Ep 127: A CRNA’s Experience Being Deployed to Afghanistan

Most people buy an expensive car or go on an outlandish spending spree when they’re in their late-40s, but Michael Rieker, CRNA, DNP, FAAN, isn’t like most people. Instead of doing any of those other things, he used his talent and skills in nurse anesthesia to join the Army Reserve, which led to him serving in Afghanistan. Today he’ll tell us about that experience and how it’s helped him in his current role at Wake Forest University.   Read more and get additional resources here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/ep-127-a-crnas-experience-being-deployed-to-afghanistan/2886/    Get the CE certificate here: https://beyondthemaskpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Beyond-the-Mask-CE-Cert-FILLABLE.pdf   What we discuss on this episode: 2:14 – Welcome in our guest 3:58 – Deployment to Afghanistan 8:11 – How busy was he 11:27 – Providing anesthesia to civilians   12:48 – Conditions overseas right now   14:47 – What a typical day looked like   17:06 – Transitioning back to real life   20:20 – Very limited connectivity on deployment 21:02 – School while he was away 22:52 – Top things he learned 25:29 – Benefits of the military 26:41 – Final thoughts