AANA wins prestigious award for 'I AM ME Campaign'

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) was recently named a winner of Ragan's Health Care PR and Marketing Awards in the Social Media Campaign category for its I AM ME Campaign.

Ragan's Health Care PR and Marketing Awards celebrates teams, organizations, consultants and agencies who have redefined the field with their groundbreaking work. As a winner in the program, the AANA joins an elite group of past winners, including VSP Vision Care, McLean Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Spectrum Health, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, ATI Physical Therapy, Genentech and NewYork-Presbyterian.

The AANA was chosen from a wide pool of entries to receive first prize in the social media category for the ingenuity and impact of its I AM ME campaign.

Now in its second year, I AM ME is an annual AANA social media campaign celebrating diversity and inclusion within the nurse anesthesia profession. Every April-;aka Celebrate Diversity Month-; Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and nurse anesthesia students are encouraged to share a photo and "I AM ME" statement with colleagues. The submission consists of three statements in which the member describes "what makes you, you."

Diversity and Inclusion is one of the AANA's core values. CRNAs and nurse anesthesia students are the most important aspect of the AANA. Making a deliberate effort to engage individuals with different cultural backgrounds and perspectives is a priority."

Randy Moore, DNP, MBA, CRNA, AANA Chief Executive Officer

This campaign is an effort of the AANA's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and was created by Marlene McDowell, Assistant Director, Public Relations, and executed by Julie Ciaramella, Senior Digital Content Specialist, who handled daily posting of content and responding to comments. Zach Timm, Digital Marketing Manager, handled paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Frank Barancyk, Digital Solutions Manager, created an online form for members to submit their entries, and along with Matt Paul, Digital Marketing Specialist, uploaded the entries to AANA.com.

"The AANA set themselves apart from an outstanding field of applicants. Their work was exceptional and displayed their innovative strategies for achieving success. Congratulations to the AANA. We look forward to your continued success," said Brendan Gannon, Marketing Manager for Awards Programs at Ragan Communications.

The AANA's win was announced via social media, and the winning team will also be recognized for its accomplishment in a special write-up on Ragan's internationally-read news website. Read more about the campaign at Ragan's website.