ABOUT US
For more than seven decades, the Washington Association of Nurse Anesthetists (WANA) has promoted best practices in the field, provided members with exceptional training and career opportunities, and elevated issues of critical concern.
For the past forty years, WANA has also sponsored educational conferences in an effort to provide the people of Washington State the highest quality anesthesia care available. The educational conferences offer a multitude of opportunities to introduce new technology, pharmaceuticals and patient care improvement systems.
WANA includes more than 580 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and student anesthetists in Washington State.
History
In the Spring of 1936, Spokane hospital representatives Elizabeth Scully, June Roberts, Alice Claude and Mary Leonard met at a luncheon in the Davenport Hotel. Their purpose was to form plans for the creation of an association for Nurse Anesthetists.
A few short years later, on 20 February 1939, the Washington Association of Nurse Anesthetists (WANA) was organized. Their first meeting occurred at the Davenport Hotel in May 1940.
June Roberts was a charter member and first president of WANA. Her primary interest was to promote and encourage nurse anesthetist education. During her time as president of WANA, she increased anesthetist enrollment from two students per year to fourteen. June's enthusiasm and assiduous efforts in the school of anesthesia was responsible for obtaining full accreditation from the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists in 1953. The following year, she retired after three decades as Director of Anesthesia at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. Click here to read the original newspaper article announcing June Roberts' retirement.
For more, view the WANA Historical Archives >
