PANA Student Voice

Michael Lord SRNA, PANA Student Representative


Dear Fellow Nurses, What a great few months for SRNAs here in Pennsylvania! We had an incredible turnout for Lobby Day in Harrisburg where approximately 100 SRNAs participated in advocacy of our profession. All who attended were recognized by PANA with a personalized certificate, a copy of HB 1866, a copy of the testimony offered at the committee hearing and a 5 X 7 photograph of us all standing on the steps of the rotunda during the press conference… a powerful image that reminds us all that our presence alone is significant in itself! With great political fervor we Pennsylvania SRNAs challenged the Pennsylvania CRNAs in the First Annual SRNA Back-PAC. This competition, a spirited exercise in giving “back” to our “PAC” in awareness of the necessity to advocate for our profession, is proving to be a successful fundraiser for our political action committee. I have great hopes that this will continue to grow from year to year. Be proud of yourselves as this initiative is driven by students! I’d like to thank each and every one of you that has enthusiastically participated.

PANA College Bowl

The College Bowl is picking up momentum as well. This year the format of this scholastic competition has changed from mixed teams to nurse anesthesia program teams. I am sitting next to the newly designed trophy as I write this… a shiny new oxygen E cylinder on a stand, with a gleaming regulator that will have the name and year of each championship team engraved on it. Every year this trophy will live with the winning nurse anesthesia program until usurped the following year by a new team, unless successfully shielded by the title holders and reclaimed for another year by the defending scholars.

Substance Abuse and Anesthesia


Our RISK project, an intercollegiate effort to increase the awareness of substance abuse among anesthesia providers, is currently being developed via conference calls and an online workgroup through bulletin boards and file sharing. It will be presented for the first time on the Saturday of Spring Symposium. This project is an enormous leap in intercollegiate SRNA collaboration. I hope its success will promote intercollegiate interface from here forward. SRNAs collaborating on this project have the distinct privilege of being mentored through its development by Art Zwerling, DNP, CRNA, DAAPM, Senior Advisor, AANA Peer Assistance Program.

Student Presenters at the PANA Spring Symposium!

We have five truly outstanding SRNAs presenting at Spring Symposium this year: Angelarosa DiDonato, SRNA (University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Nurse Anesthesia Program), Nancy Dines, SRNA (Wyoming Valley Health Care System/University of Scranton School of Nurse Anesthesia), Ashley Fedan (York College of Pennsylvania/WellSpan Health Nurse Anesthetist Program), Margaret Preston, SRNA (York College of Pennsylvania/WellSpan Health Nurse Anesthetist Program) and Samantha Zambotti, SRNA (Wyoming Valley Health Care System/University of Scranton School of Nurse Anesthesia). These SRNAs are recognized as faculty at the Spring Symposium. Attendees in their audience are receiving CE credits. SRNA presenters are receiving honorariums and rooms at the Hershey Hotel. Congratulations, SRNAs!!!

I would be remiss in my reporting not to mention the growing e-mail database of Pennsylvania SRNAs that is in development. This database will allow expedient interaction among SRNAs, PANA SRNA Anesthesia Program Liaisons and the State Student Representative at the click of a mouse. If you are not in the database yet, please e-mail me and I will add you to it. This is a tremendous undertaking and coming together as planned.

I would like to thank each and every SRNA and all of the CRNAs and program directors that have facilitated and encouraged SRNA participation in PANA student activities. I am proud to say that in a few short months we have DOUBLED the amount of active PANA SRNA Anesthesia Program Liaisons in Pennsylvania. This alone is worthy of a column in “Tidings.”

Finally, I would especially like to recognize our student friendly PANA board members who have strongly and openly supported every student initiative I have thrown their way! They are providing us amazing opportunity, SRNAs. Let’s keep the ball rolling and show them what we can do!

Mike
michael.lord@pana.org