91����

amy mueller '14
crna at sanford health
Degree: master's in nurse anesthesia in Sioux Fall, SD

Why 91����?

Amy Mueller knew she wanted to study nurse anesthesia, but location was the big question. The Emerson, South Dakota, native originally considered 91���� because of its Sioux Falls campus, but after doing a little more research about the college and its mission, her choice became easy. “I was hooked when I looked online and read about MMC’s core values and their commitment to their students,” she says. 

91����’s Impact

Amy took full advantage of her time at 91���� by taking a breadth of classes with numerous professors who helped show her the kind of clinical leader she wanted to be. “Each story from Dr. Dahlen’s lectures, each lab discussion with Dr. Donna Lupien, each office visit and lecture from Dr. Krogh and each time Dr. Alfred Lupien told us he was proud of our class made me want to be better — a better practitioner, a better educator/preceptor, a better employee,” she says. “I knew I wanted to strive to be the best, and I knew they would try their hardest to get me there.”

Road to Success

Since leaving MMC, Amy passed her boards and accepted a position in Sioux Falls as a CRNA at Sanford Health. She says the day she passed her boards is one she’ll never forget.

“It is such a mixture of emotions!” she says. “I wanted to fall down on my knees and thank God for helping me through the moments when I didn’t know if I could. I was filled with gratitude, contentment and, most of all, fulfillment.”

After a year and a half clinical rotation at Sanford, Amy was already familiar with the staff, physicians, procedures and regulations of the hospital system. Even fresh out of school, she says she felt confident in her knowledge about her profession, strong in her clinical skills and dedicated to the work of healing through anesthesia.  

“I know that MMC has prepared me in full for the position I am currently holding,” she says.

As for the future, Amy is considering going back to school to earn her doctorate in nurse anesthesia. She’d also like the opportunity to sit on a hospital board, where she can help make real-life decisions to benefit her profession as a whole.

“Your voice can’t be heard in your profession unless you have leaders to help tunnel it to the right places and organizations,” she says.