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The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs granted accreditation to Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson College of Health Professions (JCHP) nurse anesthesia program.

The master’s level program will prepare registered nurses to become Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). After completing the master’s degree in nurse anesthesia, students will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination as the final step before practice. 

“Jefferson’s goal in offering a CRNA program is to address the nationwide shortage of nurse anesthetists,” says Mary G. Schaal, RN, EdD, professor and chair of Jefferson’s Department of Nursing. “As an academic health science center, Jefferson has outstanding resources to support a CRNA program. Through the integrated program of classroom and clinical instruction, students will develop the didactic knowledge base and clinical skills essential for safe and effective practice.”

“Jefferson has an illustrious nursing history that goes back to the 19th century,” says Michael Booth, MA, MSN, CRNA, the program director. “This program is going to enhance that reputation.”

Students in the 30-month, eight-semester program will take 74 credits within three cores of study: a nursing core that includes a research component, an anesthesia core and a clinical core. The curriculum integrates didactic coursework with over 1,000 hours of clinical rotations, ensuring that students will administer more than 550 anesthetics to patients undergoing a wide variety of surgical and/or diagnostic procedures.

“Integrating problem-based learning is new to the nurse anesthesia specialty,” explains Booth. “Building this concept into the curriculum makes JCHP’s program stand out from others in the area.” Patient simulation and evidence-based practice are other important concepts that are incorporated into each course.

Nurse anesthetists are members of the anesthesia care team composed of CRNAs and anesthesiologists which administers the 26 million anesthetics given to patients in the United States each year. They are the sole anesthesia providers in more than two-thirds of rural hospitals. The nationwide shortage of professional nurses includes nurse anesthetists, and the demand for nurse anesthetists far exceeds the available supply.

“The nurse anesthesia program is demanding and rigorous,” says James B. Erdmann, PhD, Dean of the Jefferson College of Health Professions. “We are excited to offer the program and begin answering the demand for nurse anesthetists in the marketplace, and especially in our partner institutions of the Jefferson Health System, particularly Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and Frankford Hospitals. We are very grateful for their support, as well as that of the Department of Anesthesiology of Jefferson Medical College, in the development and conduct of this program.”

Twenty-five qualified students will be accepted each year into the full-time, 30-month program which starts in January. Eligible students must posses a registered nurse licensure and have a bachelor of science in nursing or nurse doctorate, among other specific requirements. Core courses can be completed prior to admission into the program. For more information and to download an application, please visit the website, www.jefferson.edu/jchp/nursing, or call 1-877-JEFF-CHP.

• Jefferson College of Health Professionals