CHP Women Making History Series in honor of Women's History Month - Bernadette Johnson

All month long we are highlighting female faculty in the College of Health Professions, nominated by their peers, who are making history RIGHT NOW through their teaching, research, innovations, and activities.

Nominee:
Bernadette Johnson DNAP, MSN, CRNA, APRN
Clinical Director, Anesthesia for Nurses
Division of Anesthesia for Nurses
Years at CHP: 7 months

Nominated by:
Michele M. Ballister, DNP, CRNA, APRN, CHSE
Associate Professor, Assistant Program Director
Division of Anesthesia for Nurses

How is the nominee making history at CHP through their teaching, research, innovations, and/or activities?

Dr. Johnson’s doctoral work was in the second victim phenomenon of the healthcare workforce. At the time, she was employed at Atrium Health in the upstate. She received extensive training and then trained others on how to help healthcare workers navigate the multiple emotions experienced after a traumatic work-related event. She implemented a Peer Support Network at one Atrium facility while a peer doctoral student implemented a parallel program at an additional Atrium facility. The success of their combined efforts has been recognized by the Atrium enterprise and is being planned for implementation throughout the entire health system.

The timing of Dr. Johnson’s Peer Support Network could not have been better given that it overlapped the COVID-19 Pandemic. The impact to healthcare workers continues to be extreme. As a result of the pandemic and the increase in work related stressful events, the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs has changed their requirements for nurse anesthesiologists to include training in resiliency, stress management and self-care to better prepare our future workforce for these challenges. Dr. Johnson, AFN Clinical Director and expert in work related stress, is actively building the curriculum of the future of anesthesia training.