St. John's CRNA program Kicked OUT hospital!!!

allnurses Guide · Jun 3, 2011

For those of you who have not heard.... St. John's has been kicked out of St. John's hospital! The MDA's there forced them to leave, worrying that CRNA's are taking over professionally.
I just got off the phone with St. John's CRNA program, and they are scrambling.... It sounds like a lot is changing for them:
-First, their title will be Missouri State University CRNA program and will be based out of MSU completely.
-There will be NO MORE CLINICALS at St. John's.
-Probably will not get to do as many Neuro, Heart, Trauma, and PEDs cases anymore.... Seeing how the majority of those cases near Springville MO are done at St. John's.
-They will have sites around that state and possibly out of the state. A lot more traveling will be required.
-Their program will be in transition... which, who really wants an unstable program (stressed director/professors....ughhh)
-Their Tuition may change.... who knows.
-Probably will not have free health insurance anymore
-And a lot of the changes are up in the air. At this point they really didn't know where their clinical's would be.
Overall a lot less attractive program to me than it was 2 years ago... If you have any questions you can email me at [email protected] (I check my email more often).
Steve

Is this really a bad thing? A hospital like this probably has no respect for CRNAs and would more than likely go out of it's way to limit CRNA practice. Teaching nurse anesthesia students how to perform all aspects of anesthesia independently should be the top priority of all nurse anesthesia schools. It doesn't matter if a CRNA will never work out of an ACT environment. Our patients deserve nothing less than a CRNA that can provide full service anesthesia (blocks, CVLs, advanced airway techniques, and be able to effectively run a code without a physician) with or without an anesthesiologist.

This decision will increase costs for the students/program and be inconvenient with the increased travel. It will also increase the cost to the hospital since all their free labor will have left. Anesthesia departments are one of the most hospital subsidized departments. This decision maybe popular this quarter, but when the hospital has to shell out more money to an already expense laden department this decision will come back to haunt them right where it counts right in pocketbook.

NurseKitten, MSN, RN · Jun 3, 2011

Right on...I often joked that my training site had more than made a mint off my free labor when I was in clinicals. I'll be interested to see what the MDA's tune is once they have to be in that never-ending lap-converted-open exploratory...

RN1980 · Jun 3, 2011

my thoughts exactly, i dont want to be where i'm not wanted.

love-d-OR · Jun 3, 2011

Wtbcrna, I was hoping you would come out and shed some wisdom on this. Well said, thank you

allnurses Guide · Jun 6, 2011

I just read the response to this from the program director on another website. It seems this transition was in the works for sometime, and from what I read it looks like it was well thought out. One clinical site will change, but since SRNAs are essentially free labor the PD has had several offers from other hospitals for the SRNAs to come there.

To those that are interested in this program and might be worried about the changes I would suggest you contact the PD directly for more information. The PD's name is Monika Feeney, CRNA, MS.

FutureNA2B · Jun 6, 2011

Well, I must hang my head in shame.... The information I shared above in inaccurate. I was contacted by St. John' program director and was given better info. I was going to delete the thread all together, but realized that if I post her reply, it will probably be even better than if I delete it. Dr. Freely (program Director) gave me permission to share the following replies.

Hi Steve!

I read your post on all nurses.com. I appreciate your interest in our program! Let me help you get some things straightened out! You are welcome to share the correct information with whomever you would like!!

See her comments to my comments below:

For those of you who have not heard.... St. John's has been kicked out of St. John's hospital! The MDA's there forced them to leave, worrying that CRNA's are taking over professionally.

I have no idea where you got that information, their reason is that they do not want to administrate a doctoral program, it needs to be run by an educational institution. Our degree has come from MSU since 1996 and we have been a part of MSU since that time. 30 masters classes have graduated since that time. I cannot speak to what the MDA’s worry about, I can only focus on producing students that are the best possible CRNA’s period. In our current healthcare climate, of course there is much discussion about MDA’s and CRNA’s – we are a quality product for a reasonable price, and can provide cost effective safe care. It will be interesting to see how the future unfolds across the nation, and since we are giving out opinions….. I think it looks very rosy for CRNA’s.

I just got off the phone with St. John's CRNA program, and they are scrambling.... It sounds like a lot is changing for them:

We are not scrambling, it is a 2 year process of transition with the ONLY thing changing being the clinical sites, and who pays my salary. Our classes are all EXACTLY the same, same credit h ours, same instructors, different classroom.

-First, their title will be Missouri State University CRNA program and will be based out of MSU completely.

How awesome is that to be endorsed by a huge University, and we have been a dual ownership program for 15 years!! Our name changed as well in 2007 from Southwest Missouri School of Anesthesia, to St. John’s School of Anesthesia at Missouri State. In the future it will be named Missouri State School of Anesthesia.

-There will be NO MORE CLINICALS at St. John's.

Mercy Health System has 40 hospitals, St. John’s is one of them – we have many opportunities!

-Probably will not get to do as many Neuro, Heart, Trauma, and PEDs cases anymore.... Seeing how the majority of those cases near Springville MO are done at St. John's.

You need to check your stats on that! We have many area hospitals in our region that do hundreds of cases!!

-They will have sites around that state and possibly out of the state.

A lot more traveling will be required. Yes, we will be like every other school in the nation. Distant sites will be optional, and great opportunities for students with interest, not required.

-Their program will be in transition... which, who really wants an unstable program (stressed director/professors....ughhh)

I appreciate your concern, however I chose to do this, I am the program director. There are no changes for any of the professors, our physical location will be down the street, our program is rock solid. We actually just purchased a state of the art SIM man, and will have an operating room theater for our students to learn and use. The University is committed to our program, as am I. We believe in responsible education, we are not a school that is a factory, cranking out 100 students at a time. We prefer quality over quantity. That has been our goal since this school started, and it will continue.

-Their Tuition may change.... who knows. I

know and if you would have actually called us, I would have the exact numbers for you. Our program cost approximately 10,000 for the entire program – as we transition, the cost will increase to 35,000 – not a year but for the entire program! I challenge you to find something better, with as much quality! Google other program costs!.

-Probably will not have free health insurance anymore T

hat is correct, You can purchase it through MSU, Taylor health center.

-And a lot of the changes are up in the air. At this point they really didn't know where their clinical's would be.

Very untrue and not up in the air, We actually have hospitals calling us to be sites.

Steve, we are embracing this change – it will produce better stronger independent CRNA’s, and a better future for all in our profession. I respect and appreciate that you felt so strongly you felt the need to share on this website your feelings, and that is simply all they are –your feelings. We are looking for nurses that can provide quality, that are vigilant, have great grades, and excellent work experience. If that is you, and you are up for a challenge of becoming an anesthetist, I invite you to check out our program that was started in 1952. Since that time we have transitioned through many changes, as anesthesia has changed exponentially during the past few decades. We began prior to inhalational agents, and students were accepted every month, now we are moving our offices to a major University with whom we have partnered for 15 years. Our accreditation is until 2016, having received a 10 year re-accreditation in 2006. We have been around a long time, and we are here to stay.

-Overall a lot less attractive program to me than it was 2 years ago...

After your posts you as well are a lot less attractive student to us, you don’t seem to have the ability to do correct research, and get your facts straight. However, if you have the ability to listen and learn, and you are competitive with our other 70 applicants for 7 positions – I welcome you! We wish you well in your search for the perfect school.

All the best!!

Monika Feeney, CRNA, MS Program Director

St. John's School of Nurse Anesthesia at Missouri State University

skipaway · Jun 11, 2011

Steve,

You should probably get the PD's name right in your post, it's right at the end of her response to you.....Monika Feeney, CRNA, MS: not Dr. Freeley.