Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Featuring SRNA Mamawa Hollendyke, MSN, RN

Mamawa Hollendyke, MSN, RN

💚🤍 Mamawa Hollendyke, MSN, RN, is as Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNA) at York College of Pennsylvania’s WellSpan Health Nurse Anesthetist Program. As a first-year student, she understands the importance of building strong relationships with her fellow SRNAs. She has gained a new family in the 3,000-plus Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in Pennsylvania. An immigrant herself, Mamawa speaks of the beauty of embracing each other’s uniqueness. She also reminds us of the beauty in the lessons we learn from the communities we serve. Thank you, Mamawa, for sharing your story and for celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with us.

“Hispanic Heritage Month is a good reminder to celebrate each other every day and embrace our unique identities. As I reflect on my own experiences, I began to realize how fortunate I was to have been exposed to the rich Latinx and Hispanic cultures as an ICU nurse in a predominantly Spanish-speaking city hospital in New York.

The majority of my Hispanic colleagues tended to be the hardest working and most inclusive individuals, making the work environment positive and enjoyable. They would be the first ones to come to my aid, help me with my patients, and even go out of their way to educate me on medical Spanish.

Hispanic patients and families throughout my career have also been the most patient and understanding, especially those from Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Peruvian backgrounds, just to name a few.

Their close family relations, respect for their elders and their ability to speak multiple languages and navigate different cultures and customs is admirable. Many of these patients tended to be some of the most gracious and unselfish people I ever encountered. For instance, patients who spoke little to no English were so glad for my efforts at communicating with them --- even if, at times, my own efforts were feeble. Often, I was also provided with homemade meals or given handwritten cards to express their gratitude for being their nurse. These are only a few of the many wonderful experiences I can share of my fellow Hispanic patients and colleagues. With that being said, I am so honored this month is dedicated to uplifting the hardworking, resilient, and diverse Hispanic community that makes our profession and our country a better place every day. Cheers to Hispanic Heritage Month!”

🩺💙 For additional #HispanicCRNA stories in our #HispanicHeritageMonth blog series, click here.

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SRNA Perspective on Handling Parenthood and School

Laura K. Blank, Senior SRNA

York College of Pennsylvania / WellSpan Health Nurse Anesthetist Program

It’s Sunday, and I’m in the middle of my cardiac rotation, with an on-pump aortic valve replacement scheduled for tomorrow. My 3-year-old son is in daycare, and when I awoke this morning to prepare for the week, a notification from his school popped up on my phone --- and a feeling of dread immediately washed over me. Yet again, another unpredictable daycare closure because of COVID-19 exposure. Another week of shuffling schedules, exercising adaptability, and remembering expectations don’t change for my husband’s job and my clinical requirements. Another week of hoping our unvaccinated son doesn’t get sick.

I’d like to say this happens infrequently, but I can recall on two separate occasions my son’s daycare closing the week before finals. My perfectly planned study and paper-writing schedule instantly went up in smoke. All this is on top of the normal daily struggles of trying to juggle school, work, family, and parenting.

It hasn’t all been challenging. The joys that come from working hard and setting a good example for my child give me confidence that my husband and I are paving the way for him in life. We hope we are teaching him kindness, joy, and thankfulness as we adapt to uncertainty. We make sacrifices in other areas to be able to always show him love and attention while prioritizing my schooling and patient care. He may be too young to remember this pandemic season, but perhaps one day he will ask us how we got to where we are. We are teaching him ownership, hard work, and dedication.

As a senior SRNA, the end is in sight. I have an ode to all the other mothers and fathers out there in school. We all have different challenges. Some battle with illness and others need more from their support system than available; there are relationship troubles and financial troubles. School demands time and sacrifice. It’s difficult to miss Mother’s Day trips, big birthday parties, or life events.

Here’s to the parents who put their patients first and still show up for their kids. Here’s to the support systems, the life partners, and the family and friends who jump in to help or understand the absence of time. Here’s to the faculty and preceptors who understand the balance as well. In the end, showing love to our families while learning how to best care for our patients will be worth all the sacrifice in the end.

Fostering the next generation of CRNAs

Choosing a career path is not always easy for students. But sometimes a person or an event can help influence a student. For three CRNAs who graduated from South Fayette High School, the career inspiration started with an anatomy and physiology course.

As a young man, Aaron Ostrowski knew he wanted to help people, and to him that meant helping through the medical field. Though he quickly discovered that pre-med track in college was not for him, he did learn about the benefits of pursuing a career in nursing. After graduating he realized he could help others interested in the field navigate the professional options available through a nursing career.

“Kent Nichols was my high school anatomy and physiology teacher. He was my early inspiration to move in this career direction. I wanted to recognize his efforts and expose his students to the options available in nursing. In the earliest years as an ICU nurse, I visited his classes to speak about nursing, the educational pathway, and the career options,” Ostrowski said.

The interaction with the class and students has evolved since those initial speaking engagements. After Ostrowski completed nurse anesthesia school in 2001, he brought the learning experience into the hospital. The students now have the opportunity to visit the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and UPMC-Presbyterian to learn about CRNAs, participate in hands-on activities, and visit the operating room to shadow CRNAs.

One of Pennsylvania’s newest CRNAs, Leigh Ann Clark, was one of the students who attended the field trip. Her class was given the chance to observe a procedure with a group of University of Pittsburgh student nurse anesthetists. It was the first time Clark had an in-depth look at healthcare careers and shadowing nurses, nurse anesthetists and physicians in a surgical setting left an impression on her.

“I really had not given a great deal of consideration about going to nursing school, but this day changed my thinking. I made the decision to apply to nursing school with the end goal of becoming a CRNA always in the back of my mind,” Clark said.

Clark, who received her certification on January 4, commented that being a CRNA places you in a stimulating work environment in virtually every surgical care setting.

“The blending of the physiologic and emotional aspects of patient care by the CRNA is something that has always appealed to me,” Clark said. “The concept that a nurse anesthetist cares for a patient before, during and through the end of a procedure completes the full circle of care, which is something I identify with personally and professionally.”

Another young CRNA also had the opportunity to participate in the field trip through South Fayette High School. Chelsea Hyre (Cord) was born with a medical condition that required numerous surgeries, and as she grew up and learned more about her diagnosis, she knew that she wanted to pursue a career in nursing. But she did not identify nurse anesthesiology until her high school anatomy and physiology trip to the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC-Presbyterian.

“Aaron was very influential [about my] decision on that day because he helped me understand how intricate, exciting and rewarding anesthesia is,” Hyre (Cord) said.

She received her certification in January 2016 and started at Geisinger Medical Center shortly thereafter. She loves that her career brings a variety of experiences and the ability to do something different every day.

Ostrowski found a way to pay forward his love of nurse anesthesia, and through his involvement with his high school, he has been able to share his passion with others. While a number of South Fayette High School students have gone on to pursue careers in nursing, Leigh Ann Clark and Chelsea Hyre (Cord) are two graduates who went on to become CRNAs.