Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice Program Philosophy

The philosophic foundations of the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice are commensurate with all graduate programs within the Bryan College of Health Sciences.

The practice doctorate in nurse anesthesia is unique in the realm of traditional graduate programming as the knowledge, skills and abilities are drawn from the integration of many disciplines that contribute to the core of professional education. The complexity of contemporary anesthesia practice justifiably requires this integration to enable the nurse anesthetist to practice the humanistic, scientific and technical skills of the profession competently and intelligently.

The educational program for the preparation of nurse anesthetists is conducted as a shared responsibility between student and faculty. Students must be intensely committed to achieving their goals through a consistent demonstration of purpose, motivation, responsibility to patients and colleagues, independence of thought, creativity and personal demeanor. Faculty, likewise, are committed to the responsibilities of competent resources, guidance and professionalism.

The program seeks to express its commitment to each student through individualized instruction and counsel. Our primary goal is to provide the graduate student with an advanced scientific knowledge base, an understanding of healthcare policy, and the ability to advocate for the improvement of patient care through scholarship and leadership skill. We are committed to providing an opportunity to each student to develop a comprehensive array of clinical skills that hallmark the standards of care in anesthesia practice.
Our obligation to graduates is to prepare them for full participation in the delivery of anesthesia care in concert with other healthcare providers. They will be competent in independent judgment as advanced-practice professional nurses.

Our responsibility to the community is expressed in the aim of providing an educational program that will ably prepare the nurse anesthetist to meet the healthcare needs of a culturally diverse population.