University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing

Nurse Anesthesia Program Update

There are several items worthy of mention concerning the Nurse Anesthesia Program for this issue of the Anesthesiology Newsletter.

Closure of the St. Francis Hospital School of Anesthesia for Nurses

As a result of the closure of St. Francis Hospital the nurse anesthesia program affiliated with St. Francis ceased operations. Our program opened its doors to those individuals who were affected by this closure, making our first year class of 39 the largest in the history of the program. Mr. John O’Donnell, Program Director of the University of Pittsburgh Nurse Anesthesia Program indicates that the program now has a total of 19 active clinical sites available for training to handle the increase in the student population.

Class of 2003 Scholarships, Honors, and Awards

Several of our students from the class of 2003 were honored with scholarships and awards:

The Doris and Davina Gosnell Nursing Scholarship (Fall 2002)
Ms. Beth Holmes BSN
(sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) and the School of Nursing).

Elizabeth Lloyd Norian Scholarship (Fall 2002)
Ms. Bonnie Keaveny BSN
Bonnie was selected from over 1000 SRNAs nationally to serve as the Student Representative on the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Council on Accreditation 2002-2003.

The Patricia P. Lynch Scholarship
Ms. Amy Riegel BSN
Ms. Kelly Meno BSN was elected Student Representative to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists National Education Committee 2002-2003.

News from the Class of 2002 Graduation

Over 250 individuals attended the Nurse Anesthesia Program’s graduation celebration held on Saturday, December 7, 2002 at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. Twenty-seven of our graduate and their family and friends attended. In this event the Department of Anesthesiology of the University of Pittsburgh was represented by Dr. Theresa Gelzinis, medical director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program.Several graduating students were honored:

The Susan Nath Bywaters Endowment Award:
Ngocha Dang GRNA, MSN
Paul Butler GRNA, MSN

The Agatha Hodgins Award:
Ms. Michelle Pfenninger GRNA, MSN
Ms. Becky Stoudt GRNA, MSN
Ms. Amy Garrett GRNA, MSN

Above and Beyond Awards:
Ms. Laura Montag GRNA, MSN
Mr. Jerry Ciancione GRNA, MSN

The Stephen Finestone Award for Outstanding Anesthesiologist Educator
Dr. Manny Villejo

Outstanding CRNA Educators:
Mr. Ray Edwards CRNA, MSN
Mr. Mike Chaklos CRNA, MS
Mr. Jay Weber CRNA, MSN

The following is a list of graduates and where they have taken positions:

Our congratulations to the Class of 2002 and we wish them well in their future endeavors.