Lessons from the battlefield

Meet certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) Dan McKendry.

Nursing, it would seem, is in his blood. His mother, wife and daughter are all nurses.

Despite the family tradition, McKendry didn’t initially aspire to a career in nursing. It was his mother, drawing on her experience as an Air Force nurse, who suggested he consider nursing as a career path when he decided to join the Navy after high school. (Military service also runs in the family: In addition to his mother, his father, brother and sister are also veterans.)

Being in the Navy gave McKendry the opportunity to go to college, where he became a critical care nurse and served in that role in the Navy Nurse Corps for more than five years before being selected as one of just 16 sailors to complete nurse anesthetist training through the Navy.

He was deployed frequently between the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and 2008, including in the 1st Marine Division on the ground in Iraq and in the 2nd Marine division in Fallujah.

While in Fallujah, he was Officer in Charge (OIC) of a mobile surgical unit that included a fully functional operating room. (He proudly shares that his team could set up the mobile surgical tent from scratch and be ready to operate in just 45 minutes.)

His unit was busy; sometimes, he would be responsible for the anesthesia for two patients in the same OR at the same time. It’s where he learned some of his most important lessons as a CRNA.

Before his retirement in 2013, McKendry saw well over a thousand casualties as a nurse and CRNA.

“Everything comes at a cost,” he says, reflecting on the human toll he witnessed during his deployments.

Transitioning back to civilian practice

For the first few years after his retirement from the Navy, McKendry lived and worked in Fort Wayne, Ind. In 2018, he was recruited to join the Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital team, which would require a two-hour commute each way, something he wasn’t sure he wanted to do long-term.

But a pivotal diagnosis changed it all.

“The Friday before my first week on the job, I found out I had cancer and would need surgery, and then possibly more treatments to follow,” he says. “I called up my new boss, Susan Arndt, and said: ‘In seven weeks, I am going to need major surgery. Should I even bother to start?’”

Thinking she wouldn’t want to bother hiring and training someone just to have them turn around and be out of the office so soon after joining the team, he was shocked by her answer.

“She said ‘of course.’ That, to me, was a big message that something was different here,” he says. “I figured I’d do two years at Arnett and then go back home to Fort Wayne. Before I knew it, it’s been four years, five years, six years…and I could see myself staying another 10.”

Mentoring the next generation

Today, in addition to a full schedule caring for patients in the OR, McKendry shares his expertise with the next generation as a clinical site coordinator at Arnett Hospital for CRNA students.

“If you’re proud of something, you should be willing to pass it on,” he says.

His work with up-and-coming CRNAs is not just about the clinical skills; he also makes sure that they understand the importance of developing their soft skills, such as empathy and communication.

What makes an excellent CRNA, in his experience, is the “ability to bring information ‘across the drape’ [to the patient] in a clear, concise and confident manner.”

It’s a lesson he learned on the battlefield, caring for servicemembers with unimaginable injuries who weren’t sure if they’d make it off the operating room table in the mobile surgical unit, that’s just as applicable to his work today.

“The process of having surgery can be scary. Think about it: You’re in a room full of strangers, basically naked except for a gown and a blanket, with your arms out to the sides. Talk about a trusting position. To get someone through that safely and with empathy — it’s not enough just to address their needs as a patient, you also have to address their emotional needs as a person,” he says.