The nurse anesthetist is a highly trained medical care specialist who is responsible for the anesthesia requirements of patients in all areas of surgery. The nurse anesthetist develops, implements, and evaluates the anesthetic plan of care for individual patients and is a vital part of the anesthesia and health care teams. The nurse anesthesia program at the University of South Carolina is an accredited program by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Education Programs and prides itself on a very high graduation rate and excellent pass success on the certification exam. Through careful selection of applicants, quality instruction, and supportive environment, 95% of our admitted students succeed in completing the program and earning their anesthesia degree. All of the program graduates have passed the National Certification Examination of the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists and have consistently scored at or above the national average. The first-time rate for passing the Certification Exam remains significantly above the national average. To date all graduates have found appropriate employment as Nurse Anesthetists.

The Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program is a cooperative program between the School of Medicine Columbia and its clinical training partner institutions, Prisma Health Richland (PHR) in Columbia, SC and Prisma Health Greenville Memorial (PHGM) in Greenville, SC. PHR began training nurse anesthetists in 1969 at the School of Nurse Anesthesia with involvement of School of Medicine (Columbia) faculty since 1986. A program leading to the Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice from University of South Carolina was accredited in 1993, and in 2010 Greenville was approved as an additional required (primary) clinical site. Students may complete their entire educational program either in Columbia or Greenville sites (as per seat availability), with didactic educational content shared by two-way synchronous interactive videoconferencing between Columbia and Greenville classrooms.

Learning Outcomes

1. Integrate understanding of concepts in human anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology to clinical practice.
2. Exhibit evidence of knowledge of all the indications, contraindications, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of currently available anesthetic agents and drugs.
3. Utilize knowledge of the anesthetic related indications in the care of specialties such as neurosurgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, and cardio-thoracic anesthesia.
4. Develop an evidence based project that demonstrates clinical scholarship supporting translation of knowledge into practice.

Admissions

Prerequisites must be met prior to an offer for an interview. Admission is competitive and students are chosen on the basis of their academic record, employment history and performance, character, and general fitness for the study of nurse anesthesia. To be accepted, the applicant must interview and demonstrate evidence of good physical health, emotional stability, and personality considered necessary for successful performance as a nurse anesthetist. Applicants to the Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia are recommended by an interview admissions committee composed of faculty from the USC School of Medicine, clinical coordinators, and nurse anesthesia students.

Final decision for admission is made by program faculty in conjunction with the University of South Carolina Graduate School.  

Curriculum and Degree Requirements (114 Hours)

Integration of clinical training with coursework is a key feature of the program with students beginning supervised clinical experience in the third semester. A state-of-art simulation laboratory provides an interactive system to teach both psychomotor clinical skills and crisis resource management. The curriculum consists of a 36-month course of study including clinical training and didactic courses in physiology, pharmacology, principles of anesthesia, and others. To meet the criteria for graduation and to meet the requirements to sit for the Certification Exam from the Council on Certification, students participate in a minimum of 600 anesthesia cases covering a variety of clinical experiences including general and regional anesthetics for pediatrics, obstetrics, geriatrics, cardiovascular-thoracic, neurological, plastic otolaryngology, ophthalmology, urology, orthopedics, and radiological procedures. The majority of clinical training occurs at Prisma Health Richland and Prisma Health Greenville Memorial, however clinical affiliations currently exist at several additional enrichment sites where students may rotate to gain more diverse clinical experience. 

In addition to the below requirements, all students must maintain a RN license in good standing, and ACLS, BLS, and PALS training must be current at the time of graduation. Students must meet all the requirements of The National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA) to be eligible to take the Certification exam upon graduation. These requirements can be found on the NBCRNA website.

Required Courses

The following courses are required in the Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
ASNR 700	Introduction to Nurse Anesthesia Practice	2
ASNR 702	Professional Roles and Scholarship for the DNAP	3
ASNR 704	Nurse Anesthesia Doctoral Student Development	3
ASNR 750	Health Policy, Ethics, and Legal Concepts for the DNAP Nurse Anesthetist	3
ASNR 752	Health Systems for the Nurse Anesthetist	3
ASNR 754	Health Care Informatics for the Nurse Anesthetist	3
ASNR 760	Clinical Topics in Nurse Anesthesia Practice I	2
ASNR 761	Basic Anesthesia Principles I	4
ASNR 762	Basic Anesthesia Principles II	4
ASNR 763	Advanced Principles in Nurse Anesthesia Practice	4
ASNR 771	Introduction to Nurse Anesthesia Practicum	1
ASNR 772	Seminar in Nurse Anesthesia I	2
ASNR 773	Clinical Practicum I	2
ASNR 775	Clinical Practicum II	6
ASNR 777	Clinical Practicum III	6
ASNR 779	Clinical Practicum IV	6
ASNR 781	Clinical Practicum V	6
ASNR 795	Application of Physical and Chemical Concepts in Nurse Anesthesia Practice	3
ASNR 797	Professional Role of the DNAP Nurse Anesthetist I	3
ASNR 800	Integration of Concepts Across Nurse Anesthesia Practice	2
ASNR 801	Specialty Focus Simulation I	1
ASNR 798	Application of Biomedical Concepts in Nurse Anesthesia Practice	3
ASNR 802	Specialty Focus Simulation II	1
ASNR 824	Evidence-Based Decisions and Nurse Anesthesia	3
ASNR 860	Clinical Topics in Nurse Anesthesia Practice II	2
ASNR 872	Seminar in Nurse Anesthesia II	2
ASNR 896	Professional Role of the DNAP Nurse Anesthetist II	3
ASNR 897	DNAP Project I	2
ASNR 898	DNAP Project II (offered twice)	2
NURS 707	Advanced Pathophysiology for Nurses	3
ASNR 720	Advanced Comprehensive Health Assessment	3
NURS 717	Application of Basic Statistics for Nursing Practice & Service Management	3
NURS 790	Research Methods for Nursing	3
PHPH 701	Physiology for Health Sciences	6
ASNR 724	Leadership in Nurse Anesthesia Practice	3
PHPH 705	Biomedical Pharmacology	6
Total Credit Hours		114