Heather Bair, DNP, ARNP, CRNA, CHSE, FAANA

Associate Professor (Clinical)
Associate Director, Anesthesia Nursing Program
Biography

Dr. Bair is a Hawkeye through and through. She received her BSN (1997), MSN (2005) and DNP (2011) at the University of Iowa and has been working there since 1997 to advance nursing practice and to improve patient care. She gained experience as a registered nurse at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in neurosurgical services and surgical intensive care before becoming an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) in 2005. She received her DNP in 2011 with a capstone project that implemented anesthesia machine safety guidelines utilizing aviation principles in checklist design.

In 2012, Dr. Bair was appointed Assistant Clinical Professor and Associate Director of the Anesthesia Nursing Program where she teaches many of the core anesthesia classes. She has a passion for simulation education and became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) in 2019. Dr. Bair is a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), the Iowa Association of Nurse Anesthetists (IANA) and the Society for Simulation and Health Care (SSH). She has been a member or chaired a committee on the National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA) since 2012 and has presented at many local, state, national and international meetings on simulation education and the use of simulation to implement anesthesia emergency manuals in practice. Dr. Bair also continues to practice as a CRNA in the University of Iowa Ambulatory Surgical Center. She was promoted to Clinical Associate Professor in summer 2022.  

Curriculum Vitae

Research areas
  • Simulation in education and health care
  • Use of cognitive aids and safety checklists to improve patient safety
  • Outpatient anesthesia
Heather Bair
DNP, University of Iowa
MSN with Anesthesia Nursing Specialty, University of Iowa
BSN, University of Iowa