What determines how often a CRNA school must be certified by the AANA?

[Roland]

I've noticed that some schools must be recertified much more often than other programs. Does this indicate anything about the school quality?

[Nitecap]

The AANA does not certify school, the Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs does. Programs are granted accreditation for X amt of years and when it us up they must get reaccredited going thru the process. Not sure what all goes into the length of accreditation for each program . So get longer than others depending on a number of factors.

The AANA and COA are different entities and operate seperately. Though one may be in the AANA and also be on the COA.

[BigDave]

I was under the understanding that a school with a ten year certification was considered a superior program--a thought verified to a co-worker of mine at the AANA booth at NTI. Be wary of this process though, a new school will usually only get three years initially. An example is Duke. They got three years when new...and now show a ten-year grade. I personally would not give this much metit when selecting a school.

I think more valuable school stats are the grad rate and first-time board pass rate.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

lists info on accreditation, approved schools, program changes and program directors:

accreditation -- american association of nurse anesthetists

council on accreditation of nurse anesthesia educational programs. introduction

www.aana.com/accreditation/