Beyond The Mask: Innovation & Opportunities For CRNAs

Experienced clinicians often develop techniques that work and that can make change difficult. But “we’ve always done it this way” can also keep better tools and safer workflows from getting a fair look. In this episode, Scott Imus, EdD, MSN, CRNA and Wendy Monrad, MSN, CRNA discuss deep sedation, airway management, ETCO₂ monitoring, and how the Aeris Airway helped replace years of improvised workarounds with a more consistent approach.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🛠️ Stop MacGyvering: Better tools can replace improvised setups

📈 Better Monitoring: Reliable ETCO₂ can improve sedation management

💨 Lower Flow: Oxygen can be delivered more efficiently

🧠 Challenge Habits: Familiar techniques aren’t always the best

🎓 Teach It Early: New clinicians can build better habits from day one

Join Sharon at the Nurse Anesthesia Update in the Bahamas: https://www.nurseanesthetist.com/events/nurse+anesthesia+update+2026/

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1

Scholarship can feel like one more impossible responsibility for busy nurse anesthesia educators, but it often begins with something much simpler: a question. Why are we doing it this way? Is there a better approach? What are we seeing that the literature has not explained yet?

In this episode, hosts Louisa and Nickie welcome on Jenni Ross Majumdar, PhD, CRNA to make scholarship feel more approachable by showing how curiosity can grow into meaningful work. The larger goal is to help CRNA educators see research not as an extra burden, but as a practical way to strengthen education, improve practice, and expand their impact beyond the classroom or operating room.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🔬 Start With Questions: Everyday observations can become meaningful research

⏰ Protect the Time: Scholarship cannot live at the bottom of the list

📝 Publish Before Grants: Build evidence that you can finish and disseminate

🤝 Research Is Collaborative: Strong teams make scholarship more sustainable

📚 Share What You Learn: Dissemination expands impact beyond your own practice

Follow @AirwayExchangePodcast on Instagram

Submit a Topic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/airway-exchange-podcast-request

About our guest: https://jennimajumdar.com/scholarship 

Visit the Nurse Anesthesia Research Collective: https://nurseanesthesiaresearch.org/ 

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

Get the CE Certificate here (and directly submit to the NBCRNA): https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Beyond-the-Mask-CE-Cert-FILLABLE.pdf

Help us grow by leaving a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-mask-innovation-opportunities-for-crnas/id1440309246

What does the nurse anesthesia profession look like outside the United States? At the IFNA Congress in Australia, Sharon and guest co-host Kevin Chem sit down with Toñi Ballesteros Barrado for a firsthand look at practice in Spain. Their conversation reveals a model of care that keeps nurse anesthetists closely connected to patients throughout the surgical experience.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🇪🇸 Spanish Practice: Roles span perioperative care

🎓 Training Path: Education lacks national standardization

🩺 Patient Continuum: Care extends before and after surgery

🤝 Team Model: Nurses and physicians collaborate closely

📣 Professional Recognition: Greater formal recognition remains needed

Join Sharon at the Nurse Anesthesia Update in the Bahamas: https://www.nurseanesthetist.com/events/nurse+anesthesia+update+2026/

About our guest: https://wcna2026.com/speakers/antonia-ballesteros-barrado/

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1

Beyond the Ether is the new clinical series from Beyond the Mask, bringing together four experienced CRNAs to talk about the science, judgment, technology, and real-world decision-making behind anesthesia practice.

In this first episode, Laura Ardizzone, MS, MBA, DNP, CRNA, Jeff Molter, MSN, MBA, CRNA, Tracy Castleman, DNP, CRNA, APN-A, and Daniel King, DNP, MNA, APRN, CRNA, CPPS, CNE, introduce themselves, share the mentors and experiences that shaped their careers, and look ahead to AI, pharmacogenomics, ultrasound, perioperative optimization, and the constantly evolving future of anesthesia.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🩺 Meet the Hosts: Four CRNAs bring decades of clinical and leadership experience

🧠 Experience Matters: Mentors and lived practice shape clinical judgment

🤖 Technology Is Changing Fast: AI and big data may transform individualized care

🔬 Practice Keeps Evolving: Ultrasound, EMRs, and new systems have already rewritten anesthesia

🚀 Stay Adaptable: What works today may be obsolete sooner than expected

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1

Nurse anesthesia school can be demanding, isolating, and humbling, but it does not have to be experienced alone. The Nurse Anesthesiology Resident Association (NARA) is an organization run by residents for residents, and we had the opportunity to sit down with President Dazjia Green and Vice President Omar Durand at the Annual Congress in Boston.

We’ll hear how ​NARA ​serves ​the ​resident ​community and ​what ​our guests ​have ​learned ​from ​balancing ​school, ​leadership,​and ​life. They also share what resident life really feels like, how quickly confidence can swing in clinical, and why building a national community matters for the future of the profession.

Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:

🤝 Find Your Community: Residents need people who understand the experience

🎓 Build Leadership Early: NARA offers roles beyond simple membership

🌎 Expand the Network: The organization wants to grow nationwide

💰 Support Residents: Scholarships, giveaways, and events create tangible value

🩺 Normalize the Struggle: Clinical highs and lows happen to everyone

Learn more about the NARA: https://www.naraanesthesia.org/home

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/grade-1-view/

Visit the AANA Resident Hub: https://www.aana.com/resident-hub/ 

Help us grow by leaving a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-mask-innovation-opportunities-for-crnas/id1440309246

One ​of ​our ​traditions ​at ​Beyond ​the ​Mask ​is​ sitting ​down ​with ​the ​new ​AANA ​President ​​to ​talk ​about ​the ​year​ ahead, their ​vision ​for ​the ​association, ​and ​the ​challenges ​and​ opportunities ​facing ​our ​profession. This year we had the chance to sit down with Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA at the Texas Association of Nurse Anesthetists Annual Convention as he steps into the role at an important time for nurse anesthesiology.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🎯 Three Pillars: Evidence, clinical excellence, and policy drive the strategy

🏠 Professional Home: AANA wants to serve CRNAs across every career stage

📣 Member Engagement: Early-career retention remains a major focus

🩺 Anesthesia Answers: New public-facing education supports patients and CRNA visibility

📈 Build Momentum: Strategic focus and unity are central to the year ahead

Join Sharon at the Nurse Anesthesia Update in the Bahamas: https://www.nurseanesthetist.com/events/nurse+anesthesia+update+2026/

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1

Significant perioperative loss can affect CRNAs deeply, even when there was no error and nothing could have been done differently. Yet many clinicians are never taught what those emotions may look like or how to process them.

This episode of Airway Exchange explores the emotional impact of significant perioperative loss on CRNAs and why nurse anesthesia programs need to prepare students for those experiences before they happen. Crystal Hunnicutt, DNAP, CRNA, APRN, CNE, CHSE, CWP, the Vice Chair of the AANA Health and Wellness Committee, and Jennifer Stewart-Glenn, PhD, MSN, FNP discuss their qualitative research, including themes of guilt, responsibility, isolation, self-blame, and loss of confidence, and what educators can do to create more supportive, trauma-informed responses.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🧠 Name the Experience: Perioperative loss can create profound emotional distress

⚖️ Guilt Without Fault: Clinicians may feel responsible even when no error occurred

🤝 Break the Isolation: Feeling alone was a major theme in the research

🎓 Prepare Students Early: Programs should address loss before it happens

💬 Listen, Don’t Fix: Support begins with validation, not problem-solving

Follow @AirwayExchangePodcast on Instagram

Submit a Topic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/airway-exchange-podcast-request

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

Get the CE Certificate here (and directly submit to the NBCRNA): https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Beyond-the-Mask-CE-Cert-FILLABLE.pdf

Help us grow by leaving a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-mask-innovation-opportunities-for-crnas/id1440309246

What happens when nurse anesthesia education moves beyond the traditional classroom?

Recorded at the AANA Annual Congress in Boston, Sharon and guest co-host Tracy Castleman, DNP, CRNA, APN-A, FAANA, sit down with longtime CRNA educator Richard Wilson, DNAP, CRNA, FAANA to explore how virtual classrooms, simulation, podcasts, VR, AI, and new teaching strategies are changing the way future CRNAs learn.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

💻 Virtual learning can expand access without lowering standards.

🤝 Mentorship remains vital—even in a digital classroom.

🧠 Understanding matters more than memorization.

🥽 VR, podcasts, and AI are reshaping CRNA education.

🎓 Great education blends didactic learning with clinical experience.

Join Sharon at the Nurse Anesthesia Update in the Bahamas: https://www.nurseanesthetist.com/events/nurse+anesthesia+update+2026/

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1

A career in nurse anesthesia does not have to follow one path. For Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA, it certainly did not. His career has included clinical practice, entrepreneurship, business leadership, advocacy, state association leadership, national board service, and eventually the presidency of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. But one of the most interesting parts of his story is that none of it was part of one grand plan.

The new AANA President joins Grade 1 View from Annual Congress in Boston to share how his path evolved from bedside nursing and anesthesia into entrepreneurship, advocacy, and national leadership. 

Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:

🙏 Practice Gratitude: Meaningful work is worth appreciating

🤝 Lead Together: Strong boards move as one

🚀 Think Bigger: CRNA careers can extend beyond clinical care

📣 Get Involved: Advocacy often starts with one experience

🧭 Take the Next Step: Careers do not need a master plan

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/grade-1-view/

Visit the AANA Resident Hub: https://www.aana.com/resident-hub/ 

Help us grow by leaving a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-mask-innovation-opportunities-for-crnas/id1440309246

What does nurse anesthesia practice look like in Finland?

That question is at the center of this episode of Beyond the Mask, recorded at the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists meeting in Australia. Sharon and guest co-host Kevin Chem sit down with Sari Pyhälä, a Finnish RN specialized in anesthesia and perioperative care, to learn more about how her profession differs from the model many U.S. CRNAs know.

Sari explains Finland’s education pathway, the role of on-the-job training, and how nurse anesthetists work within a physician-supervised model while still taking on significant responsibility for preparing, maintaining, and safely transitioning anesthesia care.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in this episode:

🌍 Nurse anesthesia looks different around the world.

🎓 Finland relies heavily on on-the-job anesthesia training.

🤝 Teamwork and mutual respect drive anesthesia care.

🗣️ Workplace challenges cross countries and generations.

❤️ Sari calls nurse anesthesia “a wonderful life.”

Join Sharon at the Nurse Anesthesia Update in the Bahamas: https://www.nurseanesthetist.com/events/nurse+anesthesia+update+2026/

About our guest: https://wcna2026.com/speakers/sari-pyhala/

Visit us online: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/

The 1099 CRNA Institute: https://aana.com/1099

Want to get CE Credit for listening? Go here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/special-announcement-ce-credt/

Now you can watch the show on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknrmkRxiwtYk7LUjSV6wmw?sub_confirmation=1