader is to train other leaders. Failing to do that, will cost our profession to lose every gain we make.
People are afraid to join a group because they think we’re going to put them to work and they’ll be working long hours. It’s so important to emphasize balance in leadership – we give more when we have more to give. I couldn’t “lead” as much when my kids were young, but my organizations were happy to have an hour of my time when I was able to give it. Then, when my kids were out of the house and I was ready to step up my service, I understood the work VANA was doing and established connections and was able to build to a larger leadership role. It’s never too late to be a leader or an advocate, and any time you can give is the right amount.
What would you say to someone considering volunteering with VANA?
DO IT!!! Find something you’re interested in being involved in! You don’t need to volunteer dozens of hours – if you can just help by making a few phone calls or pitch in for a few minutes, that lightens the load for all other VANA members and can have a huge impact. VANA has committees for every interest, so look on the website and reach out to the committee chair to sit in on a committee meeting. Every bit helps!
Anything else you’d like to share with VANA membership?
I’ve been working with VANA for my entire anesthesia career. I’m so fortunate to have made my mistakes, learned from them and grown with VANA. From the day I graduated to the day I retired, I’ve been a VANA member. I’m so grateful to be part of such an amazing organization. VANA has been pivotal in the trajectory of my life and I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.
Jan Setnor | President-Elect
