Dr. Maureen Reilly Scholarship

About the Dr. Maureen Reilly Scholarship

In recognition of her years of excellent service to our nation’s veterans and to the Association of Veteran’s Affairs Nurse Anesthetists, the AVANA Board of Directors has funded an AANA Foundation Scholarship in the name of Dr. Maureen Reilly CRNA PhD. Dr. Reilly passed away in February 2011 at home in San Antonio TX.

Dr. Maureen Reilly received her degree in nurse anesthesia from US Army Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia while serving on active duty. After leaving the military, Dr. Reilly joined the anesthesia department at the Audie Murphy VA in San Antonio TX. She was active in AVANA for many years and served on almost every committee. Dr. Reilly was President of AVANA from 2005 to 2007. During her tenure on the AVANA Board, she testified in front of Congress and met frequently with leaders in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs advocating for access to healthcare providers for our veterans. Dr. Reilly was a strong voice for nurse anesthesia practice both in the VA system and throughout the country.

Dr. Reilly played a crucial role in establishing the Joint VA-DoD Nurse Anesthesia program located at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio TX. She taught research and mentored students in the program until shortly before her death. Dr. Reilly’s primary areas of research were the use of herbal medications and music therapy for anesthetic interventions. Dr. Reilly received the prestigious John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award from the AANA Foundation in August 2011.

Dr. Reilly lectured frequently locally and nationally on very diverse topics from consciousness monitoring to the anesthetic management of obesity to the use of alternative therapies to alleviate perioperative anxiety. She had an impressive record of being published over 30 times and received funding for 14 research projects.

She is much missed by her CRNA colleagues, her friends, and her family.