Graduate Student Wins Top Honors at Annual Nurse Anesthetists Meeting

Out of 80 competitors, third-year nurse anesthetist graduate student Elizabeth Nickell took first place in a poster presentation at the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) annual meeting in Boston, Aug. 6-10.

Nickell is a full-time student at the University of Cincinnati and is pursuing her master’s of science in nursing (MSN) with a specialty in nurse anesthesia. Her presentation was on Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia: a rare, autosomalrecessive disease characterized by an absence of clot retraction with normal platelet count and morphology. The disease creates complications for women giving birth.

"The disease makes the patient more prone to bleeding, which is a particular concern with a patient who is having a baby,” says Nickell, who won based on her case study and recommendations for providing anesthesia to these patients.

Nickell says she became interested in advanced practice nursing while working as a nurse in an intensive care unit with certified registered nurse anesthetists.

A certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is a licensed professional nurse who provides anesthesia services similar to an anesthesiologist. After completing extensive education and training, CRNAs become nationally certified and may then practice in all 50 states.

Nickell co-authored the poster with faculty members, Beth Ann Clayton, who is a CRNA, and Lesley Gilbertson, MD.