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UrduThis award established in 1999, which is named for former AANA Executive Director John Garde, is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the practice of nurse anesthesiology through clinical research. The John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award recipients must be a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), also known as nurse anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, who currently are or have been active in anesthesia research, are nominated by their peers in AANA, and selected by the AANA Foundation Professional Development Committee and the AANA Foundation Board of Trustees.
O’Donnell’s research is immense, with a large portion related to the use of simulation for nurse anesthesiology education. He has conducted research with his students to determine the spectrum of both technical skills and nontechnical skills that are taught and tested with simulation. O’Donnell is professor and founding chair of the Department of Nurse Anesthesia at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. Under his leadership the Nurse Anesthesia Program has risen to be one of the pre-eminent US Nurse Anesthesiology Programs ranking in the top 10 by US News and World Report since 1998.
As part of his faculty role, he has led Doctor of Nurse Practitioner (DNP) Program curricular revision including development of the Pitt DNP Pathway designed to support students in their scholarly work. He has been honored as the Program Director of the Year by both the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists and AANA.
Using research to improve anesthesia care, O’Donnell is also senior associate director of the Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER), which is housed at the University of Pittsburgh. As part of his WISER duties, he chairs the Research and Scholarship Committee. In this capacity he is principal investigator of an umbrella Institutional Review Board (IRB) that supports simulation research and scholarship. O’Donnell also serves as the WISER associate director of the International Simulation Fellowship where he supports their research and scholarship efforts.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to accept the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Researcher of the Year Award. Looking back on my 43 years of nursing and my 33 years as a CRNA, I would have to say that research and scholarship have been the foundational core of my professional life and have allowed me to develop as scholar, author and speaker, “ O’Donnell said. “I am grateful for the support of my wife Melinda and my three children, one of whom has followed in my footsteps to become a CRNA. I am also grateful for my supportive dean, my fellow nurse anesthesia faculty at Pitt and of course my inspiring and incredibly talented students.”
O’Donnell is one of the first two CRNAs in the United States honored as a Fellow of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare where he has served as treasurer and a member of the Executive Board and currently serves as chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. In 2021, he was honored as a member of the first class of AANA Fellows, and in 2022 was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. O’Donnell also serves on the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, where in 2023 he was elected president and recently re-elected in 2024.
O’Donnell earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. He received his MSN (anesthesia concentration) and a Doctor of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh.
