The Department of Anesthesia is celebrating CRNA Week 2020 by asking our valued Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists what they like best about being a CRNA and about working at an academic medical center. Here's a sampling of their answers (for more, click through the gallery above):

Kristin Hansen:

"There are many rewarding moments being a CRNA. As a pediatric CRNA, I am able to work with a variety of patients, ranging from premature newborns to adolescents. Interacting with both the child and parent is a very valuable experience for me...

"I was fortunate to have wonderful mentors during my educational experience at the University of Iowa and want to make an impact on future CRNAs. Working in an academic medical center allows me to challenge and educate myself, as this institution is equipped with some of the best opportunities."

Cormac O'Sullivan: 

"It's so cool to help another person through what is a once-in-a-lifetime, potentially traumatic experience for them and make it all better..."

"It's really hard to not be impressed by everyone who works at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, because we have some very sick patients, and we all do our best to deliver really great care at all hours of the day and night, all the time. I wouldn't go anywhere else in the country if I needed surgery."

Beth Westermann:

"I started my nursing career as an operating room nurse. I loved the environment and never wanted to work anywhere else. I worked at an institution in Seattle that employed many CRNAs, and all of them kept telling me nursing anesthesia was 'the best-kept secret in nursing.' [It's] what I have now found to be the greatest profession!

"As a student in the Iowa program, it was invaluable to me to have the high caliber of mentors and educators available at this academic institution. Now that I am an employee here, I love paying it forward and working with our students myself."