Nurse Anesthesia, DNP

The Nurse Anesthesia program prepares registered nurses to function in the role of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA). Upon completion the graduate will be prepared to administer all types of anesthesia to diverse populations in a variety of clinical settings.

Graduates will be eligible to take the national certification examination for CRNA from the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists.

Curriculum

The BSN to DNP Nurse Anesthesia program is offered as an 83-credit doctoral degree for baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses.

	Courses Required	Courses	Credits
First Year (36 credits)
Summer	NURS 520	Advanced Pharmacology	3
	NURS 593	Research Methodology and Application	3
Fall	NURS 504	Anatomy and Physiology for Nurse Anesthesia	3
	NURS 514	Chemistry and Physics for Nurse Anesthesia	3
	NURS 517	Advanced Pharmacology of Nurse Administered Anesthesia I	4
	NURS 700	Epidemiology and Biostatistics	3
	NURS 710	Information Systems and Health Care Technology	3
Spring	NURS 518	Advanced Pharmacology of Nurse Administered Anesthesia II	2
	NURS 510	Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology	3
	NURS 529	Nurse Anesthesia Principles I	3
	NURS 720	Advanced Scientific Inquiry	3
	NURS 730	Translating Evidence into Practice	3
Second Year (26 credits)
Summer	NURS 530	Advanced Clinical Assessment	2
	NURS 530L	Advanced Clinical Lab Assessment	1
	NURS 539	Nurse Anesthesia Principles II	3
	NURS 539L	Nurse Anesthesia Principles II Lab	1
Fall	NURS 546	Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Practicum I	2
	NURS 549	Nurse Anesthesia Principles III	4
	NURS 549L	Nurse Anesthesia Principles III Lab	1
	NURS 760	Advanced Health Care Policy	3
Spring	NURS 556	Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Practicum II	2
	NURS 559	Nurse Anesthesia Principles IV	4
	NURS 778	Organizational and Systems Leadership for Nurse Anesthesia	3
Third Year (21 credits)
Summer	NURS 765	Nurse Anesthesia Residency and DNP Scholarship I	7
Fall	NURS 775	Nurse Anesthesia Residency and DNP Scholarship II	7
Spring	NURS 785	Nurse Anesthesia Synthesis and Residency III	7
Total Program Credits			83 credits

 

Accreditation

The program is accredited by The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). In 2022, the program received the maximum accreditation status of ten years from the COA.  

Date of Last Review: 10/2022

Date of Next Review: 10/2032

Accreditation Status: Continued Accreditation

 

Council on Accreditation
10275 W. Higgins Rd., Suite 906                                                                                                                               
Rosemont, IL  60018-5603

224-275-9130

https://www.coacrna.org

Admission Requirements

An applicant for the program must possess a baccalaureate degree in nursing from a CCNE, ACEN, or CNEA accredited program; have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 or other evidence of ability to complete successfully a graduate program such as grades in other post-baccalaureate courses, scores from national graduate school entrance examinations, or a record of progressively higher work experiences; and hold an unencumbered license as a registered nurse in either Pennsylvania or New York. The applicant should have completed undergraduate or equivalent approved courses in basic physical assessment and statistics. The applicant must submit three professional references and a 300-word essay identifying career goals, demonstrating communication and writing skills. A personal interview with the program director or a faculty member to clarify goals and objectives is required. 

In addition, nurse anesthesia DNP applicants must also have a minimum of one year of recent critical care nursing experience, current Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification, current Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification, and have completed two courses in college chemistry. Critical Care Registered Nurse certification (CCRN) is strongly recommended, but not required. 

The deadline for completed applications is October 1 of the year prior to expected enrollment. All admissions requirements for the nurse anesthesia program must be met by the application deadline.

Scheduling

The program can be completed in 36 months of continuous full-time study. There is no part-time option. Students are accepted for the summer semester to the full-time program, with projected graduation 3 years later in May. Most classes and clinical practicums are scheduled during the day. However, some evening and weekend classes and clinicals are also required.

Academic Regulations

Nurse Anesthesia DNP students are expected to conform to the regulations stated in both The University of Scranton Graduate Studies Catalog and the Department of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Anesthesia Student Handbook.

Any student who fails to receive a final course grade of “B” or higher in the NA specialty courses cannot progress in the DNP NA specialization. This applies to the following courses in the specialization: NURS 504 , NURS 510 , NURS 514 , NURS 517 , NURS 518 , NURS 529 , NURS 539 , NURS 549 , NURS 559 , and NURS 778 . The student may make application to the Department of Nursing to repeat the course when it is next offered. The student shall also be required to repeat any co-requisite laboratory course, regardless of the laboratory grade. Any student who fails to obtain a final course grade of “B” or higher on the second attempt will be dismissed from the program. A student may repeat only one specialty course. Any student who receives an Unsatisfactory in a clinical practicum (NURS 546 , NURS 556 ) or residency course (NURS 765 , NURS 775 , NURS 785 ) will be dismissed from the program.

Costs

Tuition, which includes clinical fees, for the 83-credit program is $1,200 per credit. In addition to tuition, nurse anesthesia students are responsible for the following out-of-pocket expenses: student nurse anesthetist liability insurance; self-evaluation examination during the second and third years, background clearances and drug testing; one-time student tracking software; one-time certification review course; and attendance at one anesthesia conference during the program. Students are also required to join the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. All students must maintain Pennsylvania and New York registered nurse licenses and current ACLS and PALS certification. All students must have health insurance.  

A one-time, nonrefundable fee is payable at the time of admission to the DNP program with a specialization in nurse anesthesia. This fee assures the student’s place in class and will be applied to tuition for the initial summer semester of full-time nurse anesthesia study.