SIUE Nursing’s new anesthesia specialization draws nationwide interest
EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE drew applications from across the nation this summer for its first doctor of nurse practice cohort.
The SIUE School of Nursing received a total of 102 applications for only 24 open positions. The next step of the application process involves narrowing down the applicants to half before scheduling interviews.
“It will be difficult to narrow the applicant pool down to 50 for interviews as the student candidates are strong,” said Dr. Andrew Griffin, nurse anesthesia director, and assistant professor and department chair for primary care and health systems nursing. “They have solid academic backgrounds and significant work experiences.”
The pool of DNP nurse anesthesia specialization applicants are from all over the U.S., including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Kansas, California, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Georgia.
The DNP nurse anesthesia specialization prepares registered nurses with baccalaureate degrees to provide individualized anesthetic patient care for diagnostic, therapeutic or pain management procedures. The program offers courses and clinical experiences that meet or exceed the standards of the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice.
Within the specialization, students learn to provide anesthetic care in diverse settings, including both rural and urban settings. Following graduation, students are eligible to take the National Certification Examination offered by the National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists. The DNP nurse anesthesia specialization is offered full-time over nine semesters (36 months) at the Edwardsville campus.
