Sheila McCarley, DNP, CRNA, has never spent much time thinking about what her life would be like if she had become a schoolteacher or flight attendant, two career options she weighed at one time or another. Instead, she joined the U.S. Army Reserves, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel, and became a CRNA and the first member of her family to earn a doctorate.
Service to Patients
“I believe being a CRNA was my purpose and the plan that was set for me,” Sheila says, paraphrasing Jeremiah 29:11 from the Bible. A specialist in anesthesia for labor and delivery and general surgery at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women in Memphis where she has worked since 1996, the deeply religious CRNA adds, “I would not have any other choice but to do it again.” Not that she could imagine doing anything else. After working in labor and delivery for so many years, she says she still finds it amazing. “The witnessing of life coming into the world keeps me in awe and gratefulness to experience daily miracles.”
Sheila believes strongly that “for someone who did not have a clue to what was available to her as a career,” her journey has been divinely led.
“Neither of my parents completed high school, so my graduation was a big deal,” she recalls. “But my senior year of high school I was clueless to what my next steps would be.” When a visit with the school guidance counselor provided no help, Sheila turned to her mother for advice. “My mother was my inspiration to become a nurse,” Sheila says. “She told me, ‘Baby, why don’t you consider being a teacher or a nurse?’ When I chose nursing, my mother found a nurse in the community and made sure she mentored me.”
Anesthesia didn’t get on her radar until her first job as an OR nurse. “One day I decided to congratulate a young African American anesthesia provider on her accomplishment of being an anesthesiologist,” says Sheila, who is also African American. “She quickly educated me that she was a CRNA, and it was something that I could do, too.”
Throughout her journey to becoming a CRNA, Sheila benefitted from having tremendous mentors and teachers. She fondly recalls their names to this day: “Debra Fleming, CRNA, was the one that educated me. Others were all the people that I worked with in the operating room. Just to name a few, there was Ida Parnell, CRNA, Carmon Carolina, CRNA, Irene Wadlington, CRNA, Mary Rogers, CRNA, Dr. Sandra Reed, Dr. Jovie Bridgewater, and Dr. Johnathan Isom. I had a great working relationship with all these individuals. And they all supported my anesthesia journey every step of the way.”
In gratitude to those who mentored her, Sheila now throws herself into mentoring. “I often say that I didn’t have children because God knew I would be able to pour so much into others,” she says. “Through my job, I can precept CRNA students daily. I am also a mentor/coach for the Christian Brother’s University BSN program. The rewarding part is receiving a phone call, text or email saying, ‘Ms. Sheila, thank you for taking the time out to help me.’
“Believe me, I am grateful to get an opportunity to share and connect with so many young, vibrant and aspiring souls!”
Service to Country
Sheila entered military service in 1989 to help pay off $18,000 in student loans for nursing school. “I felt like it was going to take a lifetime for me to pay that amount off, only to find out that military service would become the lifetime commitment,” she recalls with a chuckle. More than 30 years later, Sheila is now making plans to retire from the military.
Her inspiration to join the Army Reserves came from her brother, Sgt. William McCarley, Jr., who she says stunned the family by enlisting in the Marines because he didn’t want to go to college. “He gave me some great pointers and made me promise that if I was going to enlist I should get commissioned as an officer and nothing less,” Sheila says. “Because I was already a nurse, he said that would be the best option for me.”
As promised, Sheila was commissioned as a Lieutenant and today is a Colonel, or “Full Bird Colonel,” as some call it. Her nursing roles in the Army have included Chief Nurse of the Operating Room and Chief of Nurse Anesthesia.
Sheila has been deployed multiple times across the United States and Germany, but her only truly harrowing experience was her deployment to Afghanistan in 2003.
“It took a lot of praying to weather that storm,” she recalls. “Experiencing what was called a ‘small attack’ on our camp was devastating. A lot of things go through your head when you’re crammed in a bunker for protection.”
Her favorite recollection from her military service was altogether different, however. “I had been mobilized to Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. It was Memorial Day, and I was kind of bummed about being called in to work. I had to provide anesthesia for a young, wounded soldier. As I began to interview him, he looked up at me and said, ‘Thank you ma’am for coming in on a holiday to care for me.’ Tears welled in my eyes as I responded, ‘No, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve and take care of you.’ He was thankful to have a Colonel providing his care and I was grateful to be warranted the opportunity to do so. The time spent there was humbling.”
Sheila’s advice for anyone wondering if they should join the military is experience-based and from the heart. “There are pluses and minuses to every decision you make,” she advises. “The military is the same. It is hard work, but you have to make it work for you. It is an opportunity to meet some lifelong friends and travel to some places that you may have never thought of going to. If you don’t have a plan for post high school graduation, GO SERVE!”
Service to Profession
Working full time as a CRNA and serving as a Full Bird Colonel in the Army Reserves doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for volunteerism. But as she nears retirement from the military and her career as a CRNA winds down, Sheila has dived headlong into giving back to her profession. One area of keen interest to Sheila is serving as chair of TANA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force, an ad hoc committee that designs and implements initiatives, educational opportunities, and information for members that foster cultural sensitivity, diversity, and inclusion for the nurse anesthesia profession.
“I first met (FY24 TANA president) Hope Ferguson at last year’s conference,” Sheila said. “We are both in the military and I saw the spark in her that was needed to accomplish all the wonderful things she has done for TANA. I was encouraging her to reach out to some of the younger CRNAs to help her throughout her term as president when she looked at me and said, “Sure ma’am, but I have work for you to do. I want you to chair the DEI committee.” I was so honored that she would even consider me! Then I proudly responded, ‘Yes!’ That was another spark that I still had some more of me to give.”
Sheila is happy to report that she has seen positive changes since becoming a CRNA nearly 30 years ago, such as the work being done to recruit people of color into the nurse anesthesia profession and seeing the number grow little by little. But she is forthright about the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Did you know that out of a 61K CRNA workforce, only 12% are people of color?” Sheila asks rhetorically. “With the present wave of decreased support for DEI initiatives in workplaces and universities, a great deal more education, integration, and innovation are needed.”
In addition to her work on the task force, Sheila is a member of the TANA Program Committee, always one of the state association’s busiest committees. She also enjoys advocacy work (“During this year’s AA campaign I rallied, lobbied, and shook hands until my fingers were numb”), and she’ll be the first to tell you that she has a habit of “not being careful what she asks for” and as a result happily taking on more responsibilities.
“I was invited to a Board meeting this year and noticed a young lady there, only to find out she was my District Director,” Sheila recalls. “I decided to reach out to her to offer any assistance she might need in fulfilling her job. Well, bam!, she needed someone to assist with the
scheduling of the district meetings, so I said yes to the job.”
Family First
As generous as she is with her time in service to others, for Sheila family is everything. “I am very grounded in my church and family,” she says, accounting for her deceased parents, William and Fannie Mae, her six siblings, and a host of nieces and nephews.
In fact, one of the most amazing experiences Sheila ever had as a CRNA involved family. “I had the privilege of being able to provide the anesthetic for my niece when she delivered her first little boy,” she joyfully recalls. “I had so many emotions and role changes within those two hours—from being a proud professional that my anesthetic worked to experiencing parental emotions watching what felt like my grandchild being born.”
To her family as well as her friends and some co-workers, Sheila goes by the nickname “Boo Boo,” and sometimes “COL Boo Boo” or “Dr. Boo Boo.” To her parents, though, she was simply Sheila. She lovingly describes her parents as strong and impactful people who were her overall mentors and main motivators.
“Since my parents’ departure from this earth,” Sheila says, “I get to hear from others they touched, helped, and motivated. So, I might say that I inherited some of those genes.” One would have to agree!