Alum shares view from rewarding road to advanced degree

Jonathan Adzema, a 2014 Penn College nursing graduate who is pursuing a master’s degree to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist, returned to campus Monday to talk with current students who may be interested in entering the advanced practice. He offered students real-world perspective on the field and provided the candid advice that only a fellow alumnus can, fielding questions about how to study and what to look for in a graduate school. Adzema explained that, among an anesthetist’s duties in an operating room, a CRNA serves as an all-seeing eye who keeps a patient safe while he or she is unable to speak – or even breathe – for himself or herself. Anesthetists, he said, must know how anesthesia drugs can affect a patient’s pre-existing conditions or interact with prescriptions, vigilantly monitor vital signs, and understand the surgical procedure at hand and the stresses it will put on the patient’s body. CRNAs can work not only in hospitals but also in the military, ambulatory surgery centers, gastrointestinal labs, dental surgeons’ offices and many other settings.