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August 7, 2019
AANA Board of Directors
C/o Garry Brydges, PhD, DNP, MBA, ACNP-BC, CRNA, FAAN, President
Kathryn Jansky, MHS, CRNA, APRN USA, LTC (ret), President-Elect
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
222 S. Prospect Avenue
Park Ridge, IL 60068-4037
Dear Colleagues:
As the elected officers of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, we wish to extend our best wishes for a successful annual meeting and our congratulations to outgoing and incoming board members. Your role is a critical one in representing the many thousands of nurse anesthetists who make critically important contributions within our shared professional space. Throughout the years, both personal and professional relationships with nurses have been among the most rewarding experiences of our careers. We rely on your skills, knowledge, experience and compassion to provide the best possible care to the patients we serve.
We strongly believe the physician-led anesthesia care team model provides the highest levels of patient care. But a critical element of the care team model is that all members of the team feel respected and honored for their contributions. We have concerns that recently, some have lost sight of this critical element and its significant contribution to patient care.
We acknowledge that our efforts to promote physician-led anesthesia care cannot be viewed as successful if they make any members of the care team feel marginalized. Going forward, we are committed to acting with this principle in mind. Similarly, we believe messaging promoting the significant value of nurse anesthetists can be delivered without denigrating physicians. We ask that you commit to acting with this principle in mind.
Most anesthesia care team members enjoy harmonious and collaborative physician–nurse relationships. The priorities of both our professional societies should reflect this. As ambassadors of our respective professions, our shared goal must be to promote collaboration and harmony among all care team members and maintain shared focus on improving quality and safety in patient care.
We invite you to join us in celebrating the collaboration and harmony that are the hallmarks of our shared professional work. We look forward to working with you toward our common goal of providing the best possible care to the patients we serve.
Sincerely,
Linda J. Mason, M.D., FASA
ASA President
Mary Dale Peterson, M.D., MHA, FACHE, FASA
ASA President-Elect
cc:
Randall Moore, D.N.P., M.B.A., CRNA
Paul Pomerantz, FACHE
