Changes to the Nurse Anesthesia Council of Accreditation Standards

Published

Specializes in Anesthesia.

* The COA approved the requirement for the degree granting institutions of nurse anesthesia programs to have regional accreditation. The COA determined this requirement will be reflected in its Eligibility for Accreditation policy rather than within the Standards.

* The COA approved a revision to Standard III, Criterion C13b to ensure applicants who matriculate into nurse anesthesia programs are prepared for the rigor of the program by requiring a minimum of one year of experience as an RN in a critical care setting vs. an acute care setting (refer revised 2004 Standards, pg. 6). A definition for "critical care experience" is provided in the Glossary (refer revised 2004 Standards, pg. 28).

The standards are found here.

There are more changes but these are the two that pre-CRNAs would probably be most interested in.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

wtbcrna,

I've read both documents and do not see where COA requires NA programs to have regional accreditation. Can you please post a link to the new guideline?

Thanks!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia.
wtbcrna,

I've read both documents and do not see where COA requires NA programs to have regional accreditation. Can you please post a link to the new guideline?

Thanks!

That was from the summary for program directors. I am not sure if that is in those documents, it falls under the eligibility for accreditation.

This just came out, so it maybe another month before all the changes make it on to the website.

I just sent the COA an email to confirm the requirement on the regional accreditation. I will post the response I get back from them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia.

"Thank you for your inquiry regarding regional accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia programs. I can confirm that “The COA approved the requirement for the degree granting institutions of Nurse Anesthesia programs to have regional accreditation. The COA determined this requirement will be reflected in its Eligibility for Accreditation policy rather than within the Standards”. These adopted revisions are not yet published in the revised first draft of the Practice Doctorate Standards. However, the revisions will be included in Draft 2 of the Practice Doctorate Standards. Draft 2 will be reviewed at the May 2013 COA meeting for approval and distributed for comments. Please note the adopted revisions that will be included in Draft 2 of the Practice Doctorate Standards will not be open for comment. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any further questions you might have regarding the Practice Doctorate Standards revisions. Thank you!"

Email from the COA

Up Vote Up Vote ×

wtbcrna,

Thank you! I tried getting the same info from the COA, but was not able to. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. It's invaluable information.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Maybe I am not understanding this correctly, but does that mean that schools like Wolford, who are not regionally accredited will have to be before their next review or will not be able to renew?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

^^^^That is absolutely correct.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wolford does not come up for review till 2018, that's 5 years from now and they have already begun the process to get regionally accredited. Im sure given the statistics for their graduating classes compared to other programs they should be able to achieve the requirements needed. Their attrition percent is half of other school who are regional accredited, ontop of having a over 90% first time pass rate for their graduates taking boards. But yes, it seems as they will have to make sure they do achieve this in a timely manner.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia.
Wolford does not come up for review till 2018, that's 5 years from now and they have already begun the process to get regionally accredited. Im sure given the statistics for their graduating classes compared to other programs they should be able to achieve the requirements needed. Their attrition percent is half of other school who are regional accredited, ontop of having a over 90% first time pass rate for their graduates taking boards. But yes, it seems as they will have to make sure they do achieve this in a timely manner.

You care to show us where you came up with attrition rates lower than other schools that are regionally accredited.? Which by the way is pretty much every other nurse anesthesia school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Sure, one school I know of for sure is Wesleyan in Fort Worth, I interviewed at their school and they openly said there rate was around 14%, while Wolford has a rate of 7-8%. You can find wolford's rate on their website, but if you want to verify wesleyan's, youll have to call them. Oakland university has a rate of over 12%, USC also has a rate of 12%, Mid western was a rate of 10%. All of these were listed on their website. I feel that's plenty of examples.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Of course I by no means am trying to say anything bad about these other programs, as Im sure they do amazing work at preparing nurses to become CRNAs and preparing them for state boards.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi boost. My comment was not meant as a slam on wolford. I just wanted to make sure I understood the change correctly.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion