RESUMO
National and state legislative decisions have an impact on the care that Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) provide their patients. Historically, professional advocacy resulted in CRNA title recognition and direct reimbursement for CRNA services and led to providing states an opt-out option for medical supervision when billing Medicare and Medicaid. It is critical that CRNAs continue to grow as advocacy leaders and, in preparing for this role, each CRNA must be provided with the knowledge and skills to be successful. The objective of this research project was to determine the impact that CRNA advocacy education in Pennsylvania nurse anesthesia educational programs has on students' professional involvement. Two surveys were distributed to all 12 Pennsylvania nurse anesthesia educational programs to determine the quality and quantity of advocacy education incorporated into their program and how it affected the professional political involvement of senior student registered nurse anesthetists. Pearson r calculations were conducted to assess for correlations between variables. The results showed a strong positive correlation between advocacy education in nurse anesthesia educational programs and the impact it has on students' professional advocacy involvement (r = 0.481, P = .001).