College of Nursing at Augusta University now offers Doctoral Nursing Anesthesia program

The following was contributed by the College of Nursing at Augusta University.

Students aspiring to become nurse anesthetists now have the option of gaining an education at the doctoral level at Augusta University’s College of Nursing. The Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) Nursing Anesthesia Program (NAP) has recently been approved for conversion to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia. This change is poised to prepare students with a robust education, so they may provide high-quality health care.

As in the previous MSN program, students pursing the new DNP degree will have access to the same cutting-edge resources as before, including the state-of-the-art High-fidelity Simulation Center and hands-on practice at over 25 clinical sites.

However, the NAP will allow students to further refine their knowledge and skills through doctoral-level coursework. In addition to including training for becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), the coursework will emphasize analytical and leadership skills as well as scholarship, and it will include an evidence-based capstone project.

“I am pleased, as an integral member of the only public academic health center, to offer another high-quality doctoral program,” said Dr. Lucy Marion, dean of the College of Nursing at Augusta University.

The first class of students in the NAP will enter in the 2018 spring semester. The full-time program consists of 113 credit hours and will take students three years to complete.

In their first four semesters, students will receive didactic instruction and learn about anesthesia techniques at the Simulation Center. Students will be trained in a variety of surgical settings and earn over 2,000 hours of hands-on clinical experience, a unique feature of this program.

“The College of Nursing is excited for this program to be offered at the doctoral level,” said Dr. Lori Anderson, associate dean at the College of Nursing. “The faculty have put tremendous thought and diligence into a prestigious curriculum and are looking forward to the first student cohort.”

“Now the students are not only going to be anesthesia providers, they are going to be change agents and focused on evidence-based practice,” said Dr. James Masiongale, program director of the DNP NAP.

The new NAP joins the college’s existing four DNP clinical concentrations and a range of nationally ranked programs offered by the college at the BSN, masters, and doctoral levels. Students entering the program will have access to the same superior yet affordable education offered to all students at the college as well as optimal faculty-student ratios. The program is one-of-a-kind as the only in the University System of Georgia with access to a public academic health center.

Read more on the College of Nursing’s new NAP.

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Written by
Nick Garrett

Nick Garrett is a communications coordinator in the Division of Communications & Marketing at Augusta University. Contact him at 706-446-4802 or ngarret1@augusta.edu.

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Written by Nick Garrett

Jagwire is your source for news and stories from Augusta University. Daily updates highlight the many ways students, faculty, staff, researchers and clinicians "bring their A games" in classrooms and clinics on four campuses in Augusta and locations across the state of Georgia.

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