Celebrating CRNA Week in Pa.

It’s that time of year again. In just a few days, we will mark the start of the 21st annual National CRNA Week … or, as we like to call it here: 2020 CRNA Week in Pennsylvania. The weeklong celebration runs from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25.

As in past years, the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) will run an extended campaign focused on reminding people of the role Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) play in every health-care setting while informing residents, elected leaders and other stakeholders of the exceptionally high value and experience that our professionals bring to the care of their patients.

As the slogan for this year states: Your Comfort. Your Care. WE ARE THERE!

And we plan to be everywhere over the next few weeks! Listen for our ads on National Public Radio stations in your area, follow along with us on PANA’s social media pages, watch our videos featuring your peers, look for our ads on a variety of digital platforms, and help us share the story about the work we do.

The reality is that the nation’s nearly 54,000 CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists safely and cost-effectively provide more than 49 million anesthetics each year. We are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care --- and have been for more than 150 years --- providing comfort and care wherever anesthesia is delivered. Our commonwealth is a leader in educating and training, with 13 CRNA programs statewide.

It’s up to us to tell our story to help patients, hospital administrators, health-care professionals, policy-makers, and others become more familiar with CRNAs and students who never leave their patient’s side during a procedure.

So celebrate this week. You earned it. Happy CRNA Week in Pennsylvania!

Angelarosa G. DiDonato, DNP, CRNA

President

Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

Nurse Anesthetists Donate $10,000 to Ronald McDonald Houses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kurt Knaus, 717-571-5687

kurt@ceislermedia.com

Nurse Anesthetists Donate $10,000 to Ronald McDonald Houses

Grant Includes $4,000 for RMHC Mid-Penn’s

‘Rooms for Ronald’ Initiative in Central Pa.

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Blair County (Dec. 19, 2019) --- Pennsylvania’s nurse anesthetists are donating $4,000 to help the Mid-Penn Region of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) with a new initiative to support the local chapter’s efforts to evolve the charity and its resources.

The local grant is part of $10,000 that the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) is using to support each of the six RMHC houses in the commonwealth. Houses are located in Danville, Hershey, Pittsburgh and Scranton; Philadelphia has two houses. Each house will receive a $1,000 grant.

“PANA and Ronald McDonald House Charities share the same mission: to provide peace of mind and comfort to families and patients who require care,” said PANA President Angela DiDonato. “We want to do all we can to ensure families stay close during trying times, because it can ease strains and help with healing.”

RMHC provides families with housing near a hospitalized child.

In the Mid-Penn Division, however, where there is no home, the $4,000 will support the “Rooms for Ronald Program,” where the local chapter partners with participating hotels to provide families with rooming closest to the hospitals where their child is receiving care.

Helping a sick child fight their illness takes a big emotional toll on a family. Adding a financial strain can make it almost too much to bear. RMHC helps to address those problems, whether they involve housing that’s near a hospitalized child, the expense of staying together in another city, or even getting basic medical and dental care in a vulnerable community.

“This donation will directly assist our mission of keeping families together and near the care and resources they need as their children receive essential medical care,” RMHC Mid-Penn Board President Darin Tornatore said. “It also marks an important milestone in our evolution to possibly bring a home and/or signature initiative to central Pennsylvania, while simultaneously supporting a program that enables parents to stay close to their children in care.”

This is the second consecutive year that PANA has donated $10,000 to RMHC.

Pennsylvania has 13 nurse anesthetist programs, making it a leader nationally. Most of the programs are located in hospitals served by the six Ronald McDonald Houses.

PANA represents more than 3,700 certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and students (SRNAs) in Pennsylvania.

CRNAs are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, operating safely in every setting where anesthesia is administered, including: hospital operating and delivery rooms; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons; pain management centers and more.

The Mid-Penn Division serves 13 counties in central Pennsylvania, including Blair, Cambria and other central counties.

For more information, visit www.PANA.org or www.rmhcmidpenn.org.

###

Letter: Villanova University Urges Support for CRNA Designation, S.B. 325

SUPPORTING DESIGNATION LEGISLATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

Re: CRNA Professional Designation Legislation: S.B. 325 (Gordner)

October 1, 2019

Dear Senator/Representative:

Pennsylvania has more nurse anesthesia graduate programs than any other state in the U.S., attracting students from across the country to study in Pennsylvania to become certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). Many choose the highly competitive Villanova University Nurse Anesthesia Program, which is administered in partnership with the Crozer Chester Medical Center.

Pennsylvania remains one of just two states that fail to formally recognize CRNAs in statute or provide licensure as a CRNA. There is no definition for “Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist” under the state’s Professional Nursing Law, and there is no title designation for CRNAs and they are recognized only as registered nurses, not as CRNAs. This ignores the lengthy advanced education and training, required to become a CRNA.

Fortunately, in the final days of legislative session before the General Assembly adjourned for summer 2019, the state Senate approved a measure (S.B. 325) introduced by Sen. John Gordner that would formally recognize CRNAs under PA state law. This is the second consecutive legislative session that the measure passed the Senate. We are urging the House to do the same, immediately.

Nurse anesthetist programs like Villanova’s have seen firsthand the challenges our students and graduates face without title recognition in Pennsylvania. Many graduates opt to relocate to other states where CRNAs can practice to their full scope of their education and training. Without formal designation as a CRNA, our graduates who relocate to other states can wait as long as six months to become credentialed. In the absence of title recognition or CRNA license reciprocity, other state boards must verify that the graduates have met their state requirements to be licensed appropriately, which delays our graduates’ ability to work. Retention of these advanced professionals in Pennsylvania should be a priority for our commonwealth because of the outstanding health services that they provide thus improving the health and welfare of PA residents.

Nurse anesthetists must graduate with a minimum of a master’s degree from a nurse anesthesia accredited program, complete greater than 2,000 hours of clinical experience in anesthesia practice and pass a national certification exam in order to practice. The average nurse anesthetist completes 9,000 clinical hours of clinical training, including the clinical ICU experience as an RN required to enter CRNA training, the clinical experience obtained in an undergraduate nursing curriculum, and the clinical anesthesia training in a nurse anesthesia program. CRNAs are required to be nationally certified and must be recertified every four years, meeting strict continuing education standards.

Lack of title recognition in PA presents significant barriers for CRNAs in Pennsylvania who are active military personnel or who volunteer in emergency response teams. Pennsylvania CRNAs who are active military have to secure CRNA licensure in another state to serve as a CRNA in an active duty role of the armed forces. This is unacceptable because it adds additional fees and continuing education requirements to maintain licensure in another state to be eligible serve in our military. Nurse anesthetists have been the primary providers of anesthesia care to U.S. military personnel on the front lines since World War I, and remain the primary anesthesia providers in austere combat theaters. Yet, Pennsylvania’s battle-tested CRNAs are at a distinct disadvantage without CRNA licensure in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania CRNAs cannot assist as part of emergency response teams in other states because they lack CRNA title designation in Pennsylvania, which diminishes the role our commonwealth can play in aiding states affected by hurricanes, floods or other natural disasters.

The CRNA graduates from Villanova University / CCMC Nurse Anesthesia Program are highly-qualified clinicians who are recruited across the country. CRNAs have been providing superior anesthesia care for more than 150 years and empirical evidence demonstrates there is no difference in the quality of anesthesia care when provided by CRNAs or physicians, independently, or together in a team model.

The CRNAs in Pennsylvania need title recognition and we urge you to both support S.B. 325 and urge immediate action by the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

Donna S. Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN

Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor

Villanova University

M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing