For CRNA Emily Glaser, the benefit of working in an academic institution is all about the expertise shared amongst faculty, CRNAs, trainees and staff.
Glaser is a member of the CRNA Education Committee, meaning she and a team of CRNAs oversee the Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNA) from Clarkson College and Bryan College of Health Sciences who complete their clinical training at UNMC. It’s her job to ensure the approximately 30 SRNAs who spend 18-24 months learn the they need to become safe and caring clinicians. For Glaser, that means not only becoming good providers to patients, but developing characteristics to be strong teammates.
“It’s rewarding to see students improve,” Glaser said. “The excitement and energy students bring is a good reminder to us all of why we chose this profession.”
It’s not just sharing her expertise with trainees that brings Glaser joy. A major factor in her pursuit of academic medicine was the opportunity work within a multidisciplinary team that tackles the region’s most complex surgical cases. Glaser believes that if you want the gold standard of care, you’ll find it at UNMC.
“This is a really special place as far as academic institutions go,” Glaser said. “We have a team approach where we are always paired with an anesthesiologist, and we really do work as a team. Sometimes ‘team approach’ can be a cover for ‘physician directed,’ but here it feels like physicians really value our input and trust our opinion. We’re respected.”
Glaser was first exposed to the CRNA profession while completing a summer nursing internship in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at the University of Iowa. It was there that she saw first-hand how much anesthesia care teams loved their jobs, which shaped her career path. After earning her BSN from Allen College in Waterloo, Iowa, she working in the surgical intensive care unit at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.
She then earned her master’s and doctoral nursing degrees from the University of Iowa. After graduation, she worked in a small hospital in Des Moines where she learned the essentials of practicing anesthesia. Missing an academic atmosphere and her geographical roots, Glaser, a southwest Iowa native, pursued UNMC. She joined the department in January of 2011.
“Everything Emily takes on, she goes all in until she has met the high expectations she keeps for herself,” said Tim Glidden, director of nurse anesthesia. “On top of that, you’ll find within the first few minutes of working with Emily that she genuinely cares about connecting with and caring for her patients and colleagues.”
When she’s not at work, you can find Glaser with her husband, Jordan, 3-year-old son, George, and 15-month-old twins, James and Maggie.
CRNA Spotlight: Emily Glaser
