Nurse Anesthesia

For Nurse Anesthesia specialty track applicants, a minimum of one-year full-time, recent (within two years of application) work experience, or its part-time equivalent, as a registered nurse in a critical care setting is required by the COA. Competitive applications will have at least one year of this experience. 

Through this experience, you must have developed as an independent decision maker capable of using and interpreting advanced monitoring techniques based on knowledge of physiological and pharmacological principles. Critical care experience must be obtained in a critical care area within the United States, its territories, or a US military hospital outside of the United States. During this experience, the registered professional nurse has developed critical decision making and psychomotor skills, competency in patient assessment, and the ability to use and interpret advanced monitoring techniques. 

A critical care area is defined as one where, on a routine basis, the registered professional nurse manages one or more of the following: invasive hemodynamic monitors (e.g. pulmonary artery, central venous pressure, and arterial catheters), cardiac assist devices, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive infusions. 

Examples of critical units may include but are not limited to: surgical intensive care, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary intensive care, medical intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and neonatal intensive care. Those who have experiences in other areas may be considered provided they can demonstrate competence with managing unstable patients, invasive monitoring, ventilators, and critical care pharmacology.

The decision to work during the program is an individual one but is not recommended. As the program is only offered in a full-time format, the number of credit hours each semester varies but is as high as 15+ credits per semester. 

Once the clinical component begins in the third semester, students are in class one full day and in the operating room four full days with care plans and coursework that must be completed in the evenings and on weekends. The workload of the program makes it very difficult to work. Nurse Anesthesia specialty track guidelines also restrict clinical practice before and after a program-related clinical shift, requiring at least eight (8) hours of rest between clinical responsibilities.

You can apply to take up to ten credit hours as a non-degree student without matriculating into the graduate program. The successful completion of these courses does not, however, give you an advantage over other applicants to the program. Learn about how to apply as a non-degree student and request to take classes prior to admission to the BSN to DNP program.

No, students may not propose a clinical site. The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs accreditation process and policy requires that clinical sites must be determined by the program and then approved with an application process.

No. Clinical site rotations are at the discretion of the program leadership and are determined based on distributing clinical experiences so that all students complete required case numbers.

The didactic portion of the program is delivered online; however, there are skills seminar weeks and simulation sessions that will occur intermittently throughout the program. You will be made aware of in-person program responsibilities in advance. All clinical sites are currently located throughout the state of Ohio. The primary clinical site regions are northwest Ohio and Central/Southern Ohio. While you will have primary clinical sites, you will be expected to rotate to a variety of sites to obtain the necessary clinical experiences to successfully complete the program.

The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs requires a certain number of regional anesthesia experiences and therefore you will obtain this experience.

The program does not offer a stipend.

Most financial aid is in the form of student loans. Learn more about financial aid and resources to support the cost of your education.

Due to the unique nature of nurse anesthesia education, a differential fee structure will be assessed to Nurse Anesthesia specialty track students in addition to base tuition. Learn more about tuition and fees.

A current Ohio nursing license is required by August 1 prior to beginning the program, though it is not needed for consideration to the program.

Current ACLS and PALS certifications are not required to apply but successful completion is required by the student’s second semester prior to entering the clinical environment. ACLS and PALS maintenance certification is required for the duration of the program.

Students are required to obtain a student malpractice insurance policy by the second semester prior to entering the clinical environment. Maintenance if this policy is required for the duration of the program. CRNA Malpractice Insurance Coverage | AANA Insurance Services has more information about the preferred student malpractice carrier.