SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Elizabeth Boulette is a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). She has more than 30 years nursing experience that includes a nurse anesthesia practice of more than 15 years. Upon completing her BSN from San Diego State University, she was commissioned as a Navy Nurse Corps Officer in May 1987. In 1998 she began her didactic studies in anesthesia and she earned a Master of Science from Georgetown University in February 2001. She is currently a doctor of Philosophy nursing student at the University of San Diego. Ms. Boulette has served in a variety of military medicine environments: tertiary medical center, community-sized hospital, sole provider aboard several US amphibious assaults ships, isolated overseas duty station, and in the theater of combat operations. Ms. Boulette honorably retired after 28 years of naval service. Ms. Boulette derives professional satisfaction in providing her patients with a positive anesthetic experience; she particularly enjoys obstetric anesthesia. She has developed an interest in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) which is a commonly encountered medical problem in surgical patients. Having OSA can increase a variety of post operative complications but less is known about OSA in the obstetric population. Because there are many gaps in knowledge of OSA during pregnancy, Ms. Boulette would like to contribute to the growing body of knowledge by conducting a secondary analysis to determine if OSA is an independent predictor of increased hospital costs at the time of delivery in women who delivered at a military treatment facility between 2008 and 2014.