Student Corner
MANA Student Representative
April 25th through the 27th was the AANA Mid-year Assembly in Washington DC. I was afforded the opportunity to not only attend the conference but also participate in the Capitol Hill visits with our representatives and personally assist in presenting our top three CRNA national issues. What an invaluable experience!
There were many UMD students present which was wonderful! In fact over 300 students nationally attended. What a great turn out for the future of our profession! And thank you to all of those who did attend. The CRNAs present made a huge effort to acknowledge our presence and thank us. In addition, thank you to those who attended the meeting on Capitol Hill. University of Maryland had Kelly Brun, Carrie Chesnik, Eva McDonald and myself in attendance.
The major issues presented included nursing graduate funding and reimbursement for teaching, rural hospital funding and Medicare/Medicaid cuts. The MANA leaders I was with, specifically Greg Taylor and Kelly Petz, were amazing. They encouraged me to speak on all issues and it was an empowering experience. The visit to Capitol Hill only reinforced for me the importance of getting politically involved. As students we can and do make a difference and I hope all of you take every opportunity to get involved politically because it is so important. I look forward to the annual conference and hope to see all of you there.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Hoehn, RN, SRNA
Hello fellow MANA members,
It is with much enthusiasm that I accept the position as the 2009-2010
MANA student representative. My name is Lindsay Hoehn and I am currently
a junior at University of Maryland in the nurse anesthesia program.
I am from Baltimore, Maryland and received my first degree in Biology in
1997 from University of Delaware. I worked in pediatric and adolescent HIV
research for several years and then the fitness industry. I decided to go
back to school for nursing and am a graduate of University of Maryland's
BSN program. I worked as a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at
Johns Hopkins Hospital for five years. And now I am a full time SRNA!
For those of you considering joining this wonderful profession the decision
to go back to school is a huge commitment but one that is truly worth it.
Starting clinical in July has helped me realize the true privilege it is
to provide anesthesia. Helping keep patients safe and pain free is truly
an art. I have a long road ahead of me and welcome the experience. In my
brief time in clinical I have quickly realized the importance of vigilance
and that nothing we do is benign. I have also realized the importance of
staying active politically and how legislation truly plays a role in the
care CRNAs currently provide and the care we as students will provide in
the near future.
My goal as the student representative is to assist my fellow SRNAs in realizing
the importance of staying informed and becoming active early in our career.
Involvement locally and nationally is paramount to the success of this profession
and care and safety of our patients. Students can contribute to this success.
I got to witness this first hand in Annapolis in March when we were in grand
numbers to defeat the anesthesia assistance bill.
I look forward to serving as the student representative over the next year!
Sincerely,
Lindsay Hoehn, SRNA
University of Maryland
Class of 2010