Candidate for Director, 2025 - 2027

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Sabrina Petrillo, DNP, CRNA, AGACNP-BC


Fast Facts About Sabrina

  • Lives in the Liberty Educational District
  • Works at Hofstra University (academia) and Northwell health (clinical)
  • 13 years as a CRNA in New York

Sabrina is a practicing nurse anesthetist at Northwell Health in New York City.  Throughout her years as a CRNA, she provided lectures on pain management to staff nurses and advanced care providers, organized a Perioperative Skills Day to educate staff about pertinent aspects of anesthesia, provided PACU nurses with a preparatory course to attain their certification, and implemented an outpatient orthopedic ERAS protocol.  These opportunities earned her the CRNA of the Year Award in 2017 and the Clinical Nursing Excellence Award in 2019 at New York Presbyterian- Lower Manhattan Hospital. 

Sabrina received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Quinnipiac University, her Master of Science in Nursing, Nurse Anesthesia, from Columbia University, where she received the Anne Penland Award, and her BSN training at Dominican College. She started teaching nurse anesthesia students at Columbia University in 2018, which led her to be the Assistant program director at Hofstra. Today she is currently the program director of the AGACNP-CRNA- DNP program at Hofstra University. During this time, she graduated from the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program and became a board-certified nurse practitioner. Sabrina is also on the Board of Directors for NYSANA since 2023 supporting the Programs and Wellness Committees, continuing to promote and improve the CRNA profession in New York State. 

What are the biggest challenges facing the profession? 

Of the many issues CRNAs encounter, one of the greatest challenges is the need for more skilled anesthetists versus the decreased amount we actively have in the work force. This mismatch can augment the need for other anesthesia providers entering the state to fill the gap.

What experiences, ideas, connection or resources do you have that would allow you to help with those challenges?

My role in ameliorating this difficulty is by working as Program Director in educating and supporting the next generation of RRNAs. Our successors will be not only nurse anesthetists but also board-certified AGACNP full-service providers.

Name one skill or strength you possess that is unmatched by your colleagues or peers

My role as a nurse anesthetist, apart from providing clinical care, is also being an educator and administrator. I can easily adapt to any of these three environments as my experience is transferrable for every encountered need. 

What do you love about being a CRNA? What drew you to the profession?

I enjoy a great sense of professional pride in providing a range of anesthetics to my patients. There is a privilege in caring for another person’s health, and being a CRNA allows me to do so utilizing my attributes of critical thinking, compassion, and diligence. 

Please provide at least one idea you believe will engage or involve members to advance NYSANA’s mission.

There is a need to have more clinical leaders from each facility throughout the state disseminate the current issues affecting state practice.  My suggestion is to engage our clinical leadership to stimulate interest from nurse anesthetists and RRNAs alike.  All of us ARE the profession, not just those with the responsibility to change policy and advocate for every nurse anesthetist in the state.