Admission Requirements – effective November 1, 2021
Admission to the DNAP program is grounded in a commitment to academic excellence, collaborative learning and teaching, and intensive preparation of students through the intersection of multiple disciplines and approaches. Our ultimate goal is to recruit, retain, and graduate Nurse Anesthetists who are adept at combining their humanistic, scientific, and technical skills to become competent practitioners and outstanding professionals.
Prospective students are expected to be flexible, highly motivated, autonomous learners who can remain disciplined and focused during this rigorous graduate program. Students can expect to spend 50-60 hours per week meeting the didactic and clinical demands of the program. Prospective DNAP students must meet the following requirements in order to qualify for admission to the program:
- Hold an active, unencumbered license as a professional Registered Nurse (RN) in the state of Nebraska with multi- state privileges (or be eligible for an active, unencumbered license in Nebraska with multi-state privileges)
- Hold a Baccalaureate degree in nursing or in an appropriate related discipline
- Submit GRE Scores
- Hold current provider status in the American Heart Association approved Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). Required upon matriculation into the program.
- Have a minimum of one year of full time equivalent experience as a Registered Professional Nurse in which the applicant has had the opportunity to develop as an independent decision maker, demonstrate psychomotor skills, and develop the ability to use and interpret advanced monitoring techniques based on knowledge of physiologic and pharmacologic principles. Clinical skills should include hemodynamic monitoring, arrhythmia identification, blood gas interpretation, initiation of peripheral lines, universal precautions and use of vasoactive drugs, alpha/beta blockers and anti-arrhythmia medications. 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 is to have 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 daily basis, the registered professional nurse manages invasive hemodynamic monitors (such as pulmonary artery catheter, CVP, arterial); cardiac assist devices; mechanical ventilation; and vasoactive drips (such as norepinephrine, epinephrine, dobutamine, nicardipine, nitroglycerine).
The critical care areas include the following: surgical intensive care, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary intensive care, medical intensive care, and pediatric or neonatal intensive care. Those who have experience in other areas may be considered provided they can demonstrate competence with invasive monitoring, ventilators, and critical care pharmacology. The School of Nurse Anesthesia prefers that applicants have two years of experience as a Registered Nurse upon entrance into the program. Applicants should contact the School if they have questions about their clinical experience.
- The applicant must achieve an overall grade point average of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale) for all collegiate work in order to be considered for admission into the program. An overall grade point average of 3.2 is preferred for the basic science courses.
Application Procedure
Prospective Nurse Anesthesia students must submit the following materials in order to be considered for admission to the program:
- A completed application and all supporting documents by August 31 of the year prior to the one in which an applicant plans to enroll.
- Three references as listed in the application and a clinical skills assessment. The reference and clinical skills forms should be sent to the School of Nurse Anesthesia and should reflect an accurate appraisal of clinical skills, experience, and the applicant’s ability to pursue graduate study.
- Short response to 3 essay questions as listed in the application.
- The Admissions Committee will review all applications and select candidates to attend a personal interview. Only candidates who attend the interview will be considered for admission to the program. A candidate is eligible for interview a maximum of three times. The Committee strongly recommends that the applicant complete the required nursing experience, required course work and baccalaureate degree prior to the date of their interview.
Required prerequisite courses include: Statistics; basic sciences courses, including:
- Statistics
Basic Sciences:Chemistry: (3 semester hours) - Microbiology
- Anatomy: human or mammalian anatomy (3 semester hours)
- Anatomy: human or mammalian anatomy (3 semester hours)
- Physiology: Minimum grade of 3.0 or “B” is required for this course. (3 semester hours)
- Anatomy/Physiology (in lieu of separate courses). The combined course is acceptable if offered over two semesters and taken sequentially. Minimum grade of 3.0 or "B" is required in both semesters (6 semester hours).
- All of the above listed courses or their equivalent, completed at an accredited college or university, are required and must be transferable to Bryan College of Health Sciences. Completion of these courses must be documented by official transcripts sent by the college/university directly to the School of Nurse Anesthesia prior to admission to the program.
Applications for the DNAP program are accepted prior to August 31 for the class enrolling in May of the following year. All applications are reviewed by the Admissions Committee. Classes begin in May each year. Admission is restricted to 25 students. Every applicant is considered, regardless of race, religion, sex, age, creed, color, national origin, ethnicity, marital status, veteran status, disability, or sexual orientation.
All applicants must be able to perform the following technical competencies:
- Utilize perceptual and psychomotor skills in implementing the anesthesia care plan when caring for patients in all types of settings
- Safely use essential equipment when providing patient care in all required settings
- Move about independently when caring for patients. Technical standards and requirements of the Bryan Medical Center/Bryan College of Health Sciences School of Nurse Anesthesia must be met by all students. A copy of the standards is available on request
Transfer Credit
Transfer credit may not be applied toward the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice degree.
International Students
In addition to admission criteria, students who are not United States citizens must submit documents verifying visa or permanent resident status. Permanent resident applicants are required to submit official transcripts or certifying credentials verifying secondary and any college studies. All transcripts must be submitted in English and credentialed for course equivalency. Evaluation of credentials may be obtained from the Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. or World Education Services (WES). Applicants for whom English is a learned language are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) proficiency exam and score 550 PBT, or 79 iBT or better. Exemptions for the English proficiency requirement are granted for non-native speakers who have received a high school diploma or more advanced degree either from an accredited U.S. institution or from an institution outside the U.S. at which English is the official language of instruction. (School code: 6058)
Admissions Office
Bryan College of Health Sciences
School of Nurse Anesthesia
1535 South 52nd Street
Lincoln NE 68506-1299
Phone: 402-481-3194
Email: gradadmissions@bryanhealthcollege.edu
Office hours: 08:30-14:30 Monday-Friday