BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Brangman was a pioneer among her peers, leader in the field

Black History Month reminds us there is a lot of history within the nurse anesthesia profession. This month, we pause to celebrate the achievements of amazing, inspirational woman like Goldie Brangman, CRNA, MEd, MBA.

Brangman was an accomplished CRNA and an exceptional mentor for CRNAs all over the world. She served as the first and only African American President of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), and she was the founder and director of the Harlem Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia.

Mentoring numerous CRNAs and specifically CRNAs of color, she was instrumental in the treatment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after a near-fatal assassination attempt in 1958. A letter opener had been jammed deep into his chest. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital where Brangman was a member of his surgery team.

Brangman was president of the New York Association of Nurse Anesthetists from 1960-1961, and won numerous awards and honors, including:

· Ann Magnussen Award (1996)

· Agatha Hodgins Award (1995)

· Helen Lamb Outstanding Educator Award (1983)

Brangman was an active participant at AANA meetings throughout the years, as well as Mid-Year Assembly.

She retired in 1985, living in Hawaii since 1987 and continuing to volunteer eight hours a day with the Red Cross long into her retirement. Brangman died in February 2020 at the age of 102.

Black History is everyone’s history --- and Goldie Brangman was a force to be reckoned with. We appreciate her expertise and trailblazing for young Black CRNAs. This month and every month, we celebrate you, Goldie!

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Rich History Defines CRNAs, America’s Original Anesthesia Experts

By Laura Wiggins, DNP, CRNA

🔹🔹🔹National CRNA Week debuted as an annual commemoration in 2000 as a way to celebrate our nation’s Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and nurse anesthesia students. But the history of our profession stretches back generations.

Nurse anesthesiology traces its origins to 1863, when nurses eased the suffering of wounded soldiers in the Civil War. Since then, nurse anesthetists have been the main providers of anesthesia care to U.S. military personnel on the front lines and remain the primary anesthesia providers in austere combat theaters.

Today, there are nearly 66,000 CRNAs and nurse anesthesia students nationwide, including more than 3,700 in Pennsylvania.

🔹In times of transition and strife, people look to nurses—and, more specifically, highly trained CRNAs—to bridge the gaps of care, offer compassion to those who need help, and ensure the safety of patients during their most vulnerable times. You bring the art and science to the practice of anesthesia, and the work you do to serve our profession so honorably and your patients so faithfully ultimately enhances the patient’s experience.

🚧 In today’s environment, with health-care overhauls, organizational mergers and changes, redesigned care systems, and fluctuating payment models and costs, patients can rely on CRNAs who demonstrate as the foundation of their practice these core values—integrity, accountability, trustworthiness, and community service. You should be proud of what you do.

As we transition through a global economic crunch and continue to emerge from the global pandemic, enhancing our personal emotional intelligence and well-being is becoming an increasingly essential component of our practice. Having self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and empowerment skills, combined with these other core values, will only strengthen our ability to care more compassionately for our patients.

I am confident in the direction of our association and profession. CRNAs are leaders. We have been there from the beginning, as military necessities on the front lines of our nation’s wars, and we continue to build the teams necessary to serve, because we have the backbone, drive, and fortitude to fight, protect, and defend our patients, our communities, and our nation.

🩺 Looking back at the last 160 years, CRNA history is nursing history. It’s women’s history. It’s our nation’s history. So, let’s celebrate our rich past, but let’s not overlook our promising future. With your passion and commitment to our profession, America’s original anesthesia experts will continue to build trust, show compassion, provide stability, and create hope in the health-care system adjusting, adapting, and overcoming with finesse and grace.

😷 Thank you for all you do—and happy CRNA Week, Pa.! PANA would love to join in YOUR celebration of our profession, so if you're on social media, you can tag @panacrna on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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