Overview
Denise H. Tola DNP, CRNA joined the faculty at DUSON in 2018. She teaches across the nurse anesthesia program curriculum including both didactic and simulation platforms. In addition, Dr. Tola serves as a liaison to several student clinical sites.
Dr. Tola completed her BSN at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh, Pa. She earned her MSN with anesthesia specialty at the University of Pittsburgh and completed her DNP at Georgetown University in 2016. Dr. Tola’s scholarly DNP project focused on patient safety with an emphasis on surgical fire safety in the operation room and she was invited to present her work at the podium for the Washington Regional Nursing Research Consortium.
Tola came to Duke from Georgetown University where she was the clinical director for 10 years with the nurse anesthesia program. In addition to teaching/coordinating didactic education and simulation, Dr. Tola managed students’ clinical education and 17-20 clinical sites.
Dr. Tola’s nursing background is in Burn/Trauma nursing and since becoming a CRNA has practiced at small community hospitals, large level I trauma centers and independently owned and operated ambulatory surgery centers. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Sigma Theta Tau International and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. She also serves as a reviewer of case studies for publication in the International Student Journal for Nurse Anesthesia.