SIUE’s Stein Named 40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse Leader
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Kevin Stein, CRNA, DNAP, assistant professor and director of the School of Nursing’s nurse anesthesia DNP program, has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse Leader by the Illinois Nursing Foundation (INF).
Award winners were chosen by a panel of their peers based on their achievement in the profession, leadership, and community and association involvement. The nurse leaders are being recognized today at Rush University Medical Center’s Searle Conference Center in Chicago.
“I am greatly honored to be named to this list by the Illinois Nursing Foundation,” Stein said. “With the shifting landscape of the healthcare system, leadership in nursing is needed now more than ever. Nurses have long been recognized within our communities for trustworthiness, compassion and a commitment to the delivery of quality care.”
“It is time for nurses to bring those same qualities to interdisciplinary leadership roles within our hospitals and hospital systems,” he continued. “Nurses must position themselves in leadership roles within administration, become more active participants in the healthcare policy debate, and establish a presence in our state and national governments.”
“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Stein for receiving this industry recognition,” said Laura Bernaix, PhD, dean of the SIUE School of Nursing. “He is a valuable asset to the success of our nurse anesthesia program. This award truly recognizes his contributions to the nursing profession and our School, including his continued commitment to shaping the preparedness and quality of future nurse anesthesia providers.”
Stein is highly involved in numerous community and industry associations. He also owns and operates an anesthesia company, Starlight Anesthesia, LLC, which provides perioperative anesthesia services to hospitals, anesthesia groups, ambulatory surgical centers and physician offices through the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The core of leadership, he says, is an ethical individual who exhibits integrity in his actions.
“Leadership is about empowering others to realize their talents and giving them the autonomy and support to bring about positive change,” Stein explained.
As an educator, he exemplifies this definition, and creates an environment where students feel valued, collectively invest in a mission, and more likely obtain satisfaction in their career.
“I started in nurse anesthesia education as a mechanism to give back to the profession, the SIUE School of Nursing and the community,” he said. “The importance of training highly educated nurse anesthesia providers should not be understated given the current state of healthcare economics and continued limitations to access.
“Through the training of providers who can deliver high quality, effective and efficient patient care across all settings, we can begin to work toward solving the major threats to our healthcare system.”
Stein’s scholarship has focused on the flipped classroom method of learning within nurse anesthesia programs. Implementation of this teaching method, he says, may have a significant impact on nurse anesthesia education, patient care and society.
“By utilizing technology to deliver traditional course content, class time can be utilized to place emphasis on the development of analytics skills and transference of theory into clinical knowledge,” Stein said. “The flipped classroom has shown the potential to better prepare CRNAs for entry into practice, and has the potential to create a workforce of lifelong learners.”
Photo: Kevin Stein, CRNA, DNAP, assistant professor and director of the School of Nursing’s nurse anesthesia DNP program.
