MSN Program: Nurse Anesthesia
The School of Nursing Nurse Anesthesia Concentration uses several hospitals in providing student with the highest quality clinical rotation.
Upon competing the requirements for the Master of Science in Nursing degree with a specialization in Nurse Anesthesia, the graduate will be eligible to take the national certification exam offered by the Council of Certification of Nurse Anesthetists. Successful completion of this certification exam allows the professional nurse to use the title CRNA, certified registered nurse anesthetist.
The nurse anesthesia concentration includes core courses in nursing, support courses in the sciences, and specialty courses in nurse anesthesia. Students in this concentration will take a total of 49-52 semester hours. This includes the MSN Core Courses which comprise 13-16 semester hours. The length of the program is a minimum of 27 months.
All applicants must meet the Graduate School and School of Nursing admission requirements. Students applying to the nurse anesthesia concentration are required to have a minimum of one year of critical care nursing experience. Two years of critical care experience is recommended, particularly if the applicant has no other clinical nursing experience. Emergency, peri-operative or post-anesthesia care nursing will not be substituted for the critical care experience requirement. Applicants are encouraged to thoroughly investigate the CRNA practice pattern and rigorous educational requirements by "shadowing" a practicing CRNA. Enrollment is limited and the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of students who can be admitted.
The MSN Nurse Anesthesia Program also has an innovative distance-learning option for students living in Mississippi.
Admission to this option is also highly competitive. Students are admitted each May from the Tupelo Mississippi area. They will take courses on campus the first Summer semester. For the remaining semesters, the SON faculty will deliver courses live to a classroom of students on site and simultaneously the class will be broadcast using videoconferencing technology to the Tupelo Mississippi site. Additionally, faculty will use web-based classroom activities and chat discussions on Blackboard Clinical rotations will occur at North Mississippi Medical Center, a 650-bed regional referral center. This medical center holds the distinction of being the largest hospital in Mississippi and the largest non-metropolitan hospital in America. The medical center serves more than 650,000 people in 22 counties in north Mississippi, northwest Alabama and portions of Tennessee. Adjunct nurse anesthesia faculty will serve as preceptors at all clinical sites.
Nurse Anesthesia Program Information
MSN Anesthesia Clinical Requirements Packet
Questions? Email Dr. Linda Hill 423-778-4563
