Kris Rohde Receives AANA’s Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award

Rosemont, Ill. — The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) will honor Kris Rohde, CRNA, with the 2023 Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director Award during the AANA Mid-Year Assembly, held April 29-May 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Rohde, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), is a staff CRNA at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. 

The Federal Political Director of the Year Award, established in 2001, is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the national healthcare agenda of CRNAs by coordinating grassroots CRNA involvement in their state and in the federal political process. 

Rohde has been an active member of the Board of Directors for the Nebraska Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NANA) since 2012. While on the board, she has served as a member-at-large, Chair of Public Relations, President-Elect, and President. Since 2020, she has served as Federal Political Director (FPD) for NANA. In addition to her work at the state level, she is also a member of AANA’s Political Action Committee, CRNA-PAC. 

“Being chosen for the 2023 Daniel D. Vigness Federal Political Director of the Year is such a great honor. I am truly humbled to have been given this award. Since I graduated from Bryan LGH College of Health Sciences in 2010, I have been involved politically for nearly my entire career and have been our FPD for two years. It has been a very rewarding time and I feel as if I have so much more I can accomplish during my tenure as the FPD for the great state of Nebraska,” Rohde said. 

According to her nomination, Rohde is a grassroots advocate who has played a key role in opposing legislation related to anesthesiology assistants in Nebraska: “Through reaching out to several national contacts, Kris has contributed to establishing a plan for opposition as well as shared access to those individuals who are able to help our cause and protect CRNA practice in this state.” 

As part of her political outreach, she represents CRNAs at events for the Nebraska legislature and the Nebraska Hospital Association. She also organizes meetings with gubernatorial candidates in Nebraska, and congresspersons and senators on Capitol Hill. 

“She doesn’t just attend events and sit on the sidelines. She understands our issues. Senators look to her because she befriends them, and they know her as the face and the spirit of nurse anesthesia,” her nomination said. 

“This profession has an amazing history, and I am so proud to explain to our lawmakers the importance of our profession and the vital role we play in any healthcare setting,” Rohde said. “There is nowhere we won’t go to take excellent care of patients. The policy makers need to know this, and I am always happy to explain this reality to them.” 

Rohde graduated from BryanLGH College of Health Sciences in Lincoln, Nebraska with a Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia, from Creighton University in Omaha with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She has worked as a CRNA at Nebraska Medicine since 2014. At Nebraska Medicine, an academic level 1 trauma center, she is active in mentoring student registered nurse anesthetists in her role as a clinical preceptor. 

CRNAs administer more than 50 million anesthetics every year in the U.S. with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility. These anesthesia experts practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered, offering obstetrical, surgical, pain management, and trauma stabilization services. They are the primary anesthesia providers in rural and underserved areas, as well as in the United States military.