Student Wellness Homepage

Dear Fellow SRNAs,

Hello there!  My name is Marci Papiernik, RN, Class of 2013 at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.  I’m honored to be the student representative on the AANA Health and Wellness Committee for Fiscal Year 2013 (September 2012 – August 2013).

Photo: This is me on the right at a clinical site setting up IVs for the day with classmate Frelea Lyn Wetzel.  

Student Stress

As a second year student in a nurse anesthesia educational program (NAEP), I appreciate how stressful this educational process can be.  The AANA Health and Wellness program is committed to supporting the well-being of all members and believes that healthy habits developed early in nurse anesthesia schooling can help us be fit-for-duty professionals throughout our careers. Research indicates that SRNAs experience many symptoms of stress, but we can develop healthy coping behaviors instead of the unhealthy ways, which can quickly lead to many more serious problems. ​

Personal Wellness

I applied for this committee because of my personal passion for wellness and disease prevention.  Taking care of myself is something that has become more and more important to me (photo: 2011 Chicago Bank of America Marathon running for the American Cancer Society Team DetermiNation in honor of my Dad).  This has grown and evolved over time; I can now see how it affects my overall performance and ability to give to others.  I believe the patients who cross my path deserve me at my best, as a student and eventually as a CRNA.

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Resources for You

The AANA’s Health and Wellness and Peer Assistance resources are filled with information and links ranging from social responsibility, physical and emotional wellness, workplace wellness, and ways to get help for yourself and others when the issue is substance abuse or dependency.  You may not know this, but peer assistance help is available for students too!  Please take a few minutes to explore these pages and this student section in particular.

Join Me on This Journey!

I invite you to join me! I'm working on a Student Wellness Connection project to with at least one wellness liaison from each NAEP so we can network and share information and ideas specific to SRNA health and wellness.  

  • If your program has a student wellness representative, please email me the contact info.
  • If not, ask your program director if you could volunteer and send me your info. 
  • Recruit others to join in bringing the AANA’s health and wellness message to your classmates (see some ideas on this page). 
  • Let me know what you’re doing; it would be great to hear about any SRNA health, wellness, or social responsibility/volunteer programs.  Send photos so we can post to share with others.
  • I welcome any suggestions you have or any wellness activities or related issues you’re experiencing.
  • I've posted links to some of my favorite wellness websites (just to the right here); what are yours?

Communication, sharing, and self care are keys to well-being as we begin our professional lives as nurse anesthetists. Feel free to contact me at Marci_L_Papiernik@rush.edu.  I would love to hear from you!

Sincerely,
Marci

 

 

 

 Links for SRNAs

 
 

 Marci says:

 
​Annual Meeting Fun 5K:

I'm registered, are you?

Thanks for sharing Fara:

Fara Clarke, the wellness liaison from FIU, shares Stress Management: Surviving the Second Semester. The first edition of the Class of 2014 Health and Wellness Newsletter she created.

My picks:

Myfitnesspal.com - great and free where you can log food and exercise. Includes forums, blogs, healthy recipes, exercises, weight loss and healthy lifestyle tips, etc.  Also has a mobile app that syncs automatically.

Earndit.com - free too. Link your exercise/activities and get points for discounts on healthy items and a section to donate your points to charitable groups.
 
Eat This, Not That! Newsletter - free each week from Men's Health.
 
Note: Marci's picks are here for fun only and the AANA is not responsible for any content on these external sites.
 
Do you like wellness apps?
See our growing list of health and wellness apps. Share your favorite: Send link and why you love it to wellness@aana.com

 
 

 Health & Wellness Contacts

 

Janet Dewan, CRNA, MS
Chair, AANA Health and Wellness Committee
j.dewan@neu.edu

Marci Papiernik, SRNA
Student Representative, Health and Wellness Committee
Marci_L_Papiernik@rush.edu

Peer Assistance in Your State 

Peer Assistance Advisors

AANA Peer Assistance Helpline
(800) 654-5167 
 
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Hotline
1 (800) 273-TALK
 
Anesthetists in Recovery (AIR)
(215) 635-0183
 
AANA Staff:
Julie Rice, Wellness Specialist
(847) 655-1114
jrice@aana.com or
wellness@aana.com ​