We do not know, nor are we looking for, the person who wants to do things the easiest way. The practice of anesthesia is challenging and requires knowledge, skill, and a great deal of hard work. It takes work.
You must be a registered nurse eligible for licensure in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia to be accepted to the program. This is a requirement for both the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and the State Boards of Nursing. It is impossible for LMU to make an exception to this requirement.
Yes.
The admission requirement is two undergraduate chemistry courses, at least one with a laboratory component. One of the chemistry courses must be organic chemistry. Understand that we prefer to see as much chemistry as possible and prefer chemistry courses for science majors rather than introductory courses or chemistry for non-science majors. Science grades are looked at very closely.
Yes, although you may want to consider taking another course to refresh your baseline knowledge. The chemistry offered with the nurse anesthesia concentrations is intense and assumes that the students will hit the ground running.
No. All experience will be reviewed, but experience in a critical care unit is required.
Step-down units are not considered critical care.
ER, OB, and PACU are not considered critical care.
Neonatal and Pediatric critical care experience will be considered individually, but adult critical care is preferred.
No. Experience as a registered nurse is essential. The minimum of one year will not be waived.
Yes.
It is not forbidden, but your schedule will require that you are occupied some 60+ hours a week. Anesthesia programs, like professional programs for medicine, veterinary medicine, and dentistry, are full-time programs. Students who attempt to work uniformly have difficulty meeting the programs' standards. There are strict requirements preventing students from working a schedule that might compromise patient safety during the clinical experience. For example, working after 2100 hours the evening before clinical is forbidden, and policy violation is grounds for dismissal.
No. There is no part-time option for the nurse anesthesia program.
For the first two terms, yes. For the final 5 terms of the program, no. Students will be in the operating room 4 days a week (or more when on call) and one day a week in the classroom. Classroom classes will follow the LMU calendar, but students will be given a number of personal leave days and will utilize them just as a practicing CRNA will.
No. The student may be required to stay because it is better either for patient care or for the student's clinical education. Also there will be call schedules when the student will be scheduled to work in the evening or night.
During call rotations, students work on holidays and weekends. Nurse anesthetists sometimes have to work holidays; the same is true for nurse anesthesia students.
Students dismissed from nurse anesthesia or other advanced practice nursing program for academic, clinical, or behavioral reasons will not be admitted to LMU's MSN Nurse Anesthesia Concentration. Students who have been enrolled in another program and withdrew in good standing or are still enrolled in good standing must have a letter from their director stating that they were or withdrew when they were in good standing. Students in good standing or left a program in good standing will be considered for admission.
The Caylor School of Nursing's Nurse Anesthesia Concentration shares LMU's mission to educate and serve the Appalachian region. Our clinical sites are in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Georgia. All students are expected to be able to rotate to all clinical rotations.
That will depend on where the student lives. It is up to the student to decide where to live and where to obtain housing for rotations. But most students will need accommodation for at least some rotations. It is the student’s responsibility to secure and pay for housing.
No. Only one student may obtain credit for each case.
If you have questions regarding entrance into the MSN Program, please contact 423.869.6830 or 1.800.325.0900, ext. 6830.
