Nurse Anesthesia Program

Program Description

Program in Nurse Anesthesia Student Handbook

The Nurse Anesthesia Program is designed to provide students with continuous opportunities to relate theoretical knowledge with clinical practice by assuming increasing responsibility for total anesthesia patient care under tutorial guidance. The application of theoretical knowledge to the realities of clinical practice is a dynamic process that enhances and enriches learning as well as prepares the graduate to function effectively and competently as a professional. The sequential design of the program permits the student to acquire the skills necessary to move along this continuum.

The Nurse Anesthesia program is a 27-month full-time program that includes a clinical anesthesia residency. The first year curriculum is largely devoted to advanced science courses and graduate core courses. The clinical component starts in May of the second year.

Clinical sites are available in the tri-state area and beyond, and can be permanent or rotating. Currently, clinical experiences are offered at the following sites with new sites being added as needed: (New York), Brooklyn/ Manhattan VA Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian (Allen Pavilion and New York Hospital) and Columbia University Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Jacobi Medical Center, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Methodist Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York University Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Nyack Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, SUNY Stonybrook, Westchester County Medical Center, and Vassar Brothers Hospital; (New Jersey) Jersey City Medical Center, Englewood Hospital, Jersey Shore Medical Center, Trinitas and University Hospital/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; (Connecticut) Danbury Hospital; (Pennsylvania) Abington Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and (Maryland) Maryland Shock Trauma Center and The John Hopkins Hospital

During the clinical residency, each student is precepted by both CRNAs and anesthesiologists.

Graduates are eligible to take the certifying examination administered by the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists, a requirement for practice. The program is fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) through 2008. For more information on accreditation, please contact the COA at 222 S. Propsect Ave. Park Ridge, IL 60068-4001, 847-692-7050.

The Program Director for the Nurse Anesthesia specialty is Eileen Evanina, MS, CRNA.

Admission

Please contact the Office of Admissions for details regarding admission and financial aid packages. The Nurse Anesthesia sequence starts in the summer semester. At this time, this program can only be completed full time.

If your application is considered competitive, we will contact you for a mandatory interview. The option of a phone interview will be considered.

For current Master’s prepared nurse practitioners in another specialty, we offer a post-master’s certificate. The certificate program can only be started in the fall semester. Please click here for information on the Certificate Program.

For current CRNA’s interested in pursuing a Master’s degree, we offer a Master’s completion program. Please click here for information on the Certificate Program.

Applications to start the following summer must be received no later than November 1 to be considered. Please note, to apply to any of the Nurse Anesthesia programs, applications can only be submitted online.

Admission criteria include:

*RN's with an associate degree and a non-nursing baccalaureate degree are required to complete 5 credits in community health in addition to the course requirements listed.

Curriculum

Core Credits
Health and Social Policy: Context for Practice and Research 4 
Assessing Clinical Evidence 4
Intensives 2
  10
Science  
Advanced Physiology 3
Pathophysiology (Adult) 3
Advanced Pharmacology 3
Incorporating Genetics into Advanced Nursing Practice 3
  12
Specialty  
Homeostatic Mechanisms During Anesthesia 3
Pharmacology of Anesthetics 3
Anesthesia and Co-Existing Diseases 2
Basic Principles of Nurse Anesthesia Practice I 3
Basic Principles of Nurse Anesthesia Practice II 3
Pharmacology of Accessory Drugs 2
Basic Principles of Regional Anesthesia 2
Nurse Anesthesia Residency I 2
Advanced Principles of Nurse Anesthesia Practice I 2
Critical Decision Making in Nurse Anesthesia Practice I 2
Nurse Anesthesia Residency II 2
Advanced Principles of Nurse Anesthesia Practice II 2
Critical Decision Making in Nurse Anesthesia Practice II 2
Nurse Anesthesia Residency III 2
Critical Decision Making in Nurse Anesthesia Practice III 2
Nurse Anesthesia Residency IV 2
Critical Decision Making in Nurse Anesthesia Practice IV 2
38
Total Credits 60

School of Nursing

The School of Nursing has paved the way for professional nursing since 1892 and continues to lead the field as the foremost institution for advanced practice nursing.

The School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development in Advanced Practice. With urban clinical sites, expert faculty practitioners, cutting edge research, and the strength of the Columbia name and reputation, the School of Nursing produces graduates who possess the skills necessary to bring advanced practice nursing into the new millennium. As medical advances offer a cascade of new and useful therapies, the need for more health care providers will increase exponentially. Our country will face many health care challenges in the next 20 years, and nurse practitioners are essential to providing access to quality primary care.

Founded in 1892 as Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, the School became part of Columbia University in 1937 and began offering the baccalaureate degree. It is one of the oldest schools of nursing in the US. In 1956, it became the first nursing program in the country to award a master’s degree in a clinical nursing specialty. In 1999, the School granted its first doctoral degree. More than 9,000 nurses have graduated since the School opened.

The School shares the Columbia University Health Sciences Campus with the Mailman School of Public Health, the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Each of these schools adds to the richness and diversity of the educational experience of students and faculty.

School of Nursing faculty have substantial experience in curriculum, instructional design, and research. They maintain expertise in their areas of teaching responsibility through participation at local, regional, and national conferences, involvement in scholarly presentations and publications, and faculty practice.

Columbia University School of Nursing is distinguished by the clinical excellence of its programs and graduates. Columbia nurses are making crucial contributions and improving the health of individuals wherever they practice.

The above information is current as of 10/07 and is subject to change at any time.