Anesthesia Clinical Sites
The UTC School of Nursing DNP Nurse Anesthesia Concentration uses several hospitals in providing students with the highest quality clinical learning experiences. Our students do not compete for clinical experiences with physician anesthesiology residents at any clinical site.
Erlanger Health Systems in Chattanooga, TN
Erlanger Health Systems, the primary site in Chattanooga for training students in the field of nurse anesthesia, is the region’s Level-One Trauma Center for adults and, through Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, is also the region’s only pediatric hospital.
Erlanger is affiliated with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and UTC School of Nursing. Through this partnership, students in the nurse anesthesia program receive a vast amount of clinical learning opportunities in many specialty areas, including pediatrics, neurosurgery, high risk and general obstetrics, and trauma. The Erlanger Health System has over forty state of the art surgical suites at four different campuses.
The Erlanger Baroness Campus is the flagship hospital of Erlanger Health Systems. Each year, more than a quarter of a million people are treated by the team of healthcare professionals who are part of Erlanger. It is the region’s only Level I Trauma Center. With over 48,000 anesthetics administered annually, nurse anesthesia students receive a wealth of hands-on experience. This experience extends beyond the OR to include administering anesthesia to patients receiving care in peripheral sites within the hospital, including the radiology department, gastrointestinal lab, eye center, pulmonary lab, and oncology center.
Erlanger East Campus is a vital component of the Erlanger Health System. The multi-faceted medical campus is meeting the needs of a growing community with a Surgical Center (serving men, women, and teens), Urgent Care Center, physician offices, and Women’s Services Center. With four operating rooms and a newly expanded obstetrics wing, nurse anesthesia students have the tremendous opportunity to enhance their OBGYN knowledge and accompanying skills through their rotations to this hospital.
Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center, the highest designation in the state, has physicians in virtually every pediatric subspecialty. The Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit provides the region’s highest level of care for premature and sick infants. With an average of 5,500 cases performed annually, nurse anesthesia students get a vast amount of experience with both sick and healthy infants and children. In addition to the cases performed each year in the OR, anesthesia services are provided for children in the radiology suites (diagnostic and interventional), gastrointestinal lab, and oncology center. As a result of the large volume and vast array of surgical cases, nurse anesthesia students in this program receive a tremendous exposure to pediatric anesthesia.
CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, TN
CHI Memorial Hospital has achieved regional recognition as one of the most advanced medical facilities in the Southeast. Memorial surgery facilities provide innovative, responsive and continually advancing resources for all specialties. Besides being noted as an excellent provider for heart surgery, Memorial is also a leading provider of orthopedic procedures like sports medicine and joint replacement and is in the forefront in spinal procedures, being one of the few hospitals in the country to do endoscopic spinal fusions. Memorial Surgical Department has minimally invasive laparoscopic services including state-of-the-art equipment. Cancer and ophthalmology are also high-volume services.
Southern Tennessee Regional Health System Winchester, Winchester, TN
STRHS-Winchester is a comprehensive medical facility licensed for 131 acute beds and 26 skilled care/nursing home beds and is fully accredited by the Joint Commission. The wide array of services available at Southern Tennessee Medical Center is designed to meet the healthcare needs for the people and communities of Southern Middle Tennessee. The facility at STRHS-Winchester features a 10-bed ICU, a 12-bed Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, a 12-bed Acute Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Unit, a Skilled Nursing Unit, Sleep Lab, Cardiac Cath Lab, five OR Suites and two Endoscopy Suites. There is also a 13-bay Emergency Room with over 15,000 annual visits. This facility is 70 miles from the UTC campus.
This facility offers our students the opportunity to gain hands-on experiences in peripheral regional anesthesia blocks. Two additional advantages for our program are rural health exposure and experiencing a fairly independent CRNA practice setting. This is a required two-week clinical rotation for all senior students (Chattanooga and Mississippi).
Rhea Medical Center, Dayton, TN
Rhea Medical Center is a county-owned, non-profit organization serving the people of Rhea County. Named one of the Top 100 Hospitals by Solucient’s National Benchmarks for Success study, Rhea Medical Center is dedicated to providing patients with the highest quality health care right here in Rhea County.
The new 28-million-dollar facility opened and began providing services in August 2007.
At RMC, patients benefit from the quality and scope of services available at much larger hospitals, as well as the personal attention and small-town hospitality that makes them feel at home. With the most up-to-date technology and equipment and its friendly and professional staff, RMC delivers the right care right here in Rhea County. There are three (3) operating rooms and anesthetizing areas. This site will allow our students to experience practice at small rural hospital in an all-CRNA practice environment. All senior students at the Chattanooga campus are required to participate in a 2-week clinical rotation at this site. The site is located 41 miles from the UTC campus.
North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, MS
North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) in Tupelo has a rich history of training students in the field of nurse anesthesia, providing a well-rounded clinical experience since 1993. NMMC has served as a primary clinical site for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga since 2003 for the training of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. Tupelo’s nurse anesthesia students have the advantage of completing all their clinical requirements on one campus. With 35 surgical suites, and over 22,000 anesthetics given annually, there is a wealth of experience to be gained. The campus consists of three anesthetizing locations:
- North Mississippi Medical Center: The flagship hospital of a regional health care system, a 650-bed tertiary referral center. NMMC is the largest non-metropolitan hospital in the United States.
- North Mississippi Ambulatory Surgery Center: Provides ambulatory experience in ENT, Orthopedic, Ophthalmology, Pedodontics, Plastics and Urology for children and adults.
- Women’s Hospital: Provides gynecological and obstetric anesthesia experience, including considerable epidural and spinal opportunities NMMC offers anesthesia experience for more than a dozen surgical sub-specialties.
Specialty rotations are offered in Cardiovascular, Neuro, Pediatrics, OB/GYN, and General/Vascular Anesthesia. In addition, there is plenty of opportunity for non-O.R. procedures, including anesthesia for Radiology, GI, and EP lab procedures.
With approximately 1,000 open heart anesthetics performed annually, students obtain a wealth of experience in placing and monitoring invasive lines. Epidural and Spinal experience is easily obtained during the OB/GYN rotation. Thanks to NMMC's distance learning technology, students "attend" class with their cohorts 300 miles away in Chattanooga. They meet together in a designated SRNA classroom, equipped with state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment, which allows them to ask questions and join discussions with their colleagues in Chattanooga. Tupelo is conveniently located in close proximity to Memphis, Tennessee, Jackson, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama. With a population of 130,507, the Tupelo metropolitan area is the cultural and industrial center of north Mississippi.