Increasing Student Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist Engagement in the State Professional Association by Solidifying the Student Representative Liaison Role

Despite rising numbers of certified registered nurse anesthetists and student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) in the United States, engagement in state professional organizations has declined. To address this problem, the diffusion of innovation theory was applied to a quality improvement project. The student representative role within the state professional organization was enhanced by developing a toolkit and explicit expectations for the role. A pretest/posttest survey was distributed via email to SRNAs from three SRNA university programs within the state. SRNAs were assessed through the survey on engagement, beliefs, and attitudes. Additionally, engagement metrics including meeting attendance, and Midyear Assembly sponsorship applications were assessed. Utilizing Microsoft Excel for data analysis, we observed an increase in SRNA understanding of the professional organization's purpose (P = .02). Increased attendance at organizational events and sponsorship applications were shown. Our findings also highlight key barriers to engagement among SRNAs, including time conflicts (22.6%), cost (20.2%), and limited interest in the types of organizational events offered (20.8%). Enhancing the student representatives' role through explicit expectations and a toolkit successfully resulted in boosting SRNA engagement.