Otterbein University and Grant Medical Center in Columbus, OH have started a new nurse anesthesia program for c+Central Ohio. The program was recently accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and approved by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.

The program is headed by Elizabeth Seibert, PhD, CRNA. Barb Schaffner, PhD, RN and Chair of the department of nursing spoke with DOTmed News about the program. "The two institutions started working on the program about 18 months ago. We began our collaboration with Grant Medical Center in the summer of 2008 and have been working on the curriculum since then. We hired the director in June 2009 and started our program with a cohort of students on June 14."

The program is 30 months long and leads to a Master of Science in Nursing degree. The program is very competitive; according to the University's information, applicants must have a baccalaureate degree in nursing from an accredited institution, a minimum 3.0 undergraduate grade point average, and at least one year of critical care experience. Upon satisfactory completion, graduates are eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination. The first group of 12 students has already started classes.

Schaffner described the highlights of the program further: "The core courses will deal with evidence-based and quality practice, advanced pharmacology, advanced health assessment, and physiology. However, the essence of the anesthesia core revolves around the clinical experience." The nurse anesthesia-specific courses involve clinical hours, and the program's competitive key is the heavy clinical expectation.

Schaffner said that much interest has been expressed in the program initially and the interest has continued. "We had competitive admissions for our first 12. We have an application deadline of July 15 for our second class, and we are going to take around 12 students again. We have already well over 50 people in the application process."

While there are five other nurse anesthetist programs in Ohio, there are no other programs in Central Ohio. That makes Otterbein University the first in that area, and sixth in the state.

Nurse anesthetists are a major part of the growing presence of advanced practice nursing in health care today. "Nurse anesthetists have been around for quite awhile. But the practice is, along with other advanced practice nursing roles, getting more prominence with health care reform," Schaffner explained. "Actually, if you look at nationwide statistics, it is estimated that nurse anesthetists provide 80 percent of the anesthesia in this country. The public may not be aware of that fact, but nurse anesthetists are very prominent in health care today.