Nurse Anesthesia FAQs

No. However, you must have at least two years of critical care experience within the last five years by August before the program begins.

As defined by the COA, critical care experience must be obtained in a critical care area within the United States, its territories or a US military hospital outside of the United States. During this experience, the registered professional nurse has developed critical decision making and psychomotor skills, competency in patient assessment, and the ability to use and interpret advanced monitoring techniques. A critical care area is defined as one where, on a routine basis, the registered professional nurse manages one or more of the following: invasive hemodynamic monitors (e.g., pulmonary artery, central venous pressure, and arterial catheters), cardiac assist devices, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive infusions. Examples of critical care units may include but are not limited to: surgical intensive care, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary intensive care, medical intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and neonatal intensive care. Those who have experiences in other areas may be considered provided they can demonstrate competence with managing unstable patients, invasive monitoring, ventilators, and critical care pharmacology.

No.

Two years of full-time clinical experience in an intensive care or critical care unit within the last five years are required for the DNP Nurse Anesthesia concentration.

Yes. Students entering the program need to be able to document current certifications in BLS, ACLS and PALS on the first day of classes. Current status in all three certifications must be maintained throughout the program.

We do not require applicants to have CCRN certification to apply but it is strongly encouraged that applicants are CCRN certified.

Yes. We encourage all applicants to become familiar with the role of the CRNA through "shadowing." Spending time with a CRNA is one of the best ways to learn more about the profession and to determine if it will be a good fit for you.

Access to the DNP Nurse Anesthesia application is available in mid-January each year. The deadline for completed applications is the second Friday in April. No late submissions will be considered.

The BSN must be completed by May or August of the application year.  Two years of critical care experience must be achieved before start of program. 

No. At the time of application, you must choose one or the other.

You must complete a new Graduate and nursing program application for the cohort year.

We receive over 120 applications each year. We invite 60-65 Chattanooga applicants and 12 to 20 Tupelo applicants for interviews. We traditionally accept approximately 24-30 students for each class. However, when making our admission decisions, we focus on selecting the most qualified applicants and do not need to meet a class size quota. Applicants must answer personal statement essay questions and may also submit a formatted personal statement as part of their resume.

No. Admission into our program is very competitive. All complete applications are reviewed by the admissions committee. Each application is thoroughly reviewed by the committee regarding the cumulative, BSN, and science GPAs, clinical experiences, recommendation letters, evidence of leadership, and personal statements. Invitations to interview are extended to those applicants who the committee believes are most qualified to meet the rigors of the program.

Applicants for admission will be contacted within two weeks following completion of the interview process. Individuals selected for admission accept their seat through the acceptance email within five days of notification. If a candidate accepts the offered slot in the program, a $1,000 non-refundable matriculation fee (a seat fee) will be required to secure the candidate's position in the program.

No, the $1,000 matriculation fee will be applied to your first semester expenses upon acceptance into the program. Further, we will only accept a cashier's check or money order. Personal checks will not be accepted.

The UTC DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program holds a short alternate list from the interviewed applicants. Applicants on the alternate list do not roll to the next cohort. Applicants will have to reapply.

No. We can only consider applicants who have earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

The GRE is NOT required. An overall undergraduate GPA and a science GPA of 3.0 is required. Our goal is to admit students who will have the best chance at success in the program.

We do not require any pre-requisite undergraduate classes. Bachelor’s or post-bachelor’s course work, however, must be satisfactory (GPA 3.0 or higher). Given the strong science-based curriculum of anesthesia. it is important that you demonstrate undergraduate success in all science-related course work (anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biology, chemistry, etc.) If you make a "C" or lower in any of your science courses, we strongly recommended that you re-take those course(s) to better improve your academic profile.

Per the Graduate School Academic policies, the DNP Nurse Anesthesia program can determine the extent of transfer credits acceptable in our program. It is possible to transfer up to six credits of doctoral course work earned elsewhere. Only courses in which a student has obtained a grade of “B” or better, and which have not been applied to another degree, will be accepted. All nurse anesthesia courses must be completed at UTC. Before acceptance into the program, you need to provide the Director of the Nurse Anesthesia program with copies of course syllabi as well as other documentation so that they can compare your course to that at UTC.

We do not offer a post-DNP certificate option currently.

Yes, you can take nine credit hours as a non-degree seeking student.  You will need to apply to UTC Graduate School as a non-degree student for the semester you want to begin taking a class. Below is a list of the courses you can take as a non-degree seeking student and these courses are part of the DNP Nurse Anesthesia curriculum.  All these courses are online.  The professors for each course must give permission for you take their course.  

NURS 7020 Epidemiology & Health Requisites of Populations- Spring Semester
NIURS 7030 Meeting Population Demands Through Biostatistics- Spring Semester
NURS 7130 Ethics & Equity in Advanced Practice Nursing- Spring Semester
NURS 7050 Leadership in Complex Health Care systems- Summer Semester
NURS 7060 Health Care Policy & Economics- Fall Semester

Once you are accepted as a non-degree seeking student, you need to email Lindsey Greiner in the School of Nursing.  Her email address is [email protected] She will help start your course registration process and ask permission from the professor to take the course.

If you have other questions about the courses, please contact Dr. Tommy Diller at [email protected]
 

Information regarding current tuition and fees can be found on at the Bursar's Office website or the fee estimator.  Please use the Online and Distance Fee Schedule to determine your tuition costs. There is a 9-credit hour cap on tuition costs each semester. In addition to tuition and fees, Nursing courses require a $105/credit hour differential fee. There is NO cap on the differential fee credit hours. If you want additional information about the tuition costs, please feel free to contact the Nurse Anesthesia program coordinator, Dr. Linda Hill, [email protected], (423) 425-5693.

There are several expenses, in addition to tuition, for which the student will be responsible. Many are listed below.

*ESTIMATED Additional Expenses for Program*

All costs are estimates, actual costs may vary. This is not intended to represent an all-inclusive list:

• Textbooks- $4,040 (covers all semesters of the program)
• Clinical Supplies (lab coat, stethoscope, nerve stimulator, Thyroid shield, Earpieces) - $780.00
• Clinical Requirement testing- $85.00
• Personal Computer- $2700 (one time cost)
• Internet Access - $125/per month (Total estimate 3 years $4,400)
• Cell phone with internet- $100/ per month (Total estimate 3 years $3,600)
• Associate memberships—American Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists (AANA) and Tennessee Association of Student Nurse Anesthetists -$225.00 (3-year membership)
• TANA Annual Conference (transportation, room, meals). Attendance is required (approximate cost per trip is $550/per trip)
• TN RN Licensure- $115.00
• Malpractice Insurance- $20/per year x 3 years (Total estimate 3 years $60.00)
• Health Insurance*- premium depends on insurance company and plan
• SEE Examination (Required two times in Senior year)- $265.00/exam (total estimate $530)
• Certification Examination (Required) - $1095.00 (one time cost before graduation)
• Anesthesia Board Review Course- $1,250.00 (Optional)
• BLS, ACLS & PALS Recertification Courses- $300.00
• Typhon- $100 (One time cost)
• Apex Anesthesia Review- $400.00 (One time cost); Prodigy Anesthesia—Approx. $350.00 for 3-year subscription
• Travel between clinical sites- $2,300 (across all semesters)
• Hotel for out-of-town clinical rotation- $80/per night x 10 nights = $800
• Professional conferences (TANA or MANA), $350.00

Please see Estimated Expenses for more information.

Financial aid is readily available for nurse anesthesia students. Awards include aid from Federal Stafford loans, Federal Nurse Anesthesia Traineeships, and potential employers. Accepted applicants should contact the UTC Financial Aid office (423-425-4667) when they are notified of acceptance. Begin the process early by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on-line at studentaid.gov.

Yes. See the fee schedule from the Bursars Office or the fee estimator. Please use the Online and Distance Free Schedule to determine your tuition costs. There is a 9-credit hour cap on tuition costs each semester. In addition to tuition and fees, Nursing courses require a $105/credit hour differential fee. There is NO cap on the differential fee credit hours.

To those students who choose to live on campus, UTC provides an array of attractive housing options.

The school year begins in January of each year.

No. The program is designed for full-time study.

First, an explanation on the differences between the two. Integrated nurse anesthesia programs typically arrange their curricula so that students participate in didactic and clinical education concurrently while front loaded program students complete all didactic courses before beginning their clinical experience. UTC's Nurse Anesthesia program is front loaded the first year and integrated years 2 and 3. 

Yes, patient simulators are used to provide consistent and safe simulation of both routine and unusual anesthesia situations.

Being enrolled in the nurse anesthesia program at UTC is a full-time endeavor and the curriculum is very demanding. The time commitment involved averages on a minimum of 40 to 50 hours per week in the clinical area and/or classroom. With that said, we strongly discourage students from working during their time in the program. Doing so could negatively impact your academic and clinical experience

The faculty expects beginning students to be academically prepared to undertake the graduate level study of nursing, clinical, and basic sciences. The curriculum incorporates the intensive use of informational technology for educational purposes. All students are required to have a laptop computer or tablet and must possess basic computer skills and equipment prior to enrollment. These skills and equipment include, but are not limited to the following:

• Able to use MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Able to send and receive emails and attachments to emails
• Online Internet service of choice must be maintained, at student cost, for duration of the program of study.  It is strongly recommended that you have some type of high-speed Wi-Fi access.
• Anti-virus software, Adobe Acrobat Reader
   

The link to our accreditation status web page is https://www.utc.edu/health-education-and-professional-studies/school-of-nursing/nurse-anesthesia/program-design