The Janice Drake Humanitarian Award is presented to a CRNA who volunteers and provides anesthesia, education and training in needy areas of the United States or overseas. Drake is a CRNA who believes that the purpose of life is “to matter, to make a difference and to be useful to others.” She created the endowment for this award to encourage others to enrich the lives of others and in so doing, find their own fulfillment and purpose.
Henker works at UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh and provides anesthesia care at hospitals worldwide. He has been a guest lecturer and visiting professor at universities around the globe, including eight universities in Japan alone. He serves as a site reviewer for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and is a member of the American Nurses Association Committee on Nursing Practice Standards and Guidelines.
Also on the board of directors for Health Volunteers Overseas, Henker is the program co-director for the Nurse Anesthesia Overseas HVO site at Lao Friends Hospital for Children.
“I would like to thank Janice Drake for funding the Janice Drake CRNA Humanitarian of the Year Award that has allowed me to spend 5 weeks at Lao Friends Hospital for Children in Luang Prabang, Laos,” said Henker. “During my time at LFHC I was able to help open the operating theatre (July 26th) and teach Kuelee Laofaiyia, the lone nurse anesthesia student at LFHC. Kuelee has been through nine months of didactic and clinical education. LFHC will be enrolling two more nurses to go through the educational process at LFHC to become nurse anesthetists.
“It has been inspirational to work with the patients and their families at LFHC,” continued Henker. “They are so appreciative of the care provided. Despite the rigors of living in Luang Prabang and practicing in a resource scarce setting, the Lao and expatriate staff are incredibly dedicated to improving the health of the children in Laos.”
The AANA Foundation congratulates Richard Henker on being named the 2016 Janice Drake Humanitarian Award winner.
About the AANA FoundationEstablished in 1981, the AANA Foundation is a charitable organization devoted to anesthesia research and education. The Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. The Foundation funds health services research, scholarships, doctoral fellowships, post-doctoral fellowships, research grants, general poster sessions, oral "State of the Science" poster sessions and doctoral mentorships. www.aanafoundation.com
About the American Association of Nurse AnesthetistsFounded in 1931 and located in Park Ridge, Ill., and Washington, D.C., the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is the professional organization representing more than 50,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and student registered nurse anesthetists across the United States. As advanced practice registered nurses and anesthesia specialists, CRNAs administer approximately 43 million anesthetics to patients in the United States each year and are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural America. In some states, CRNAs are the sole anesthesia professionals in nearly 100 percent of rural hospitals. For more information, visit www.aana.com and www.future-of-anesthesia-care-today.com.
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