Who was AANA president from 1940-1942 and established a curriculum and standards for schools of nurse anesthesia?

• A. Florence Mcquillen
• B. Mary Adams
• C. Helen Lamb
• D. John F. Garde

Answer: (C)

Understanding how nurse anesthesia became a formal, standardized profession helps explain why this leader is remembered for that period. Helen Lamb served as AANA president from 1940 to 1942 and drove the creation of a formal curriculum and standards for schools of nurse anesthesia. This move established a consistent training pathway across programs, ensuring graduates learned a defined set of competencies and could safely and effectively care for patients. It also laid the groundwork for later accreditation, licensure, and professional credibility for nurse anesthetists. The other named individuals were associated with different roles or times in the field, but they did not oversee this particular curricular standardization during that presidency.