The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) is proud to announce that former AANA president Jackie Rowles, DNP, MBA, MA, CRNA, ANP-BC, NSPM-C, FNAP, FAANA, FAAN, was part of a research team that was awarded First Place in the Editors’ Choice category for Anesthesia & Analgesia for their article entitled “The Global Anesthesia Workforce Survey: Updates and Trends in the Anesthesia Workforce.” This award recognizes the Editors’ choice for the best publication in 2024. The research team will be recognized during the Anesthesia & Analgesia and A&A Practice Editorial Awards Session, March 21, in Honolulu. 
Anesthesia & Analgesia is known internationally as the number one anesthesia journal and is often referred to as “The Gold Standard in Anesthesiology.” As the official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society, it provides practice-oriented, pre-clinical and clinical research anesthesia experts need to keep current and provide optimal care to their patients.
This article serves as an update to the WFSA’s initial 2017 research publication on the number of anesthesia providers worldwide.
“There are 5 billion people in the world who do not have access to essential and emergency surgical care when and where they need it. Anesthesia has been identified as a rate limiting factor,” said Rowles. “It is important we all work together to determine accurate workforce status and use this data to advocate for governments to fund anesthesia education. Nurse anesthetists can help bridge this gap.”
This recognition underscores not only the contributions of the entire research team, but also Rowles’s unique role as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), also known as nurse anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, on the team. As the president of the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA), she was tasked as the main lead to work alongside the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA) to provide research data on nurse anesthetists for the article. A second nurse anesthetist, Pascal Rod, IFNA executive director, also served on the team.
“Working together with WFSA, we were able to obtain a much more realistic picture of the global anesthesia manpower needs and challenges,” said Rowles. “Studies have shown that one-third of the burden of disease can be eliminated by surgical care. We look forward to working together in future manpower studies and collaborative plans to help those in need.”
Outside of her research work and her role as president of IFNA, Rowles is the founder and president of Our Hearts Your Hands, Inc. (OHYH), a global nurse anesthesia charity. She has also been active on the international level since 2010, currently serving as the vice-chair of the Content Committee for the United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub, which provides free online educational content for surgeons, anesthesia providers, perioperative nurses, and other providers. Additionally, Rowles was recently named co-chair of the International Council of Nurses Advanced Practice Nursing Network’s Health Policy Committee.