Judy Thompson

I think my success comes from my very supportive husband - he's always been very supportive of everything I've done. My family has never given me any discouragement; they've never said to me, don't go for this, don't go for that. My mother was very influential to me and always encouraged me, even though my parents are deceased a long time ago. I would also say some of the physicians that I've met and many of the nurse anesthetists that I've met have been very supportive throughout my career.

I would say work very hard academically, because nurse anesthesia's a hard career to get into, but it's an immensely rewarding career. You're working with a fair amount of autonomy, it's very well respected, the money is good, and there's different places that you can work giving anesthesia - from surgery centers to hospitals to pediatric hospitals to trauma hospitals, all kinds of things. It's a very rewarding career. I've encouraged my students to do medical missions and third world trips to give back some of their skills and recognize how lucky they are, which is what I felt when I was doing it. I've encouraged them to be active politically in the organization because their futures depend on it, and I've encouraged them to get jobs in settings that would challenge them.

I think that one of the biggest challenges right now is the fact that the government has limited funds for nursing education, and it's going to be very impactful for anesthesia. I just saw on the news yesterday that 25 states are suing the government for putting a cap on the money, the student loans that certain nurses can borrow. There's a nursing shortage, there's an anesthesia shortage, and people can't afford to pay for these careers if they're going to be capped at a certain student borrowing rate. Some people in government just think this is not a professional career, which is so frustrating. So I think that's right now, immediately, one of the challenges that we're facing.

I think the flexibility and the knowledge of all the things we can do as a profession have brought a lot of positive things to my students. I've encouraged them to do medical missions and third world trips to give back some of their skills and recognize how lucky they are, which is what I felt when I was doing it. I've encouraged my students to be active politically in the organization because their futures depend on it. I've encouraged them to get jobs in settings that would challenge them. Giving back is very important to me - being able to be part of a team that was helping people that would probably never have gotten care otherwise has been the most impactful thing in my career and made the most impression on me.