AANA Presents Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award to PANA

The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) honored Lt. Col. Laura Wiggins, DNP, CRNA, with the Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award at its Mid-Year Assembly, held in Washington, D.C. on April 2-6. Wiggins, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), is staff CRNA with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh and chief nurse for the critical care transport team in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

“It is an honor to receive the Federal Political Director Award. Promoting and safeguarding the profession and helping to work towards regulations and legislation that allow CRNAs to practice at their full scope has been both an honor and a privilege,” Wiggins said. “However, all my work could not be accomplished without the support of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists and my employers. I thank them for providing me with the resources and time to build the relationships that have allowed me to be a successful advocate for all CRNAs.”

Wiggins has been the Federal Political Director (FPD) for the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) for the past two years and serves on its Board of Trustees. In 2019 she helped lead more than 180 CRNAs and students enrolled in nurse anesthesiology programs to lobby in Harrisburg on behalf of the profession. She is the former Chief Nurse for the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron and former Critical Care Air Transport Team member and has been deployed to support numerous international situations throughout her career.

According to her nominator, Wiggins is a natural leader with a passion for nurse anesthesia. “Whether leading a medical team as the anesthesia director for military operations in Kyrgyzstan, or providing obstetric anesthesia in Pittsburgh, Laura carries herself with a sense of dignity and skill that reflects the best of our profession.”

In addition, she was lauded for her hands-on leadership early in the COVID-19 pandemic. According to her nomination, weeks before Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf even issued a formal stay-at-home order for the commonwealth, the PANA board began researching options to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to its members. Wiggins relied on her military expertise to review mask options and determine the best fit for PANA to provide to members to keep them safe.

“Laura knew early on how important it was for PANA to not disrupt the supply chain already working on PPE for local hospitals and other facilities around Pennsylvania,” cited her nomination. “Therefore, she spearheaded a discussion with a small 3D printing company in southwestern Pennsylvania. Wiggins began to work with the co-owner of the company to design a 3D-printed mask that would keep our members safe. Laura Wiggins oversaw all of the details, even recruiting a biochemist and an engineer from Stanley Black & Decker to support the cause. After numerous back-and-forth phone calls, texts, virtual calls, and prototype designs, the mask was ready to offer to members as a complimentary benefit. In the initial two hours of sending the e-mail to alert members about the free product offering, PANA received over 400 requests. When completed, PANA shipped over 1,200 PPE masks around the state within four weeks, and this was largely due to the work of Lt. Col Laura Wiggins.”

She is a clinical instructor at the University of Pittsburgh Nurse Anesthesia Program for various courses, including Difficult Airway Course; Regional Anesthesia; and Obstetrics Anesthesia. As a critical care nurse in the Air Force Reserves, Wiggins directly supervises more than 60 medical military personnel while managing all nursing services and flight member activities. In addition, she is an independent contractor with Anesthesiology Services Network, providing anesthesia services for a Level One Trauma Center with 24 operating rooms and diverse areas, including neurosurgery, vascular, thoracic, orthopedics, general, gynecology, pediatrics, trauma, and obstetrics.

Wiggins received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Pennsylvania State University in State College, and a master’s degree in nursing with a specialization in nurse anesthesia area from Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland. She earned a Doctor of Nurse Practice degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs are members of one of the most trusted professions according to Gallup. CRNAs provide anesthesia care across all settings and in all patient populations and are the primary anesthesia providers in rural and underserved areas and on the battlefield in forward surgical teams.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse anesthetists across the country have been essential in addressing the deadliest part of the disease in addition to providing top-of-the-line anesthesia care. They have served as experts in airway management, hemodynamic monitoring, management of patients on ventilators, and overall management of critically ill patients.

About the Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award

The Federal Political Director of the Year Award, established in 2001, was renamed the Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award in 2013 in tribute and memory of its first winner. It is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the national healthcare agenda of CRNAs by coordinating grassroots CRNA involvement at the state level or through special contributions to the federal political process.

AANA Presents Excellence in State Government Relations Advocacy Award to Pennsylvania

Apr 1, 2022

Park Ridge, Ill. (AANA)—The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) will honor the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) with the Excellence in State Government Relations Advocacy Award at its Mid-Year Assembly to be held in Washington, D.C., April 2-6.

The Excellence in State Government Relations Advocacy Award, established in 2016, is presented annually to a state association based on the quality of its efforts in the state legislative or regulatory arena for the nurse anesthesiology profession. The recipient is chosen by the AANA Government Relations Committee.

In 2021, the PANA successfully lobbied for a law that includes formal title recognition for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in statute for the first time, clarifies the CRNA relationship with physicians and dentists, and allows for CRNAs to work with podiatrists.

“The pandemic raised awareness of the critical roles that CRNAs play in healthcare settings and how some state policies prevented CRNAs from practicing to the fullest extent of their education and training at precisely the time they were most needed,” PANA President Lew Bennett, DNP, CRNA, said. “We are honored to be recognized by the AANA for our achievements.”

To increase the flexibility of healthcare resources, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf waived physician supervision during the pandemic. PANA used this opportunity to build relationships with legislators to support title recognition legislation.

“The relationships PANA developed with the governor and legislators will benefit CRNAs for years to come,” Bennett said. “Thank you to the many Pennsylvania CRNAs who laid the foundation for this effort, and those who will continue to fight to protect CRNA practice in the future.”

In addition, PANA developed relationships with a coalition of nursing, rural health, and other groups, including Americans for Prosperity, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the National Guard, all of which validated and reinforced PANA’s message to legislators.

As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs are members of one of the most trusted professions according to Gallup. CRNAs provide anesthesia care across all settings and in all patient populations and are the primary anesthesia providers in rural and underserved areas and on the battlefield in forward surgical teams.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse anesthetists across the country have been essential in addressing the deadliest part of the disease in addition to providing top-of-the-line anesthesia care. They have served as experts in airway management, hemodynamic monitoring, management of patients on ventilators, and overall management of critically ill patients.

About the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology

PANA Members Discuss What Blanket Waiver During Pandemic Really Means

Blanket waiver removing physician supervision requirement benefits health-care facilities, patients during pandemic

The Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists achieved a significant victory for the profession in May when Gov. Tom Wolf announced a temporary blanket waiver removing the physician supervision requirement for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).

The waiver has been hugely important as part of the state’s response to the health-care crisis caused by COVID-19. Advanced practice nurses like CRNAs can finally practice to the fullest extent of their education and training.

That avails more physicians to provide hands-on care. It expands the capacity of both CRNAs and physician providers. It augments the state’s health-care system to continue to meet growing demands during this pandemic. And it ensures patients get the best care.

But what has this waiver really meant for CRNAs, health-care facilities and the patients we serve? Here are some firsthand accounts from CRNAs on the frontline. (Please note that the names of the CRNAs and their facilities have been removed to ensure their anonymity and protection in the workplace.)

“I work in a critical access hospital and since the governor removed the supervision requirement, the anesthesiologists are now running their own room and I’m working in another room with my surgeon --- which means we are able to provide two times the services!”

“We at our local Hospital started a COVID response team in conjunction with the ER and ICU. We responded to all COVID intubations, put in an arterial line, a central line, and intubated the patients. We also helped manage vent settings/unstable patients as needed.”

“My hospital told our anesthesiologists that they will be taking their own assignment and that the CRNAs will work alone until we get caught up on elective surgeries. Many of our anesthesiologists resigned because they don’t want to give anesthesia.”

“Yes, we have provided a CRNA from our department for 24-hour coverage of the COVID units to act as an NP to help assess patients, place lines, and act as extenders for the critical care intensivists in our county. The chief in my group was able to use the supervision waiver for us to work outside of the OR and in the OR without supervising anesthesiologists.”

“The orthopedic surgeons at my hospital have always wanted an ologist available. That has all changed. The CRNAs are working alone and our ologist was given the option of working in a room or taking time off unpaid.”

It’s clear: Gov. Wolf’s decision to issue that temporary blanket waiver and remove the physician supervision requirement for certified registered nurse anesthetists is making a real difference.

The waiver was included in an executive order that the governor signed to protect health-care practitioners for good-faith actions taken in response to this crisis, and it remains in effect for the duration of the governor’s disaster proclamation, which gives him broad powers to manage this public health emergency.

The proclamation was renewed for 90 days in early June. Lawmakers challenged the extension. But state judges sided with the governor. That means the proclamation remains in place for at least two more months. As long as the governor’s disaster proclamation remains in place, so does his blanket waiver removing the physician supervision requirement for CRNAs.

Stories like these from our CRNAs prove that this policy shouldn’t just be implemented during a pandemic, but instead be permanent to ensure patient health and safely and to give greater options to health-care facilities to provide the best care to those in need.