Duke Alumna Burnett Named President of State Nurse Anesthetists Association
Gena Bittner Burnett, ABSN '06, MSN'10, was recently introduced as the 2020-21 president of the 3,100-member North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NCANA) during the association’s annual fall conference. Burnett, who is the assistant chief CRNA for the Durham division of Regional Anesthesia Associates, the Duke Anesthesiology Department’s Community Division of Anesthesia, earned her MSN-Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist degree from Duke.
“I am honored and humbled by the responsibility and trust my colleagues have in my ability and commitment to serve our profession as president of the NCANA,” said Burnett, who has been a member of the association’s board of directors since 2017. “I’m a firm believer in positive messaging, open communication and community. In a nation and state so divided, there are still many things upon which we can agree. I hope to find that common ground while continuing to advocate for and support nurse anesthesia practice in NC.”
CRNAs are nurses educated and trained in anesthesia who care for patients in every type of healthcare setting where anesthesia is required for surgical, obstetrical, trauma stabilization and pain management procedures. In North Carolina, nurse anesthetists safely and cost-effectively administer more than 2.5 million anesthetics to patients each year in collaboration with physicians and other advanced practice providers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these airway experts have provided essential front-line services caring for patients in respiratory distress, on ventilators, and in intensive care units as members of the multi-disciplinary patient care team.
Prior to becoming a CRNA, Burnett worked as a staff RN in the medical intensive care unit at Duke University Hospital, experience that prepared her well for her career as a nurse anesthetist. She currently provides anesthesia with physician anesthesiologists in hospitals and surgery centers located in Durham, Raleigh, Mebane and Holly Springs as a member of the anesthesia care team.
“There was once a slogan that referred to CRNAs as ‘the best kept secret in health care,’” said Burnett. “I ask, ‘Why should we be a secret?’ We are an important part of the multidisciplinary patient care team. We are safe, cost-effective, and efficient providers who promote patient advocacy. As a CRNA, I am the voice that patients do not have while they are ‘asleep’ during surgery, a responsibility which I am proud to fulfill.”
Highlights of her nursing education include being honored as founder and president of the Duke Student Nurse Association and participating in a medical mission to the Honduras. A life-long resident of North Carolina who grew up in Beaufort and currently resides in Raleigh, Burnett and her husband Michael, a Raleigh attorney, have a 7-year-old son.
The NCANA is the professional organization for more than 3,100 CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists in North Carolina. As anesthesia experts, nurse anesthetists safely and cost-effectively administer more than 2.5 million anesthetics to patients across the state each year. Learn more at www.ncana.com.