As the holidays draw near, the MeANA Board and I would like to wish each of you a safe and healthy holiday season. As Covid rears its ugly head again, it’s time to take a moment to thank each of you for all that you do every day to keep your patients, family and selves safe. Many of you have selflessly and heroically cared for Covid positive patients in a variety of roles and settings making each of us proud to be CRNAs. The emotional and psychological stress has been upsetting. For some of you, you have lost loved ones. For some of your families, you have lost income and have suffered financial hardships. But in spite of it all, we continue to support each other and care for ourselves. For some we have not seen our families who live away. While others of us have grown closer as families huddle together in their homes. To each of you, thoughts of love and support are sent your way. And believe it or not, there is much to be grateful for in spite of the pandemic.
For many, we are grateful that we have our families near us and have reacquainted ourselves with simple pleasures, such as board games, hiking in the woods, binge watching, and cooking. Many have learned the value of working from home or at least attending zoom meetings. And for many, we love to zoom while others of a different generation may find their internet not as friendly. We all loved our zoom business and education meeting this past October and plan to have additional zoom educational offerings this coming year. A thank you to Andrea Farrar and Joe Knox for helping make the meeting a success.
MeANA has saved money by not needing to reimburse anyone for traveling to attend meetings. So, we are thankful for that savings as we strategize how best to spend our money for the coming year. For example, we have recently joined the Maine Hospital Association to stay informed and to make new networking connections.
Masks have become the new norm and lipstick is no longer a thing (if it ever was). With that in mind, our entrepreneurial board is selling MeANA logo masks (designed by Andrea Farrar) on its web and social media sites. We encourage you to purchase one. A thank you to Alexa Peoples (FrontlineCo representative) & Andrea Farrer who have volunteered to manage this daunting task. Why you may ask? To raise monies for our PAC. Thanks to your generosity, our PAC has grown but more is needed as we face projected costs, possibly legislative and legal. Our Board will continue to work toward achieving your legislative goals. A special thank you to Stacey Whittington, our federal government representative and Paul Schneider our state representative for keeping abreast of government issues that may affect us.
We are grateful for CRNAs who have the determination, courage and foresight to strive for Prescriptive Authority in our state. Such a wonder is Martin Blaney, CRNA, DNP who recently is the first in our state to have achieved this goal for all medications except schedule II. Since Martin practices opioid free anesthesia, this poses no problem for him. He is helping to lead the way for others in our state.
We are grateful for the hard work and efforts of our past Board members and especially to our past MeANA President. Erin Foley continues to serve and has been nominated for the AANA Leadership Identification Committee (formerly Nominations), please give her your vote!
This holiday is centered around giving back and appreciating good fortune. I, as the newly elected President am grateful to have a diverse and enthusiastic Board who bring their expertise and dedication to serve all of you. I’m confident we will do our best to fulfill our mission as we work for you, our patients and our community. I am grateful to be given this opportunity to give back for all the many blessings I have received over the years by serving you! Please don’t hesitate to contact your Board if you have any concerns or questions.
In the words of Kak Sri “Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture.” So while you stuff the turkey, watch football, bake your pumpkin pie this holiday, remember that as strange as this past year has been as we faced the ugly virus, feared for our family’s safety and our own health and wellbeing, we are still able to create special memories whether we are together virtually or social distancing in our backyard.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Stay Safe and Healthy!
Susan DeCarlo (President), Andrew Osborne (President-elect), Paul Schneider, Kathy Maxwell, Seth Rabinowitz, Andrea Farrar, Joe Knox (Treasurer), Lisa Davis (Secretary), Max Daviault and Erin Foley (Past President)