CONGRATULATIONS TO VIRGINIA SHAW SCHERLER!!

Virginia Shaw Scherler was the recipient of the Alice Magaw Outstanding Clinical Practitioner Award at the AANA 75^th Annual meeting this past August in Minneapolis. This is a very prestigious award and Virginia is the first Oklahoma CRNA to earn this privilege! She was honored at a luncheon during the annual meeting. Her name is added to a long list of outstanding CRNAs across the country. Congratulations, Virginia!!

Alice Magaw Outstanding Clinical Practitioner Award

Purpose
The Clinical Anesthesia Practitioner Award was established in 1986 by the AANA Council for Public Interest in Anesthesia. This award recognizes the accomplishments of CRNAs involved in direct patient care, who have made an important contribution to the advancement of nurse anesthesia practice.

The Award became the Alice Magaw Outstanding Clinical Practitioner Award in 1998 to honor Alice Magaw (1860-1928), nurse anesthetist to the Mayo brothers (1893-1908). Dr. Charles H. Mayo bestowed the title "Mother of Anesthesia" on Magaw, a "peerless anesthetist" who combined open drop ether and talking soothingly to patients during the administration of the anesthetic. Magaw shared her expertise with the medical community by writing five articles, the first publication by a nurse anesthetist, with her observations on administering anesthetics and training nurses sent by leading surgeons.

Award
The Award is inscribed with the recipient’s name and the year of presentation. The recipient’s name is also added to a plaque bearing the names of previous recipients, which is displayed in the AANA Executive Office. The Award is presented during the AANA Annual Meeting.

Eligibility
The nominee must be or have been a CRNA who has been actively involved in improving the quality of patient care. The nominee may be living or deceased.

Past Recipients