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A Publication of the Georgia Association of Nurse Anesthetists Volume 69 Spring 2012Certified RegisteredNurse AnesthetistsCRNAs Report from the PresidentAll Politics Is LocalRepresent nearly 150 years ofquality anesthesiaSafely administerapproximately 32 millionanesthetics in the US everyyear Represented by 44,000CRNAs nationwide and over1100 here in Georgia Are the sole anesthesiaproviders in nearly 100% ofrural hospitals throughout thecountry Practice in every type ofclinical setting Provide high quality, safe,efficient and cost effectiveanesthesia careMission StatementThe Georgia Association ofNurse Anesthetists is a nonprofit organization committedto advancing patient safety bysupporting and furthering thepractice of nurse anesthesia inGeorgia.Vision StatementRecognized leaders who arecommitted to patient safety,practice autonomously to thefullest extent of their scope ofpractice, and are consummateprofessionals with 100% of itsmembers belonging to the AANA/GANA, and are fully reimbursedfor all anesthesia services.by Brent L. DuBois, Jr., CRNA, MNWell, we made it through another legislativesession with our CRNA practice intact. Ihave learned over the years that big changesare shot down pretty easily. The real threatsare the little tweaks to this legislation or thatregulation that sneak up on you unexpectedly.Thankfully we have a very active lobby andCRNA representation on the Georgia Board ofNursing. I would like to thank all the CRNAswho participated in the grass roots effort duringthe 2012 legislative session. We had a veryproductive Capitol Day during the legislativesession. We were able to meet with Secretaryof State Brian Kemp and discuss our concernsabout his legislation to restructure the licensingboards and remove licensing and disciplinarypowers from the professional boards to thecontrol of a consumer board. This legislationwas ultimately pulled from consideration.I hope you are aware that the GANA Board hasbeen very busy protecting our scope of practiceand increasing CRNA visibility. Some of ouractivities are outlined below.The Public Relations Committee, chaired byMaegan Brass, is working on a CRNA billboard. We are excited to bring CRNA visibilityto Georgia’s general population.Daniel Dell, chair of the Government RelationsCommittee, has brought some South Georgiaappeal to our cause. This diversity is great,as our lobbyist is from Tifton. Our GRC hasdone a great job bridging relationships withrural hospitals and health care associations.We have also tasked our executive director,Christy Dunkelberger, with monitoring Georgiaregulatory agencies that also impact GeorgiaCRNA practices.Richard Douberly, our Political ActionCommittee Chair, is organizing a PAC fundraiserat our annual meeting this year in Savannah. Ican assure you you’ll get your money’s worth atthis event. Remember GANA PAC allocates fundsto the State Legislature, while CRNA PAC ofthe AANA supports CRNA friendly legislators inWashington DC.I urge you as a Georgia CRNA to becomepolitically active at the grassroots level in yourlocal community. The GANA needs activeCRNAs engaged in the local community on anongoing basis to establish relationships and to actas a resource for health care issues. As formerSpeaker of the House, Tip O’Neal, always said,“All politics is local.”Our Federal Political Director has continuedto do an outstanding job for us at the nationallevel. Steve Smith has developed an amazingrapport with all of Georgia’s U.S. Senatorsand Representatives. At Mid Year Assembly itwas great to be able to push CRNA issues at anational level. I can not thank the CRNA nurseanesthesia program directors enough for sendingSRNAs to MYA. When a group of CRNAs andstudents show up in such large numbers that theyhave to squeeze into a conference room, thatlegislator takes note.(continued on page 7)
To & FroGANA Officers 2011-2012Representatives for GANABrent Dubois, President1177 Moore RoadDanville, GA 31017Home Phone: 478-962-0814Cell Phone: 478-230-9708Work Fax: 478-962-0201Email: topgunanesthesia.aol.comSteve Smith,Federal Political Director1920 Federal CourtLawrenceville, GA 30044Work Phone: 404-429-8553Home Phone: 770-972-6225Email: slldt@comcast.netRose Synsmir, ImmediatePast President11840 Devon Downs TrailAlpharetta, GA 30005Cell Phone: 917-723-8409Home Phone: 770-232-4715Email: rsynsmir@aol.comJames Masiongale,President-elect369 Sugarcreek DriveGrovetown, GA 30813Work Phone: 706-721-8215Work Fax: 706-721-8206Cell Phone: 706-231-1575Email: jmasiong@georgiahealth.eduMaegan Taylor Brass,Secretary20 Parks AvenueNewnan, GA 30263Cell Phone: 404-433-9442Email: maegan.brass@gmail.comDewey G. Galeas, Treasurer6126 Columbia Rd.Grovetown, GA 30813Work Phone: 864-227-3330Work Fax: 706-541-2025Cell Phone: 706-799-4940Email: ringo55@aol.comGANA Directors 2011-2012Traci Bryan5122 Cantrell Pt. S.E.Acworth, GA 30101Cell Phone: 770-789-6220Home Phone: 770-974-4322Email: htbryan@yahoo.comDaniel Dell142 Tanglewood DriveMoultrie, GA 31768Cell Phone: 229-456-0450Home Phone: 229-890-2238Email: ddellcrna@gmail.comRichard Douberly922 S. Lake DriveEast Dublin, GA 31027Home Phone: 912-704-0414Email: r.douberly@hotmail.comMark Schmitz137 Southbend Dr.Carrollton, GA 30116Work Phone: 770-836-9806Home Phone: 770-854-7532Cell Phone: 770-301-8104Email: meschmitz@att.netTo & FroChristy A. Dunkelberger, Esq.Executive Director/LegalCounsel1832 Highway 54 WestFayetteville, Georgia 30214Office: 770-487-3900Fax: 770-632-1625Email:ganaoffice@bellsouth.netMonty Veazey, Lobbyist610 North Ridge AvenueP.O. Box 1572Tifton, Georgia 31793Phone: 229-386-8660Fax: 229-386-8662Email: mveazey@gach.orgDebra P. MalinaAANA President222 South Prospect AvenuePark Ridge, IL 60068Phone: 847-655-1104Email: dmalina@aanabod.comJanice Izlar,AANA President-elect6 Huntingwood RetreatSavannah, GA 31411Work Phone: 912-547-7201Home Phone: 912-598-1027Home Fax: 912-598-9436Email: jizlar@aanabod.comSharon Pearce, AANARegion 2 Director1366 Becks Nursery RoadLexington, NC 27292Phone: 336-250-6008Email: spearce@aanabod.comBrandi Justice, MCCG/MercerStudent Liaison to GANAEmail: blheath71@gmail.comMeagan Joyner, GHSUStudent Liaison to GANAEmail: Report from the Executive DirectorFrom the Executive Directorby Christy A. Dunkelberger, Esq.AANA ElectionsOnce again GANA is calling on its members to help put Georgia on the nationalmap! Two Georgia CRNAs are on the AANA ballot in 2012. Leslie Ann Jeter isrunning for AANA Region 2 Director, and Stephen D. Smith is running for AANARegion 2 Nominating Committee. GANA is extremely proud to support Leslie andSteve. Both are currently active in the GANA and have served as its Past President.They have a long history of work and dedication on behalf of the nurse anesthesiaprofession and they deserve to represent Georgia CRNAs at the national level.Please join GANA and show your support for Leslie and Steve.As many of you already know, Janice Izlar is currently serving as AANA Presidentelect. She will assume the role of AANA President at the AANA Annual Meeting inAugust 2012, in San Francisco. Please plan to attend this meeting in order to havea large Georgia contingent on hand to show overwhelming Georgia support andencouragement as Janice takes office.2012 Legislative SessionThe Georgia legislature ended its election year session when the gavel sounded onGeorgia’s 2012 session which adjourned sine die on March 29th. Some Bills ofinterest are summarized below:SB 445 was introduced by Senator Bill Hamrick on behalf of the Secretary ofState Brian Kemp. This 800 page bill attempted to restructure the professionallicensing boards. The bill created a new position for a director of professionallicensing and established a seven member consumer board that would assumecertain responsibilities now in the hands of the professionals appointed to thevarious boards. The current boards would still exist in an advisory capacity. Therewas tremendous opposition from numerous health care boards and health careprofessionals, including nurses. There were even several attempts to carve certainboards out of the bill as autonomous entities. As a result, Secretary Kemp pulledthis bill, but indicated that he plans to bring it back in 2013. GANA will monitor.HB 972 was introduced by Rep. Tom Weldon as an effort to combat the spreadof pain management clinics, or so-called “pill mills”. The bill gave the GeorgiaComposite Medial Board the authority to license and regulate pain managementclinics. The bill allowed only physicians to own a pain clinic. This bill passedboth chambers with some amendments, but the final conference version was neverbrought up for a vote before the session ended.SB 386 was introduced by Senator Johnny Grant on behalf of advanced practicenurses. This bill would have allowed APRNs to order radiographic imaging tests(continued on page 6)Need Malpractice Insurance?Contact AANA Insurance Servicesat 1-800-343-1368or obtain insurance informationfrom the AANA website.2www.gana.org
Report from the Federal Political Director (FPD)Record Turnout for the 2012 AANAMid-Year Assembly in Washington, DCby Steve Smith CRNA, MAWow, Georgia turned out in record breaking numbers this yearfor the 2012 AANA Mid-Year Assembly in Washington, DC (MYA).Georgia was represented by 40 CRNAs and SRNAs. Nationallythere were over 800 members of the nurse anesthesia professionrepresented. The Georgia members were there advocating forGeorgia CRNAs’ scope of practice rights. We spent 2 daysfamiliarizing ourselves with current issues and then all day Tuesday,April 17th sending our message to Capitol Hill. We visited all 13representatives and the 2 senators from Georgia. We were actuallyable to meet and directly talk to 8 of them.Georgia that it won’t happen here. You can act now by goingto the “Care to be Counted” site on the members only side atwww.aana.com. It only takes 3 minutes to get a letter off to yourrepresentative and two senators.During the course of the meeting, Leslie Jeter and I were able toparticipate in the Student Mentoring Program. The primary goalis to mentor and produce future leaders of the AANA. The AANAPAC event was held this year at the Hay Adams Hotel overlookingthe White House, Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial.It was quite a spectacular view. Janice Izlar, Leslie Jeter, MarthaKral and I attended this event. Please take time to “Like us” onFacebook (www.gana.org) and view some of the great picturestaken throughout the meeting. Leslie Jeter and I also participatedin the “Meet the Candidates” reception which was held for thoseAANA members running on the AANA ballot this year. We wereboth introduced at the Meeting on Monday morning and Lesliegave an outstanding speech in her bid for AANA Region 2 Director.Her speech can be viewed at www.aana.com. When your ballotis delivered to you the second week in May please remember tosupport your Georgia candidates. Please vote for Leslie Jeter forAANA Region 2 Director and Stephen D. Smith for AANA Region 2Nominations Committee.In closing, I would like to reemphasize what an honor it hasbeen to attend this year’s AANA Mid-Year Assembly, thepremier conference for federal issues and advocacy shaping thepractice and profession of nurse anesthesia. Again, I wouldencourage you all to visit the “Care to be Counted” site andreview our current issues at stake to our practice. It could verywell be your practice that is affected tomorrow. Make plans toattend next year’s MYA meeting in April 2013. It will be thesingle most important intervention you can do for your fellowCRNAs. nThe messages we took to Capitol Hill this year were: CRNAsProvide Access to Safe and Affordable Healthcare, Ensure PatientAccess to Pain Care, Support Nurse Anesthesia WorkforceDevelopment and Protect Medicare from Threats of Huge SGRCuts. Our number 1 priority this year was Pain Management. Asyou know pain management is and always has been within a CRNA’sprofessional scope of practice. We have been reimbursed directly foressential chronic pain management services for well over a decadeby Medicare. In 2011 the Medicare agency let stand two MedicareAdministrative Contractors (MAC) deny direct reimbursement ofCRNA chronic pain services. These two decisions by the Noridianand WPS MACs have had significant impact on care for patientswith chronic pain in rural and other medically-underserved areas ofthe upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain states where CRNAs arethe primary providers of chronic pain care.Our message to Congress is for them to write HHS and Medicareand urge the agency to protect patient access to pain care servicesand resume direct reimbursement of CRNA services. Please do notbe so naïve as to think that just because we are not affected here inwww.gana.org3To & Fro
Report from the Region 2 DirectorUpdate from the AANAby Sharon Pearce, CRNADear Colleagues,I am just home from the Midyear Assembly where nearly 800CRNAs/SRNAs descended on Capitol Hill! Region 2 and 7 leadersattended a retreat conducted by John McFadden, Region 7 Director,and myself. There was a true sharing of ideas and state’s bestpractices. I believe that all came away invigorated with informationto take back to their home state.Ira Gunn, an AANA legend, was laid to rest at Arlington Cemeteryin a memorable service. Her contributions to our profession willalways be remembered.The AANA Annual Meeting in San Francisco this August will behere before you know it, what are you waiting for? Register as soonas possible on the AANA website.As always, thank you for your ongoing support of your professionalassociation and for allowing me the opportunity to serve you. If Ican be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.Sincerely,Sharon Pearce, CRNA, MSNLeading OffBe Part of the “In” Crowd: Join a Discussion Group ataana.comIf you haven’t perused the new website, you don’t know whatyou’re missing! One of the exciting new features is found in the MyCommunity area on the members side of the website, where you canjoin President Malina’s blog, a Clinical Hot Topics discussion group,or a discussion group for student registered nurse anesthetists. Moregroups will be started soon. Share your “two cents” in an AANAdiscussion group today!Media Alerts: Speak Up for Your ProfessionWhen you see “Media Alert” in the feature news box on theAANA home page at click on the link and make a beeline to themembers side of the website to find out the latest reprehensibleShadow a CRNAContact the GANA officeby email atganaoffice@bellsouth.netTo & Fro4comments about CRNAs in the media that need redressing.Recently, preposterous statements by an anesthesiologistin Medscape generated numerous responses from CRNAsand a supportive anesthesiologist, as well as an officialresponse from the AANA. A Medscape editor informedPresident Malina that Medscape had received a high volumeof responses and is looking into doing a follow-up articlein a future issue. Read sample letters to Medscape, andparticipate in the latest alert, on the members side of theAANA website. Don’t delay!2012 AANA Election Set to Begin; Online ForumComing SoonThe 2012 AANA Election process will begin on May 8.AANA members will receive ballot materials, including theirE-signature and voting instructions, from the AANA electionservices coordinator. Members who requested a paperballot will receive their materials in the mail. Candidateinformation, including a photograph, biographical sketch,and position statements (for Board of Directors candidatesonly) will be available on the AANA members side of thewebsite. Members will be able to vote through noon CDTon June 19, 2012. Also, get your questions ready for theOnline Forum for Candidates for the AANA Board ofDirectors, which is coming soon in a new streamlined format.New State Government Affairs ResourcesAs part of our continuing effort to collect state advocacyinformation helpful to members and state associations,the State Government Affairs (SGA) Division has createdtwo new web pages. There are resources addressing stateregulation of office surgery and anesthesia and informationabout the Federal Trade Commission’s increasinginvolvement in state healthcare policy, including FTC lettersconcerning CRNAs and pain management. Additionalinformation may be added to these pages in the future, asdevelopments warrant.More Member Resources Available on LineA new web page titled Promotional and Advocacy Resourcesfor AANA Members has been added to the ProfessionalResources section (under AANA Business) on the membersside of the AANA website. The page pulls together a varietyof materials that members can use for promotional, advocacyand educational purposes. Links to current fact sheets,landmark research data, and strategy-building tools andinformation are included. By collecting these resources onone page with convenient links, members will save time andeffort when preparing materials for promotional, advocacy,(continued on page 10)www.gana.org
The Nursing Anesthesia Program atGeorgia Health Sciences Universityby Christine Futch, SRNAIpolicies, pain management services that are routinelyadministered by CRNAs, and Title 8 funding for the education offuture nurse anesthetists. The conference was very enlightening!As a class, we’d like to recognize and thank Steve Smith for hishard work in making this year’s Mid-Year Assembly the best yet!t’s an exciting and busy time of year for the nursinganesthesia students at Georgia Health Sciences University(GHSU)! We as students have much to be proud ofthese days! Last fall our program participated in thearduous process known as accreditation. I am proud toannounce that our program received ZERO citations. It isexpected that the program will receive the full ten years ofaccreditation! Another achievement that deserves specialrecognition is the completion of their doctoral educationby our professors now known as Dr. Cory Peterson and Dr.Lisa Stephens. Professor Jim Masiongale and Professor AmyMasiongale are currently pursuing their doctorate degree aswell. We are very proud of each of our professors!The Class of 2013 (Junior Class) just completed their secondsemester of school and are looking forward to their break priorto the start of summer classes. During the semester, the studentsmastered the machine check and finally got into the simulationlab for hands on experience! They practiced smooth intravenousinductions and rapid sequence inductions on “Stan the Man”.Care plans accompanied by an actual simulated experience inthe lab were completed for fictional patients with coronary arterydisease and hypertension, COPD, and morbid obesity.On January 25th all of the students in the nursing anesthesiaprogram at GHSU participated in Capitol Day. Issuesaddressed included the proposed changes to Georgia’sprofessional licensure boards and the protection of thescope of practice for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists(CRNAs). Recently, the entire senior class attended MidYear Assembly in Washington, D.C. as a requirement forgraduation, and more specifically, our Professional Aspectsclass. Students were active participants in fifteen visits toCapitol Hill where they met with key members of the UnitedStates House of Representatives and Senate to discusspressing issues such as Medicare cuts and reimbursementThe Class of 2012 (Senior Class) is currently scattered about thestate and practicing anesthesia in a variety of settings. Specialtyrotations in cardiothoracic, obstetrics, neurosurgical, pediatrics,regional, and burns are underway. Many of the students fromthe senior class attended the Valley Review in preparation for thequickly approaching certification examination. These studentsare also seeking out prospective jobs and submitting resumes.Less than eight months until graduation! Time flies when you’rehaving fun! nThe Class of GHSU 2012 at Mid-Year Assemblywww.gana.org5To & Fro
Report from the Executive Director(c
Need Malpractice Insurance? Contact AANA Insurance Services at 1-800-343-1368 or obtain insurance information from the AANA website. www.gana.org 3 To & Fro W ow, Georgia turned out in record breaking numbers this year for the 2012
