Molly Hartman, CRNA, newest member of the BBGH Anesthesia team
Molly Hartman, CRNA, (at right) has been with BBGH since March of 2019. She’s shown here visiting with BBGH Director of Anesthesia Chuck Frisch, CRNA, DNP, FAAPM.
As highly educated and skilled anesthesia experts, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) stay with patients throughout their surgical procedure to ensure their comfort and safety. The CRNA team at Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) increased to four in March when Molly Hartman, CRNA, came on board to provide her expertise to that department’s success. The team’s other three CRNAs (Chuck Frisch, Tim Richey, and Rita Vaughn) are happy to have her as part of their team.
Molly, a native of Minnesota, started her career path to her present profession in 2006 when she attended Platt College in Aurora, CO to obtain her RN, BSN. She graduated in 2008, Magna Cum Laude. “I’ve been in Denver for the last 16 years so I also call Denver my home,” she said. “All of Grant’s (her husband) family lives there.”
After becoming an RN, Molly was employed for 10 years at several Denver area hospitals in various capacities, including Chronic Critical Care and Intensive Care. “I grew into my role as a CRNA during those years, seeing many of the different avenues an RN can pursue,” she said. “It was while I was in Critical Care that I started really interacting with anesthetists, providing a lot of similar medicines to unconscious patients and situations like that. There is a lot of collaboration with anesthesia teams in the ICU because patients are coming in and out of the OR quite a bit.”
She started her studies to gain her Master's degree in Nurse Anesthesia (MSNA) degree in 2016, attending Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She completed that quest in December of 2018, joining BBGH soon after.
Molly wanted to become a Nurse Anesthetist because, “I like the science behind it and the one-on-one contact with my patients. I like the autonomy and critical thinking aspects using evidenced based practice to provide high quality anesthesia and analgesia. Every day is a new unknown, especially if you’re on call. You don’t know what you’re being called for. It could be anything; someone coding, a woman in labor, a broken arm in the ED, or just a telephone consult. That keeps it really interesting and challenging.”
The most rewarding part for her as a CRNA is the one-on-one patient facet. “I get to meet my patients, take care of them, and then see them again in recovery,” Molly said. “It’s really rewarding to watch the entire process, and then see them get up, get dressed and walk out of here.”
After four months at BBGH, Molly appreciates the facility and her co-workers, saying, “The hospital is beautiful and these past few months Grant and I have become familiar with the town; enjoying the walking trails and the lake with our two dogs. The anesthesia team here has been very welcoming and very helpful. Also, I’m able to pursue pain training with Chuck’s help. The surgeons are very friendly and easy to work with. We’re busy, too. In the four months I’ve been here, I’ve averaged around 15 cases a week. Overall everyone I’ve met at BBGH have been, again, very helpful and friendly. They care about their patients here.”
Box Butte General Hospital is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
