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Villanova
University-Crozer-Chester Medical Center nurse anesthesia students “adopt
a friend” in the community
Ann Barrow
 Nurse
anesthesia students from the Villanova University-Crozer-Chester Medical
Center School of Nurse Anesthesia assisted local residents during the
2003 holiday season. Both the junior and senior classes participated in
the “Adopt a Friend for the Holidays” project undertaken by
the school for the second year in a row. The goal of their efforts was
to help underprivileged membe rs of the community during the holidays
by providing items of necessity.
Director Bette Wildgust, M.S.N., M.S., CRNA believes, “It is important
for the student body to be involved in the local community as health care
professionals and this annual event is one way to help those who are in
need, especially over the holidays.” Seventeen senior students,
headed by chairperson Heather Gillis, visited Arbor Court. Arbor Court
is an independent living facility for veterans adjacent to Crozer-Chester
Medical Center in Upland, Pa. The seniors bought, assembled and distributed
items such as bar soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, razors, shaving
cream and washcloths in individual gift bags for the residents.
Junior class chairperson Jason Makin led 23 of his classmates to St. James
Place, a retirement and rehabilitation center in Chester, Pa., with a
similar delivery. Despite the intensity and heavy course load of the nurse
anesthesia program, every member of the senior and junior classes participated
in the project as a team to reach their goal. “Working with this
charity allowed my class to help an undeserved population that we do not
normally encounter and allowed us to give back to the community a token
of what it has given to us,” says Makin.
Villanova University College of Nursing and Crozer-Chester Medical Center
have collaborated on the development of a joint 27-month program to prepare
certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) with a master of science
degree in Nursing from Villanova University. This highly competitive program
that draws students nationally prepares advanced practice nurses with
a sound base of theoretical knowledge and clinical experience in the practice
of nursing anesthesia. Nurse anesthetists have been administering anesthesia
for over 100 years. Today, CRNAs administer anesthesia in the majority
of cases in the United States. For more information about the Nurse Anesthesia
Program, visit www.nursing.villanova.edu/anesthesia.
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