MSN: Nurse Anesthesia Track - Program Update and Highlights
May 2008
May 3 - Dr. Binns-Turner received her doctoral hood at UAB's commencement exercise.
May 2 - Dr. Binns-Turner was awarded the Dean's Award for the Outstanding Graduate Student at UAB's Honor Convocation.
April 2008
April 12-17 - Dr. Binns-Turner, Mary Pena, SRNA, and Jim Barringer, SRNA attended the AANA's Mid-Year Assembly in Washington, D.C. Jim Barringer, SRNA participated in the
AANA's Mentoring Program.
March 2008
March 26 - Dr. Binns-Turner, Professor Wright, and 12 Union SRNA students attended the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists' Day on the Hill in Nashville, TN visiting legislators
and speaking with them about nurse anesthesia issues.
March 14 - Dr. Mark Kossick served as a judge for the West Tennessee Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.
March 6 - Professor Pamela Binns-Turner presented her doctoral research "Perioperative Music and Its Effects on Anxiety, Hemodynamics, and Pain in Women Undergoing
Mastectomy" and was awarded the title of PhD.
February 2008
February 29 - Professor Pamela Binns-Turner presented her doctoral research "Perioperative Music and Its Effects on Anxiety, Hemodynamics, and Pain in Women Undergoing
Mastectomy" and won 1st place in her category.
February 18-21 - Dr. Mark Kossick attended the HPSN 08 (METI conference) in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Kossick participated in Basic Scenario Design and Creation in the HPS6 Software.
February 11 - Professor Pamela Binns-Turner and Professor Molly Wright led 11 nurse anesthesia students on a mission trip to the DR.
January 2008
January 13 - Dr. Mark Kossick attended the 8th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in San Diego, California
January 11 - Dr. Mark Kossick presented three lectures to the graduate nurse anesthesia students at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. His lecture topics included
"Interpretation and Management of Hemodynamic Data," Valvular Heart Disease," and "Essentials of ECG Interpretation."
January 2 – Third class of 25 nurse anesthesia students began program
January 1 – Dr. Mark A. Kossick assumed the position of Professor of Nursing and Senior Fellow in the School of Nursing. This appointment moves the campus forward in Union’s 2010
plan for developing teacher-scholar roles in various schools across campus. The appointment is similar to previous appointments in Chemistry (Dr. Charles Baldwin), Christian Studies
(Drs. George Guthrie and Hal Poe), and Business (Dr. Darrin White). Dean Tim Smith now serves as Program Director for the Nurse Anesthesia Track.
November 2007
November 26 - Dr. Mark Kossick presented a 6-hour EKG Seminar hosted by Northwest Anesthesia Seminars for nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists in Las Vegas, Nevada.
October 2007
October 20 - Dr. Mark Kossick was the invited speaker for the annual fall TASNA meeting. His lecture topic was "Modified Chest Leads: Why - When - How."
October 19 – Professors Molly Wright and Pamela Binns-Turner presented at the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists (TANA) Conference. The lecture topic was
“Raising Lazarus – Advancing Anesthesia Simulation Education”. This presentation included an interactive anesthesia simulation demonstration with Union’s ECS simulator by METI.
September 2007
September 10 - Dr. Mark Kossick was designated as the Director of Graduate Education, Baptist Memorial Health Care Center of Excellence in Health Care Practice.
June 2007
June – Union’s Class of 2009 SRNA James Barringer, III, BSN, CCRN is published in the June 2007 issue of Critical Care Nurse, Vol. 27, No. 83, Electrocardiography Course
Revisions – Improve Students’ Test Scores.
May 2007
November 26 – Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented a 6-hour EKG Seminar hosted by Northwest Anesthesia Seminars for nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists in Las Vegas, Nevada.
October 20 – Dr. Mark A. Kossick was the invited speaker for the annual fall TASNA meeting. His lecture topic was “Modified Chest Leads: Why- When- How.”
September 10 – Dr. Mark A. Kossick was designated as the Director of Graduate Education, Baptist Memorial Health Care Center of Excellence in Health Care Practice.
May 15 – School of Nursing moved into White Hall with state-of-art classrooms and simulation lab for the nurse anesthesia students.
March 2 – Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented three lectures to the graduate nurse anesthesia students at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. His lecture topics included
“Interpretation and Management of Hemodynamic Data”, “Valvular Heart Disease”, and “Modified Chest Leads: Why- When- How.”
March 2007
March 2 - Dr. Mark Kossick presented three lectures to the graduate nurse anesthesia students at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. Lecture topics included
"Interpretation and Management of Hemodynamic Data," "Valvular Heart Disease," and "Modified Chest Leads: Why- When-How."
February 2007
February 9 - Dr. Tim Smith and Professor Binns-Turner led a mission trip of 12 nurse anesthesia students to the Dominican Republic providing approximately 35 anesthetics and serving
with Grace Ministries to serve approximately 900 patients in health care clinics.
January 2007
January 2 – Second class of 29 nurse anesthesia students began program.
August 2006
August 15 - Professor Molly Wright, MS, CRNA, APN joined the nurse anesthesia faculty in the School of Nursing at Union University.
May 2006
May 6- Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented at the Nineteenth Annual Charleston Anesthesia Conference, sponsored by the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. His lecture topics were “EKG Waveform-Segment Identification and the 12-lead EKG System”, EKG Diagnosis of Myocardial Injury/Intraoperative ST Segment Analysis”, and “Modified Chest Leads and the Derived 12-lead.”
May 5- Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented at the “Critical Issues in Anesthesia Conference” provided by Northwest Anesthesia Seminars, in Nashville, Tennessee. His five lectures included “EKG Interpretation: Review of Cardinal Concepts with Clinical Applications”, “The Ins and Outs of Computerized ST Segment Analysis”, “Modified Chest Leads: Why, When, How?”, “Preoperative and Intraoperative Recognition of MI”, and “Conventional 12-lead Versus the Derived 12-lead / Practice EKG Interpretation.”
April 2006
April 21- Liz Myrick, SRNA, was an invited speaker at the AACN Greater Memphis Area Chapter Spring Seminar 2006. Her topic was “Hazard Pay is Not Included in Our Benefits Package .. Maybe it Should Be.”
April 3-7- Professor Binns-Turner attended and received certification on Basic & Intermediate Training on the Human Patient Simulator from Medical Educational Technologies, Inc. (METI).
March 2006
March 31- Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented three lectures to the graduate nurse anesthesia students at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. His lecture topics included “Interpretation of Hemodynamic Data”, “Pathophysiology of Valvular Heart Disease”, and “ECG Assessment and Modified Chest Leads.”
March 17 - Professor Pamela Binns-Turner, MNA CRNA, Assistant Program Director & Assistant Professor of the Nurse Anesthesia Track at Union University was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to the Tennessee Department of Health’s Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council for a two year term. The Council represents the interests of thousands of Tennesseans with brain injury by helping this event to have a positive impact on their lives.
February 2006
February 23-25- Dr. Mark A. Kossick and Professor Binns-Turner attended the AANA Assembly of School Faculty Meeting in Newport Beach, California.
January 2006
January 14-17- Professor Binns-Turner attended the International Meeting on Medical Simulation for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
November 2005
November 10 - Dr. Mark A. Kossick presented a two hour lecture at the TANA District II Meeting “Modified Chest Leads: Why – When – How?” in Jackson, TN
November 1 - Assistant Professor Pamela Binns-Turner, MNA, CRNA began employment at Union University as the Assistant Program Director for the Nurse Anesthesia Program. Mrs. Pamela Binns-Turner received her Master of Nurse Anesthesia in August 1996 and her BSN in 1992 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Professor Binns-Turner will complete her PhD in Nursing in 2007 from UAB. The focus of her dissertation research is “The effect of music intervention on anxiety and hemodynamics in women undergoing mastectomy.” The implication for CRNAs is improved health outcomes (pain, nausea, wound healing) through this non-invasive and cost-effective intervention.
Professor Binns-Turner’s academic experience began three years ago when she was appointed an Assistant Professor at University of Alabama’s Nurse Anesthesia Program. She served also during that time as Director of Admissions for the program. She has been an invited speaker and presenter at professional nurse anesthesia conferences such as ALANA and LACES. Her areas of expertise have been respiratory physiology, regional anesthesia, surgical specialties, pathophysiology in addition to foundational anesthesia skills. She has practiced ten years of anesthesia in a variety of settings – urban teaching hospitals, urban and rural private hospitals, office settings, and as an independent solo practitioner. She has experience in a variety of practice settings – physician owned anesthesia groups, CRNA owned anesthesia groups, hospital-employed CRNA staff and as a locum tenens.
Professor Binns-Turner’s personal philosophy of education:
“I believe that I have a responsibility and am commanded through my Savior Jesus to love my brother (or sister) as myself. For me this mandates that I must unselfishly provide my students with the very best I can offer in the way of knowledge in my area of expertise. It also means that I am to treat each student equally, with fairness, and compassion. I believe that the future of our profession is reflected in the quality of our students. To impart quality to our students is not to simply instruct; it is to exemplify and model for them excellence in our professional, spiritual, and personal lives. My goal is to educate, impart professionalism, and instill a sense of obligatory service to humanity in their chosen specialty of anesthesia.”Professor Binns-Turner has been married for 23 years to Andy Turner and has two sons – 17 and 9 years old. She also has seven grandchildren.
October 2005
Union University’s Nurse Anesthesia Program received verbal notification that it was fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. In the near future the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Web Site (aana.com) – which assists in serving as a national data base for all fully accredited nurse anesthesia programs – will list Union’s Nurse Anesthesia Program as a graduate MSN track in Jackson, Tennessee.
October 30 -Dr. Kossick presented a 3 hour lecture titled “EKG Interpretation: How Details Can Affect Outcome” at the 40th Anniversary Anesthesia Conference, Hamot Medical Center School of Anesthesia, Erie, Pennsylvania.
October 16 - Dr. Kossick was an invited speaker at the Nebraska Association of Nurse Anesthetists, in Lincoln, Nebraska. His four hour presentation covered electrocardiography.
October 14 - Dr. Kossick lectured at the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee. His two hour lecture "EKG Interpretation from an Anesthetist's Perspective: What You Really Need to Know" was given to the Tennessee Association of Student Nurse Anesthetists.
October 6 - Dr. Kossick presented a seven hour EKG Seminar as a visiting professor at Wake Forest University Nurse Anesthesia Program, Winston -Salem, North Carolina.
September 2005
September 2 - Interviews for applicants for the nurse anesthesia program were completed at Union University. The selection committee consisted of members from the community of interest- including, Mr. Dwayne Accardo, MS, CRNA, Ms. Pam Austin, CRNA, Ms. Penny Beckham, MS, CRNA, Ms. Tharon Kirk, RN, MSN, FNP, Ms. Molly Wright, MS, CRNA, Ms. Pamela Binns-Turner, MNA, CRNA, and Mark Kossick, DNSc, CRNA. Twenty-six applicants were accepted into the inaugural class of 2008. Graduate studies for the class will begin January 3, 2006.
August 2005
August 6 - Professor Kossick attended the 72nd AANA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. as Chair of the AANA Education Committee. He also served as the Presiding Officer at the Assembly of School Faculty Meeting and as the moderator for the faculty forum.
August 1 - Professor Mark A. Kossick, DNSc, CRNA began employment at Union University as the Program Director for the Nurse Anesthesia Program. He received in December 2003 his Doctor of Nursing Science degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center - Memphis, College of Nursing. The title of his dissertation was "Evaluation of a New Modified Chest Lead for Diagnosing Wide QRS Complex Beats of Unknown Origin." Dr. Kossick's clinical residency was completed in the electrophysiology laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
Dr. Kossick is married and the father of three daughters ages 20, 16, and 15. He finished his anesthesia training in 1984 at Hamot Medical Center, Erie, Pennsylvania/Edinboro University, Edinboro, Pennsylvania. His educational experience includes over 19 years of academic instruction for nurse anesthesia programs (University of Cincinnati, University of Kansas, UAB, University of Maryland) and direct anesthesia care for general surgery, orthopedic, gynecological, transplant, ENT, vascular and plastic surgery. He has been an invited speaker at the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) national meetings and numerous state meetings. Over the past 15 years he has lectured extensively across the country on EKG interpretation and the management of ischemia and dsyrthythmias. His audiences consist most frequently of CRNAs but also include anesthesiologists, emergency room physicians, and critical care nurses. Internationally he has lectured in London, United Kingdom, as well as Vienna, Austria. Dr. Kossick has also written a textbook and handbook on electrocardiography and is an author of two chapters in the textbook Nurse Anesthesia (Inhalational Anesthetics and Clinical Monitoring in Anesthesia).
His service activities include providing anesthesia services as part of a medical mission team in Tatoxcac, Mexico, prior work as a member of the Board of Directors for the Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists, educator representative for the Council on Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists, AANA Continuing Education (CE) Committee Task Force, chair of the AANA Education Committee, on-site reviewer for the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and grant reviewer. His most rewarding experiences include medical mission work, lecturing to graduate nurse anesthesia students both on campus and at other universities as a visiting professor. He is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Program Director at Union University's School of Nursing that is committed to being Christ-centered and excellence driven; the latter mission being reflected by the U.S. News & World Report ranking of Union University as being a top tier university of the South from 1998 to 2005.
April 2005
April 26-28 - An on-site accreditation review team representing the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs visited Union University to evaluate the proposed Nurse Anesthesia Program. The report by the on-site reviewers was very positive, which included recognition of support provided by the community of interest, School of Nursing faculty, and the Administration of Union University. Noteworthy was a 2.5 million dollar gift given to Union University from Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and a $100,000 gift from Henry County Hospital.
The self-study written by Dean Tim Smith described among other things the program’s educational format- a 31-month nurse anesthesia program designed as a front-loaded educational program with the clinical experiences being obtained during the last 24 months of the program at 13 different hospitals. A decision to fully accredit the program will be made by the COA in October 2005.