Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Faculty Spotlight: Bill Prosser

First off, how did you discover nurse anesthesia?

My mom was a nurse and there were all kinds of medical books around the house when we were growing up. I loved to read those, so I was always interested in science and biology, and later the human condition and how all those things related. I followed my mom’s career and wound up going to nursing school.

Also, the mom of a friend of mine in high school was a nurse anesthetist. When I found out about the profession of nurse anesthesia, I was immediately drawn to it. I was like, “Wait, you can get an education that’ll allow you to do that without going to medical school?” I was hooked. 

My first degree was in bio-psychology. I was really fascinated with human sensory physiology and what we knew about the hierarchical structure of the brain at the time. That led me into studies related to human factors engineering and man/machine interface and the way people use sensory apparatus to meld and manipulate dynamic systems. That sowed the seeds for where I am now.

What was it about nurse anesthesia that appealed to you?

Initially, the thing that drew me into it was the science and dynamic physiology of it – and using scientific principles to really produce healthcare. It wasn’t until later that my whole career shifted as I became a lot more interested in helping people get through their fear of surgery – the pain of surgery – and find ways to provide them with better care. This eventually led me to completing a fellowship in acute surgical pain management. As I did more of that and delved into the science related to it, I became more aware of the impact I could have, which really softened my heart with respect to what I was doing. 

I am also drawn to the art of the practice. Anesthesia is an art in that it melds science and creativity. You’re creating a fairly specific product or art form for your patient, who you’ve taken into account their needs, their wants, their fears. You’ve got certain materials that you can work with. You have skills and technologies that you can use to meld those together to produce the best outcome for your patient. And that’s really where the art of it lies. 

How did your experiences working with veterans and abroad affirm your career choice?

There are two chapters in my anesthesia experience that have impacted me the most. The first was in the early 2000s doing anesthesia mission work in South America for kids with cleft lips and cleft palates. These children were ostracized and their mothers were encouraged to abandon them or to kill them because the condition is a stain on the family in some cultures. Participating in these kids having a repair so they are accepted in society affected me very profoundly. Some of the children whose lives were changed I’ll remember forever, and I’ll remember the smile and the pride in their parents’ faces when the children returned home. I am deeply grateful that God gave me the privilege to be part of that. 

The other was during my time in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Medical Center San Diego and Camp Pendleton for several years taking care of Navy and Marine Corps veterans returning from Iraq struggling with PTSD. I got to help them work through that process so they would not be triggered and not have an episode when they woke up from surgery. We worked to find ways to treat them so that when they woke up and asked, “Did I do it again?” we could say, “No, you didn’t do it again.” I remember just watching the relief and the comfort come on their faces when they realized that there was a way to not have that happen again. 

Tell me how your cancer diagnosis changed your perspective.

I was working a contract somewhere and started feeling sick. I thought maybe it was the flu. By the end of that week I had been admitted to the hospital for cancer. It was a very rocky road. I came very close to death during that period and had never suffered like that before in my life. Coming out of that gave me a greater appreciation for what some of my patients go through. It was harder to externalize their experiences since I had lived that experience myself. 

I came out of that experience with a much greater appreciation for what I could do for my patients. I was still struggling with why I had survived. And then the opportunity to become involved in starting up a nurse anesthesia program came along [at George Fox], and I came to the realization that each student life that I touch might potentially affect 15,000 to 20,000 patients in their career. It became clear to me that this was something I really had to step into. I realized this was the biggest opportunity to give back that I had experienced in my life. 

When did you first consider a career in education?

For about 15 years I coordinated a clinical trauma rotation for senior Air Force and Army student nurse anesthetists at the University of California, Davis. My favorite part of that experience was watching the light come on and watching that aha moment when they got a concept that was fairly complex. The opportunity to be more involved from the ground up with building a program that’s going to create those moments for anesthesia students  is something I find to be really compelling. That’s what really drew me into this role as program director. 

What are you most excited about in your new role as CRNA program director?

The program we’re creating at George Fox will be the perfect marriage of science, healthcare, technology, human empathy and caring for our patients. We’ll emphasize the spiritual growth of the student as well as their growth in science and technical knowledge, which will produce a better healthcare outcome for everyone we touch. In anesthesia, whether people realize it or not, we can only ever be tools in God’s hands, and we want to be the best tool that we can so that he can do the best work with us. 

We're building something really special here at George Fox. We plan to focus on enhanced recovery from surgery, the reduction of chronic pain, reduction of opioid addiction, and helping people with aspects of depression related to chronic pain. I hope everybody will have the chance to share in the blessings that this program will provide to the people of Oregon and really to the people who participate in it, because really the biggest benefactor of this will be you. 

Why is the start of a CRNA program at George Fox so critical at this point in time?

I want people to understand how desperate and difficult it is in rural America to get even basic levels of care, much less advanced surgical care. There’s a paucity of primary care and a paucity of surgical care due to factors like geographic maldistribution and provider preference not wanting to move out to the rural U.S.

Approximately 80% of all anesthetics in the U.S. are given by nurse anesthetists in rural settings, working independently and doing the best they can in sometimes resource-poor areas. The rural focus of the George Fox anesthesia program will empower our students to take the latest technologies into rural America, to take leadership roles in their communities, to provide cutting-edge care for the people in rural America, and to make a difference as far as what’s available and what’s possible for surgical care. 

These people are desperate for care. For the last 10 years I've had a heart for trying to make things better and bring some of the technological know-how that we have in tertiary care centers out to where people who really need it can get the care. I believe as creations of God we all have a right to appropriate  and best practice care. All of us have a right to humane and equitable care.  

What do you look for in a nurse anesthetist?

I joke with people that  to be good we’ve got to, in about five minutes, get somebody to trust us with their lives and put them at ease and allay their fears about undergoing anesthesia and surgery.

To be a successful CRNA, you really have to become pretty adept at that. You have to be able to have a realistic discussion with patients about risks and benefits, but at the same time gain their confidence that you’re going to be able to care for them professionally and accurately and produce the best outcome that they can have.

I also see CRNAs as community leaders, both on the healthcare front and as educated, pragmatic policy makers in their schools and committees within their cities. I will encourage our students and graduates to strive to take those roles in their communities, and in doing so, they can multiply their ability to give back.

What sets the George Fox program apart from competitors?

The major benefit of our program is that it’s small, which means the faculty-to-student ratio is very low. Everybody will be well-known by their faculty. We have a diverse and  robust clinical experience planned where people will get things that most larger programs can only dream of. In addition we have impressive support from a major healthcare system in Oregon that’s going to help us provide the experiences for students that will let them take their place as leaders in the profession. 

I see our Be Known motto as a challenge – a challenge for all of our students to exercise their ability to impact their communities, their families, the people around them, their healthcare systems, and to recognize that everything they give to those ends will come back to them in spades in the form of personal growth and satisfaction.