Biography

Donald J. Stafford joined the Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia faculty as Assistant Professor in February, 2022.  He teaches Principles of Anesthesia Practice II-IV, and in Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Practicum I-VI.  Within the College of Nursing he serves on the Appeals Committee for Admissions, Progression, Dismissal, & Graduation, and the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program and Curriculum Committee. 

Mr. Stafford practiced anesthesia around the world for more than a quarter-century with the Navy.  He served as Chief of Anesthesia aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. He also served as Executive Officer of a Navy field surgical hospital, coordinating deployments to Africa. He has provided anesthesia in Guam, Iceland, Italy, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, and deployed overseas treating combat trauma patients during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As an instructor with the Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute, Mr. Stafford taught Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support to the medical crew of Air Force One.

He obtained his BA in Psychology and MA in Counseling from Louisiana Tech University, BSN in Nursing from William Carey University, MS in Nurse Anesthesiology from Xavier University of Louisiana, and dual Master of Business Administration / Master of Health Administration degrees from Baylor University. He is certified by the US Defense Department in Joint Medical Executive Skills, Healthcare Risk Management, Healthcare Ethics, and as an airborne Medical Crew Director. Mr. Stafford is a certified instructor and group facilitator of Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”  

Mr. Stafford obtained his anesthesia clinical training at Charity Hospital New Orleans, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, Hôtel Dieu, and the LSU-Lions Eye Hospital. His civilian career has been performed primarily in the LSU system (including two years at LSU New Orleans Nurse Anesthesia program as instructor and clinical coordinator) and as an employee of Bayne-Jones Army Hospital, Fort Polk, LA. While at Bayne-Jones, Mr. Stafford was a designated anesthesia peer reviewer for the Army Medical Command.

He served on the Louisiana Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (LANA) Board of Directors 1998-2000, and as LANA Treasurer 2000-2012. Mr. Stafford testified on several occasions in the Louisiana Legislature on anesthesia scope of practice and manpower issues. He currently serves on the following external committees:

•      American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Finance Committee
•      National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (SEE exam item writer)
•      Louisiana Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Audit Committee

Mr. Stafford has been an FAA-licensed airplane pilot for over 40 years. He has a strong research interest in perioperative patient safety and crew resource management (derived from NASA and commercial aviation), stemming from his risk management training, aviation background, and his wife’s near-miss incident of wrong-site surgery. He also maintains active research interest in minimizing anesthesia emergence delirium in combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

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