Mount Marty Alumnus Takes the ‘Poke’ Out of Sedation Administration for His Cataract Procedure Patients

Chris Bender '95, '05, '19, DNAP, CRNA, APRN, has truly embraced Mount Marty's core value of lifelong learning. Beyond his continued years of education to strive to provide more for his patients, Bender and others have recently created a new form of sedation for cataract procedures: a sublingual tablet known as the MELT-300, which just completed its phase 3 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trials as of late September and evaluated the drug's safety and efficacy. "We are always looking for better ways of doing things," said Bender. "More patient friendly approaches, more efficient approaches to provide care. In cataract surgery, most patients fear or dread the IV start more than the surgery itself. [But,] there is more than one way to administer medications." 

Bender began his journey into the medical field at Mount Marty, earning his bachelor's in nursing in 1995. His first job after graduating was at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in a medical unit. Bender worked there for about five years, including his time as a Certified Nurse Assistant during his schooling. While working at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Bender decided to pursue travel nursing. He traveled and worked for about two years and practiced in Napa, California; Santa Barbara, California; Denver, Colorado and Austin, Texas. During this time, he worked in various specialties, including renal, cardiac telemetry, general surgical, pulmonary, inpatient oncology and inpatient hospice. Bender said a highlight of his travel nursing career was working in the pulmonary unit at The University of Colorado Hospital, as the pulmonary program there had been ranked number one in U.S. News & World Report's top hospitals list. 

After working as a travel nurse, Bender worked at Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His time there was fruitful in sparking his interest in critical care medicine. He worked in the ICU for two years before entering the Mount Marty anesthesia program. Bender said he has a "broad background in nursing" from his eight years of experience in various departments. Although he didn't take the traditional route to anesthesia school, Bender immensely enjoyed working in critical care. "Nurse anesthesia provided the critical care aspects I enjoy with the advanced practice career path I was looking for." He graduated with his master's in nurse anesthesia in 2005. Bender then went on to graduate with his doctorate in 2019. "Getting my doctorate from Mount Marty was a no-brainer for me. … I strongly believe in lifelong learning and made the determination that my lifelong educational goal would be to hold a terminal degree in my field. … I know good value when I see it; I've always felt that I received quality education from Mount Marty. Each time I graduated from Mount Marty, I was equipped with the tools and training I needed to succeed in my profession." 

Currently, Bender works at Vance Thompson Vision in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is on the Mount Marty University Benedictine Leadership Institute advisory board, and is involved with the Ophthalmic Anesthesia Society as a member on the board of directors, executive leadership committee member and treasurer. When asked what Bender loves most about his job as a nurse anesthetist, he said, "It generally boils down to meeting people in their moments of stress and vulnerability and easing those fears, making them feel comfortable in a time of need." 

Bender has worked to provide his patients with the best quality of care. He and others recently came together to improve the cataract surgery experience for patients using a sublingual sedation medication known as the MELT-300, a medication through Melt Pharmaceuticals, Inc. This sublingual medication contains a fixed dose of Midazolam (3mg) and Ketamine (50mg). The MELT-300 dissolves in as little as three seconds, allowing absorption of the active ingredients across the sublingual mucosa. The MELT-300 completed its phase 3 FDA clinical trials in late September, and based on the positive findings in the study, the MELT-300 could be submitted for FDA approval. There are still many steps ahead, but Bender said, "The phase 3 results are a giant step towards getting the MELT-300 FDA approved. … I'm most excited about that. To be able to have an idea that I helped come up with become an FDA-approved, marketable product. Not only that, but this product may help usher in a paradigm shift in how procedural sedation is administered. That's huge!" Bender has also enjoyed being part of this process as he has the opportunity to engage with organizations and professionals from across the country. 

Bender truly believes in lifelong learning. His advice to nursing and nurse anesthesia students is to "Stay curious about your profession. Learn everything you can after you graduate. Continue to learn throughout your career." He added that he loves the following quote about lifelong learning: John Wooden said, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." 

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About Mount Marty University

Founded in 1936 by the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty University is South Dakota's only Catholic, Benedictine institution of higher education. Located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls, Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, recreation management, and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit mountmarty.edu.