Direct-Entrty Anesthesia Programs

Nursing Students SRNA

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Asking for a friend... are there any second-degree direct-entry anesthesia programs out there. I know of Columbia and Georgetown..although Georgetown actually requires a year of some clinical experience. Does anyone know of anymore out there?

thanks

Not to be unkind, but I hope not. The last person I would want giving me anesthesia is someone who had minimal clinical experience. A year is not enough.

to the best of my knowledge, all nurse anesthesia programs require one year of critical care experience.

Columbia University DEFINITELY has a direct-entry to MSN Nurse Anesthesia specialty. The total program is 3.5 years and I believe incorporates the mandatory year of critical care experience. They do not have a prerequisite of one year of critical care...yet they have a 100% pass rate for new CRNA graduates. Perhaps because its NYC and the clinical rotations are in the likes Kings County and/or the most ridiculous urban hospitals in the country...the students see and do more. I am just speculating. At any rate, since this one existed and G'town..I was just wondering whether there were others out there. By the way these programs do require degrees in the sciences.

Hmmm, I am not familiar with the one at GU, if there is one. I will ask my director when I see her on thursday.

Craig

I'm not surprised its not familiar...its really new.

"Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies is pleased to announce it's new Direct Entry to Advanced Practice program beginning January, 2003. This program is for individuals with a Bachelor's Degree in another field of endeavor who wish to enter nursing and ultimately have an advanced practice role in mind. It builds upon our previous experience with our Second Degree Bachelor's program (see Undergraduate Programs) and provides a slightly more streamlined path to advanced practice. Students in this program will be eligible to sit for the nurse licensing examination (NCLEX) after 16 months of the program and will then progress to the Master's track of their choice:

Family Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Midwifery

Clinical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Anesthesia

NOTE: The Nurse Anesthesia Program will consider Direct Entry applications for a very limited number of slots from those applicants who meet the following requirements:

Applicants must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a science (i.e. chemistry, biology, microbiology, etc.) or an advanced clinical degree (i.e. Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Doctor of Dental Science, etc.)

Must have very strong undergraduate GPA (minimum of 3.2 - prefer higher)

Must have work experience in a clinical setting"

Wow, this is VERY innovative.

The minimum one year acute care experience is an accreditation standard. It MUST be as a nurse. So even though they are requiring a clinical degree, they must incorporate that year of post RN licensure experience.

Anesthesia programs must be a minimum of 24 months, another accreditation standard.

16 months for the RN, 12 months experience, minimum 24 months anesthesia = at least 4 years, 4 months of schooling. Don't see how it could be done any sooner.

I guess the deal is, that you are assured an SRNA spot, while you are getting that year of acute care experience. Very "outside of the box" thinking. It will be interesting to see how this works out.

I am pretty up to speed on education issues. I gotta tell ya, this is BRAND new. I doubt there are any more of these programs, until we see how they work out.

loisane crna

Call me old fashioned, but an RN liscense in 16 months... that's crazy talk.

There are several programs in the country that allow a person who already has a bachelors degree to obtain a second in nursing, including Georgetown which was noted from the brochure in a previous post. This is nothing new. Many colleges do this; however, I have never seen it to include anesthesia. What is different is that they are streamlining people into their graduate programs, including anesthesia. Of note is that for the nurse anesthesia program, there is the exception that further review of the applicant is required. I am sure you have to get adequate clinical experience (the 1 year minimum in an ICU for example) before the board allows acceptance. This is essentially then nothing new for entry into an anesthesia program.

To Brenna's dad...I am not sure you are looking at the program length accurately. In reality most BSN programs are 8 semesters finished over 4 years, mainly because summers are off...as are most 4 year colleges. The first 4 semesters(2 years) are at the pre-nursing/preprofessional phase...essentially putting the "Bachelor" in the BSN. The second 4 semesters begin nursing work. Basically what an accelerated BSN program is 4 semesters of work with no breaks, finished in 16 months(4 months per semester). Looking at it accurately, I don't see a problem with doing a second degree BSN in 16 months...especially for those folks with a BS in a science area. Let me not forget to add that these programs still require prereqs prior to starting...A&P, micro, nutrition, stats, and psych usually.

Now I will not pretend to know anything about accreditation. I am not a nurse...just someone interested in the profession and asking questions for a friend that is currently a student but for some reason can't access this board. But from the snobbish perspective(I graduated from an Ivy League Institution)....I can't believe that Columbia would have a program that was churning out subpar CRNAs and/or not meeting far beyond the expectations of the accrediting standards. Their program is fairly established, while G'town's is new. I find it hard to believe that these programs wouldn't be good...despite the time frame.

Originally posted by Brenna's Dad

Call me old fashioned, but an RN liscense in 16 months... that's crazy talk.

Haha, I'm getting an RN in twelve months. My program is a second degree BSN program for people that already have bachelor's degrees. And yes, it is crazy!!

That's why you have the right to call me old fashioned!

I originally obtained my Diploma of Nursing (Canadian equivalent to an Associate Degree) in 2 years taking 5-6 classes a semester and that was working through the summer. So a total of 6 semesters which were busier than snot. I just find it amazing that one can learn all the nursing theory and obtain adequate clincal competence in 12-16 months.

And yes... I did walk through blizzards and uphill both ways while I was going to school.

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