Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists
The national organization for nurse anesthetists has its roots in the activities of leaders such as Agatha Hodgins of Ohio, under whose guidance the first graduate school in anesthesia was established. She also led the first meeting of nurse anesthetists in 1923 to form what was to become the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. By 1931 the organization had grown to the point that state groups were developed. Virginia was the eighth state to establish a constituent when the VANA was organized in 1935.
One of the first nurse anesthetist schools in Virginia was at DePaul Hospital in Norfolk. There were others in Norfolk, Richmond, Fairfax, Covington and Portsmouth. Today there are two - Virginia Commonwealth University offers the Masters and a Doctorate in Nurse Anesthesia and Old Dominion University has a Masters Program
The decade between 1940 and 1950 was particularly important for nurse anesthetists with the following events:
1944 - First African American nurse anesthetists accepted for membership
1945 - First standardized testing for nurse anesthetists
1947 - First male nurse anesthetists accepted for membership
1947 - Nurse Anesthetist Training in the military services begun
1950 - School Accrediting Committee established for the purpose of accrediting the nurse anesthesia schools.