Becoming a Leader in Nurse Anesthesia

Preston Woodburn-Camp, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) who earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from West Virginia University in 2010, was recently introduced as the 2023-24 president of the 653-member West Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists (WVANA).

A resident of Fort Ashby, Woodburn-Camp works for an independent CRNA practice serving patients at WVU Medicine Potomac Valley Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility in Keyser. The practice provides anesthesia and related services for a wide variety of surgical procedures including general, orthopedic, urologic, and other specialties, as well as emergency care.

Woodburn-Camp received his Doctor of Management Practice in Nurse Anesthesia (DMPNA) from the CAMC School of Nurse Anesthesia, Charleston, West Virginia, in 2018.

“It is a real honor to be named president of the WVANA,” said Woodburn-Camp. “It comes with a great deal of respect for the position and a desire to do well to serve the CRNAs and student nurse anesthetists of West Virginia and, more importantly, to promote the health of all West Virginians.”

In the United States, nurses first gave anesthesia to wounded soldiers on the battlefields of the Civil War, making them the country’s original anesthesia providers. Today, CRNAs are anesthesia experts who practice in every type of healthcare setting where anesthesia is required for surgical, obstetrical, trauma stabilization and pain management procedures. More than 60,000 nurse anesthetists across the United States safely deliver over 50 million anesthetics to patients. In West Virginia, nurse anesthetists deliver nearly 600,000 anesthetics to patients each year and are the principal providers of anesthesia services in the state’s rural communities.

Prior to receiving the gavel as president of WVANA, Woodburn-Camp served as the state association’s president-elect (2022-2023) and Communications Committee chair, a role which he will continue to fill during the coming year. He is also a member of the national Society for Opioid Free Anesthesia.

“This is a pivotal year for the WVANA,” said Woodburn-Camp. “First, we will be continuing our ongoing efforts to educate the public about the role and value of CRNAs in our state’s healthcare system. West Virginians, especially those who live in rural and other medically underserved areas, rely on CRNAs for their health and well-being.

“Additionally, we’d like to see the outdated requirement of physician supervision removed for West Virginia’s CRNAs so our state is like the vast majority of other states,” Woodburn-Camp stressed. “This would allow CRNAs to practice to the full extent of our education, training, and licensure to ensure West Virginians greater access to the anesthesia care we provide… care that is critical to making many essential healthcare services possible.”

Woodburn-Camp, his wife Melissa, and their children Maeve, 4, and Rex, 3, live in Fort Ashby.