Deb Flaherty

Deb works as a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) for Carolina Anesthesia Associates. Traveling to various facilities in North Carolina, she autonomously provides anesthesia for patients in inpatient and outpatient settings. Prior to her job with Carolina Anesthesia Associates, she devoted 14 years of service as a CRNA to a community hospital located in the mountains of North Carolina, where she currently resides with her two pups, Daisy and Lily. Deb has been an active member and leader in the North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NCANA) since graduating from UNC Charlotte and the Carolinas Regional Healthcare System Anesthesia Program in 1997.
 
Deb loves to volunteer to help the animals, or as she calls them, her “furry friends.” She is a lifetime member of the Watauga Humane Society, and has served on the Executive Committee of the Watauga Humane Society’s Board of Directors for several years. Deb currently looks after her aging father and special needs brother. She supports her brother’s involvement with the North Carolina Special Olympics.
 
Although her schedule is busy between full-time work, part-time graduate school, her family and volunteer/professional activities, she believes she is “too blessed to be stressed.” All those that know Deb are affected by her constant positivity and love of life, as she wishes everyone “peace and love.”

Why did you choose to get your DNP at Wake Forest?
Along with teaching students in a university someday, Deb is passionate about advocating for the nursing and nurse anesthesia professions through education, research and political provision. “I chose Wake Forest School of Medicine for my DNP because this talented faculty team consists of innovative leaders who wholeheartedly invest in their students’ learning experience. Wake Forest has a reputation for generating state and national leaders. Inspired by their invitation to enroll in the inaugural DNP class, I intend to move nursing and nurse anesthesia forward, by being abundantly prepared and intellectually enlightened by one of the most remarkable doctoral programs in the United States.”
"I chose Wake Forest School of Medicine for my DNP because this talented faculty team consists of innovative leaders who wholeheartedly invest in their students’ learning experience." – Deb Flaherty, MSN, CRNA, DNP Class of 2020

Outside of Wake Forest

Deb Flaherty, MSN, CRNA, DNP Class of 2020Caption: Deb is getting double-kissed by her adopted fur babies Daisy (brown) and Lily (black) at the Watauga Humane Society in Boone, North Carolina. Deb organized a "Puppy Shower" to celebrate their adoption and nearly one hundred family, friends and associates attended, raising over $5,000 in combined cash and pet supplies, which was donated to the animals of the Watauga Humane Society.