[box]Judy Thompson, clinical assistant professor of nursing and director of the nurse anesthesia program at Quinnipiac University.[/box]
Quinnipiac University will introduce a new graduate nurse anesthesia program that will start in May.
The program, approved by the state of Connecticut and the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA), will offer two options: a full-time, three-year post-baccalaureate doctor of nursing practice (DNP) for registered nurses with critical care experience who wish to become nurse anesthetists and a part-time, 24-month option for certified registered nurse anesthetists with a current master’s degree who would like to earn the DNP.
“We are very pleased to offer a new nurse anesthesia program to complement our other graduate nursing programs at Quinnipiac University’s Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences,” said Jean Lange, dean of the School of Nursing. “Our simulated operating room, post-anesthesia care unit, standardized patients and human anatomy facilities rival any other school in the Northeast. More than two-thirds of the anesthesia administered in the U.S. is delivered by nurse anesthetists. This program will help to ensure that the health care needs in Connecticut continue to be met by quality care providers.”
“It’s been a lot of work building the program from the ground up,” said Judy Thompson, clinical assistant professor of nursing and director of the nurse anesthesia program. “There is a lot of interest and it will add additional prestige to Quinnipiac University and the School of Nursing.”
The post-baccalaureate curriculum offers courses in advanced physiology and pathophysiology, anatomy with cadaver lab, advanced health assessment, advanced pharmacology, basic and advanced principles of anesthesia, physics and advanced chemistry for anesthetic practice, patient safety, ethics, professional aspects, biostatistics, clinical scholarship, health care leadership, epidemiology and evidence-based practice.
This post-master’s program is designed for the practicing nurse anesthetist. The program prepares the CRNA for leadership positions in clinical practice, education, scholarship and management. The curriculum contains courses in ethics, biostatistics, epidemiology, evidence-based practice, human factors and patient safety, health policy, clinical scholarship and leadership.
For more information, call 203-582-8875.