CRNAs in the News: Prolung Ngin Taking on Diverse Patient Challenges in the APP Field

Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight: Certified registered nurse anesthetist shares perspective on caring for diverse patients

Advanced practice providers (APPs) play an integral role in meeting the needs of Penn State Health’s increasingly diverse patient populations. With their advanced training and credentials, these professionals expand access to high-quality care, build trust with patients and are a valuable aspect of patients’ overall experience.

Posted April 11, 2023 by Penn State Health News

Prolung Ngin, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said she was inspired to become a health care practitioner at a young age when she was her mother’s interpreter during her doctor’s visits and hospitalizations. Her family had fled Cambodia as political refugees and settled in the United States, where Ngin said she admired the doctors and nurses who cared for her mother. That motivated her to learn to care for her mother and others as well.

Ngin studied to become a nurse at Villanova University near Philadelphia and planned to become a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner. Part of her pediatric critical care transport training involved performing advanced airway management in the operating room. Her interactions with other CRNAs piqued her interest in pursuing certification in the field, which she said were a natural fit with her experience in pediatric critical care and transport.

A CRNA specialty, Ngin added, “allows a marriage of advanced critical care skills, the technical skills, advanced knowledge and skill sets required to take of care of patients in a variety of settings.”

After graduating from the nurse anesthesia program in 2010, Ngin began working at Hershey Medical Center, where she said she enjoys providing care to its diverse patient population.

ADDRESSING DIVERSITY CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD

Diversity in the nurse anesthetist field was challenging when she was enrolled in the anesthesia program at Villanova, Ngin said. At that time 85% of the students were white, 14% were Asian and there was no Black or Latino representation in the program. She compared those statistics to the current composition of CRNAs at Penn State Health, which is predominantly white, with 6% Asian and 8% Black CRNAs but no Latino representation.

Reflecting on the impact of diversity in her field, Ngin shared that she feels socially isolated from time to time and “invisible” as a minority female. Because English is her second language, she experiences occasional microaggressions, she said.

While there is always room for improvement, “I think it’s been very positive that there is a systemwide push for inclusion and diversity at Penn State Health,” Ngin said. “By doing this, we are meeting the need of our growing diverse patient population. I think we are moving in a good direction.”

One way Penn State Health is helping to meet the needs of its diverse patients is by being flexible with its medical processes, allowing families to be a part of their child’s care in the hospital. She also noted the health system’s effort to address language barrier challenges through certified interpreters, appreciating different cultural beliefs and traditions and providing equitable care to all, no matter their socioeconomic background.

The best approach to addressing diversity issues, Ngin said, is by “leaders and educators continuing to promote a culture of acceptance, understanding and empathy toward diverse individuals, staff and patients.”

HOW TO BECOME A CRNA

After CRNAs earn a bachelor’s degree, become a registered nurse and gain experience in critical care, they must also earn either a doctorate in nursing practice or in nurse anesthesia practice and pass a national board certification exam before obtaining a license to practice in their state.

PATIENT CARE RESPONSIBILITIES

CRNA patient care responsibilities include:

• Administering anesthesia before, during and after surgery

• Monitoring a patient’s response to anesthesia

• Educate patients before and after they receive anesthesia

The advance practice providers at Penn State Health include certified registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists. Rigorously trained and credentialed, APPs work collaboratively with other health care providers to offer patients the highest level of care possible. This is the second feature in our APP Spotlight series. See the March APP Spotlight feature on nurse practitioners.

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CRNAs in the News: John Borza, NY City Marathoner

John Borza, a CRNA from Pittsburgh, recently became a New York City marathoner. John ran in a shirt that represented PANA and CRNAs; and in support of this sponsorship, PANA made a $2,500 donation to the American Heart Association in John’s name.

🫀 In July of 2017, John Borza became a heart attack survivor. The hardworking CRNA realized committing to bettering his health and wellness was not only a must, but a gift. John’s determination led him through cardiac rehabilitation, and meeting with a nutritionist, to strengthen his commitment to being “focused on staying healthy to be able to enjoy the rest of my life,” and he’s done just that.

While John has a fierce dedication to developing his own health and wellness, he is also dedicated to improving the health and wellness of others. Throughout his marathon training, John was tallying up miles to take to NYC and donations from his community to give the American Heart Association.

🎽 John explains that "as a heart attack survivor, it's amazing to consider myself part of the American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Marathon Team in the New York City Marathon. Thanks to PANA, a donation in my name to the American Heart Association means so much." The donation PANA made will contribute to helping fund medical breakthroughs, programs advancing cardiovascular health, and life-saving research.

John’s devotion demonstrates the fundamentals PANA proudly upholds and promotes to its member CRNAs and SRNAs:

“Supporting each other in our wellness journeys and prioritizing our mental health and wellness is why being part of an organization like PANA is so incredible.”

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PHOTO GALLERY

PANA proudly recognizes John’s contributions, advancements, and improvements to his own and others’ health and wellness. We are happy to support John and the CRNA profession. Congratulations, John!

Young Eagle program could spark a lifelong love of the air

WENDY DOHERTY FOR THE EXPRESS | June 27, 2022

Abe, age 5, is not old enough to become a Young Eagle yet, but he did get to sit in the cockpit of a Maule M-5. Pilot Randy Kilmer shows him some fine points of the instrumentation. 📷: WENDY DOHERTY/FOR THE EXPRESS

LOCK HAVEN — Imagine taking off in a four-seater plane for the very first time. Where is the door? What kind of seats are these? Can I fly the plane? Your stomach feels the way it does at the start of a roller-coaster ride, doesn’t it?

Now imagine that you are 8 years old.

You’d get a real kick out of the experience, no doubt.

Pilots get a kick out of it, too. They want to share their love for flying, and one way they can is to take kids and teens up into the wild blue yonder for the very first time. These fun, free flights for youth ages 8 through 17 were offered Saturday at the Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven Fly-In, through the nationwide Young Eagles program.

The registration table in front of Piper Aviation Museum was swamped at 10 a.m., but once families were signed in, a number of small planes, plus a helicopter, started taking new Young Eagles on their first flights.

The thrill of flying can hook you, and pilots like to reminisce about the moment they knew they would spend as much of their lives as possible in the air. Moments like that often take place during an earth-bound human’s first experience in the sky, particularly in a small plane.

Years from now, will Melanie Saunders be one of these pilots?

Melanie, age 11, and her sister, Violet, age 8, had their first such adventure in a special plane, the museum’s PA-22 Tri-Pacer, a fabric plane built right here in the mid 50s. The pilot, Eric Cipcic, Is one of only two people allowed to fly this historic aircraft, which is in fabulous condition for its age. He told his young passengers and their parents that Phil Hoy donated the Tri-Pacer to the museum so it could be used for Young Eagles flights.

Cipcic is a flight instructor, a commercial pilot, and more. He said, “I’ve been doing this for 40 years, can you believe it?”

He also works at UPMC in Williamsport. Violet and Melanie’s mother, Megan, knows Eric through work, saw a Young Eagles poster he’d put up, and thought it would be fun for her daughters. She and husband Josh brought the girls to the museum building Saturday, and Eric invited Megan to ride along as his personal guest.

Young Melanie had the co-pilot seat for their adventure.

Cipcic executed the take-off but flew only briefly before handing the controls over to her, and Melanie followed the flight pattern for most of their ride. In the end, she turned the plane toward the runway and Cipcic landed it without a hitch.

Back on the ground, his first words were, “She’s a natural. She needs to be a pilot!”

Melanie simply said, “l got to fly it!”

“Mom was a little terrified in the back,” Megan added with a smile.

Violet wasn’t. She said matter-of-factly that she saw buildings, houses, pools as they flew over the river and town.

“I liked it when we went up and down,” she said.

Each young eagle received mementos of the day, including a personal log book for their time in the air.

The Young Eagles program is sponsored by EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and has reached more than 1 million kids across the country, said Steve Dershimer.

“I’ve taken well over 100 kids up over the years,” he said.

Commercial pilot Randy Kilmer of the Bellefonte area flew kids in a Maule M-5, 235 (horsepower). His T- shirt said it all: “Life is simple — eat, sleep, fly.”

Kilmer flies a Pilates PC-12 commercially, a plane that can take eight passengers.

“I love it,” he said. “I’ve been flying over 50 years.”

His Young Eagles of the day included two 8-year-old girls, Ave and Sylvia.

Ave’s family lives on East Bald Eagle Street, not far from the airport, so it’s natural that the kids take an interest in all things related to planes.

Ave’s mother, Ali, said they watch planes fly over their house from their backyard pool, especially during Sentimental Journey. They took special note of a pink plane, The Pink Panther, and went to the airport to got a closer look at the small aircraft that had been delighting local residents Tuesday through Saturday.

Pictured: Melanie, age 11 with Pilot Eric Cipcic, CRNA, PHRN, MSN 📷: WENDY DOHERTY/FOR THE EXPRESS

“We come down every year during the Fly-In,” Ali said. “This year we saw a sign for the Young Eagles flights.”

Allie and husband Jim have three other children, including two who were busy living their teenage lives on Saturday and missed out on the free flight. Their youngest is Abram, age 5.

Ave went up with her friend Sylvia, of Castanea.

“It was cool,” Ave said. “You got to twist around and fly really high in the air.”

“The (air) hills tickled our bellies!” Sylvia said.

Sylvia’s younger brother, Ben, age 4, waited on the grass with his friend Abe. The boys were not happy that they were too young and had to be on the ground instead of in the air. Kilmer let them sit in his plane instead, and their mothers had a trip to the candy store planned as a consolation prize.

Still, the boys were a bit downcast about the unfairness of always being younger brothers.

Three years from now, though, look for them to get their own Young Eagles log books and have their own amazing experience in a small plane while getting a birds-eye view of their towns.

Perhaps one or both of them will be bit by the flying bug, and nothing will look quite the same.

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