Nurse Anesthesia

Utilizing a systems approach and a background in basic physical assessment, advanced physical assessment skills are studied. The identification and interpretation of abnormalities in the physical exam are emphasized in depth. The approach to the development of the differential diagnosis is introduced. The goal of this course is to provide the critical thinking necessary for the beginning advanced practice nursing student to analyze history and physical exam data.

The goals of this course are to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the actions of drugs in order to enable them to use therapeutic agents in a rational and responsible manner in patients. Initially, basic principles of pharmacology will be reviewed (from N5375 course), including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs by the body. Drug-receptor interactions will also be presented and illustrated with appropriate examples. The focus of these lectures will be case-based whenever possible to demonstrate the therapeutic application of these pharmacologic principles and how this translates into efficacy and potential toxicity.

Part one of two. In this course we will examine the normal physiological function of organ systems, the mechanisms for the maintenance of health, and the pathophysiological alterations in body function that lead to disease. Each class will focus on a specific physiologic process or organ system. We will pay particular focus to diseases that commonly occur across the lifespan, examining common etiologies, pathogenic mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and common treatments of each.

Part two of two. In this course we will examine the normal physiological function of organ systems, the mechanisms for the maintenance of health, and the pathophysiological alterations in body function that lead to disease. Each class will focus on a specific physiologic process or organ system. We will pay particular focus to diseases that commonly occur across the lifespan, examining common etiologies, pathogenic mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and common treatments of each.

The professional role of the nurse anesthesiologist will be examined through discussions, writings, and presentations. Standards of care, patient safety, and legal considerations will be emphasized. Cultural humility will be emphasized via discussions, presentations, and readings to better understand patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities as it relates to the practice of anesthesiology.

This core course examines contextual contributors to health status and the current social, legal, and political determinants of healthcare systems, emphasizing the U.S. system. Issues are explored to understand their impact on current and future delivery of health care, in particular on advanced practice nursing. The class focuses on how to bring the professional values of nursing to bear in policy debate and how nurses partner in the policy process to improve health outcomes of populations and quality of the healthcare delivery system.

This course is intended to provide a strong foundation in the concepts of genetics and clinical applicability of genomic concepts commonly seen in advance practice nurses’ clinical practice. Both classical Mendelian and molecular genetics will be examined, in order to provide a knowledge base that will enable the advanced practice nurse to integrate genetic and genomic knowledge into clinical practice. Using a case discussion approach, clinical issues of genetics testing, genetic exceptionalism, individualized risk assessments and predictions are explored throughout their life span.

This course is designed for graduate nurses to provide them with the skills to understand and utilize research evidence in decisions about clinical practice. The course is designed to help graduate nurses articulate relevant practice-based questions, search the literature to identify relevant evidence, evaluate the quality of research on which the evidence is based, and discuss the application of the evidence in clinical practice to improve quality of care.

This course provides an overview of anesthetics, adjuvants and critical care medications commonly used in anesthesia practice with an emphasis on the application of theoretical foundations as it applies to the patient. Cultural humility will be incorporated when developing medication management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities. The course will also provide a systems approach to pathophysiology and the pharmacotherapeutic agents used to treat specific disease states with an emphasis on their impact in anesthesia practice.

This is the first of five clinical residencies that provide the opportunity for nurse anesthesiology residents (NARs) to integrate theory into practice within the clinical setting. NARs move along a continuum from healthy adults to patients with multi-system failures. The focus is on perioperative theory transfer, the development of assessment skills, and the developmental implementation and evaluation of an individualized anesthesia care plan. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities. Patient interviews and teaching are integral to this process. Basic principles of decision-making are emphasized throughout. Mastery of the Nurse Anesthesia Residency I objectives is required by the end of this residency. Practice settings include operating rooms, emergency rooms, and off-site locations including but not limited to diagnostic and interventional suites. CRNA or physician anesthesiologist preceptors serve as facilitators of learning. Clinical conferences and professional meetings help to reinforce and enhance learning.

Clinical experiences provide the opportunity for students to integrate theoretical basis of practice within the clinical setting. Students move along a continuum from healthy adults and children to patients with multi-system failures. The focus is on perioperative theory transfer, development of assessment skills, and the implementation and evaluation of a plan of care. Patient interviews and teaching are integral to the process. Basic principles of decision making are emphasized throughout. Mastery to the specific level of competency is required within a specific time framework. Practice settings include operating rooms, emergency rooms, and diagnostic suites. CRNA faculty members act as facilitators of learning. Clinical conferences and professional meetings help to reinforce and evaluate learning. This is the second of four required residencies.

Clinical experiences provide the opportunity for students to integrate theoretical basis of practice within the clinical setting. Students move along a continuum from healthy adults and children to patients with multi-system failures. The focus is on perioperative theory transfer, development of assessment skills, and the implementation and evaluation of a plan of care. Patient interviews and teaching are integral to the process. Basic principles of decision making are emphasized throughout. Mastery to the specific level of competency is required within a specific time framework. Practice settings include operating rooms, emergency rooms, and diagnostic suites. CRNA faculty members act as facilitators of learning. Clinical conferences and professional meetings help to reinforce and evaluate learning. This is the second of four required residencies.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the student to enact his or her role as a SRNA. CRNA and MD faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the student to enact his or her role as a SRNA. CRNA and MD faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the student to enact his or her role as a clinical nurse specialist. Experience includes obstetrics, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, pediatrics, post anesthesia care and critical care units. CRNA faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the student to enact his or her role as a clinical nurse specialist. Experience includes obstetrics, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, pediatrics, post anesthesia care, and critical care units. CRNA faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

This is the first of four didactic courses that discuss techniques for anesthetic administration and related technologies in the context of various surgical and diagnostic interventions in diverse anesthetizing locations. Focus is assessment and management of monitoring modalities and other techniques in the perioperative environment. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This lab is the first of three lab/simulation courses. Focus is placed upon essential technology and procedures utilized in the management of the patient during the preoperative, intraoperative, and the postoperative period. The course activities promote a synthesis of lecture content obtained in Principles & Practice of Nurse Anesthesia I course. Lab/simulation experiences will develop the psychomotor skills and critical thinking inherent to the practice of nurse anesthesia. Specific procedural skills must be safely demonstrated. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans and simulations to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This course focuses on the complex nature of common coexisting diseases and their influence on safe delivery of nurse anesthesia care in the perioperative period.  Throughout this coure, learners will evaluate information obtained during physical and psychological assessment, review patient data and preoperative testing, and synthesize knowledge to formulate safe, individualized, perioperative anesthesia management plans for patients. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This is the second of four didactic courses that discuss techniques for anesthetic administration and related technologies in the context of various surgical and diagnostic interventions in diverse anesthetizing locations. Focus is assessment and management of monitoring modalities and other techniques in the perioperative environment. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This lab is the second of three lab/simulation courses. Focus is placed upon essential technology and procedures utilized in the management of the patient during the preoperative, intraoperative, and the postoperative period. The course activities promote a synthesis of lecture content obtained in the Principles & Practice of Nurse Anesthesia II course. Lab/simulation experiences will develop the psychomotor skills and critical thinking inherent to the practice of nurse anesthesia. Specific procedural skills must be safely demonstrated. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans and simulations to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This course is an advanced course for regional anesthesia. It will  cover discussion and demonstration of neuraxial anesthesia, peripheral nerve blocks, and pain management theory and techniques. Pharmacology regarding local anesthetics will be reviewed. Practice and demonstration in the Skills Labs are an integral part of this course.

This is the third of four didactic courses that discuss the various methods and techniques of anesthesia administration with an emphasis on the physiological basis for practice. Alterations in homeostatic mechanisms and advanced anesthetic management throughout the perioperative continuum of obstetric and pediatric care, and patients undergoing cardiac surgery are emphasized. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This is the fourth didactic course that discusses the various methods and techniques of anesthesia administration with an emphasis on the physiological basis for practice. Alterations in homeostatic mechanisms and advanced anesthetic management throughout the perioperative continuum of patients undergoing advanced, complex surgeries and procedures are emphasized. Cultural humility will be incorporated into care plans to develop anesthetic management individualized to patient identities and cultures while including an emphasis on social and cultural health disparities.

This course addresses the application of epidemiology and environmental approaches to inform the clinical practice of health care of individuals. An understanding of health sciences based on groups of people, including environmental health, occupational health, and some aspects of genetics, can orient the practitioner with an individual patient. These external influences are modified through social, cultural, and behavioral factors. Addressing these factors should help to anticipate and improve patient outcomes.

This course is designed to provide the tools for the doctorally prepared nurse to evaluate, translate and integrate published research results into clinical practice. During the course, students will learn how to conceptualize clinical practice problems and transform them into answerable clinical research questions, how to search for the best clinical evidence, and how to assess clinical evidence using basic epidemiological, biostatistical and scientific principles. The course will culminate in a systematic review or meta-analysis of a body of research relevant to advanced practice nursing.

This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge and skills necessary to serve as a member and lead interdisciplinary groups in organizational assessment to identify systems issues and facilitate organization-wide changes in practice delivery utilizing quality improvement strategies. Course content focusses on understanding systems concepts and thinking to achieve results in complex health care delivery systems. Frameworks, approaches, and tools that foster critical thinking are examined as mechanisms to formulate vital questions, gather and assess relevant information, develop well-reasoned conclusions, test conclusions against relevant standards, compare conclusions with alternative systems of thought, and communicate effectively throughout the process.

This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge and skills regarding the uses of information technology to support evidence-based practice. The course will provide an overview of informatics topics of most relevance to evidence-based practice including: computer systems and system development; standardized clinical terminology; informatics standards; electronic health records; retrieval and critical analysis of digital data, information, and knowledge; clinical decision making; decision support; decision analysis; shared decision making; and computer aided instruction.

The purpose of this course is to critically analyze healthcare policy in the US. Included is a focus on the advanced practice nurse role in shaping and influencing policy through advocacy and leadership to improve patient outcomes.

This course is the first in a series of three utilizing lectures, discussion, writings, and presentations to integrate didactic instruction and clinical experiences as NARs progress from novice to advanced beginner nurse anesthesia residents.

The second in a series of three courses that provides critical analysis of selected topics in nurse anesthesiology practice. Lecture and discussion facilitate integration of didactic content with clinical experiences, as NARs learn to integrate DNP Competencies into clinical practice.

This course is the first of two designed to introduce students to scholarly writing and dissemination for clinicians. The course provides students with practical information, exercises, and resources for successful clinical manuscript preparation and clinical conference poster and oral presentation. The course introduces students to fundamental skills for scholarly writing including familiarity with professional journals and conferences, utilization of electronic resources for literature searches and citation management, writing process and organizational skills, identification of predatory journal and conference enterprises, and academic integrity and the continuum of plagiarism. The course culminates in an annotated bibliography on a topic of the student’s choosing that allows for the synthesis and application of the skills and resources developed over the course. In conjunction with part two of the course, students are prepared for a lifelong approach to integrating scholarship into clinical practice.

The third in a series of three DNP Seminar courses. It provides critical analysis of selected advanced topics in nurse anesthesiology practice. Lecture and discussion facilitate integration of didactic content with clinical experiences, as NARs learn to integrate DNP Competencies into clinical practice.The course concludes with poster presentations geared to demonstrate understanding of the literature on selected topics and recommendations for future anesthetic management of these cases. Results of this inquiry will be formally presented to the class and communities of interest as an abstract and presentation. Refinement of the topic will occur in the next semester and poster and/or oral abstracts will be submitted for dissemination at that time.

Continuation of N9150.

This final clinical residency is to enable the Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) to transition to practice.The NAR precepted in the clinical area requires supervision appropriate to their level of training. For Nurse Anesthesia Residency V, the NAR’s professional growth, asassessed by the preceptor, will determine the level of supervision by the preceptor, but not to be less than induction, emergence and all key portions of case. Also, the preceptor must be immediately available for consultation. The AANA does not permit the NAR to be supervised by a resident-in-training or anesthesiologist assistant.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the NARto enact his or her role as a clinical nurse specialist. Experience includes obstetrics, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, pediatrics, post anesthesia care and critical care units. CRNA faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

This final clinical residency is to enable the Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) to transition to practice.The NAR precepted in the clinical area requires supervision appropriate to their level of training. For Nurse Anesthesia Residency V, the NAR’s professional growth, asassessed by the preceptor, will determine the level of supervision by the preceptor, but not to be less than induction, emergence and all key portions of case. Also, the preceptor must be immediately available for consultation. The AANA does not permit the NAR to be supervised by a resident-in-training or anesthesiologist assistant.

Clinical focus is on the delivery of anesthesia care in a broad range of clinical settings to patients with multi-system problems. Emphasis is placed on refinement and perfection of decision-making skills in patient care management and rapid assessment of health status of patients. Collaborative practice within a team structure is emphasized. In addition to direct patient care, participation in journal club, clinical case reports, and in-service presentations to a multidisciplinary audience provide the environment for the NARto enact his or her role as a clinical nurse specialist. Experience includes obstetrics, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, pediatrics, post anesthesia care and critical care units. CRNA faculty members and preceptors act as guides.

This course will be based on the nurse anesthesia resident (NAR) functioning in simulated anesthesia crisis scenarios. The NAR  will complete assignments, which will focus on crisis management in the perioperative setting. A thorough review of crisis resource management and debriefing skills will be discussed. Each NAR will participate in high-fidelity simulation and debriefing exercises to prepare them for independent management in the clinical setting after graduation.  

The purpose of this lab course is to become familiar with advanced modalities in the management of the difficult airway, point of care ultrasound (PoCUS), radiology, and cardiac imaging. Laboratory experience provides psychomotor skill development and critical thinking inherent to advanced diagnostic techniques. As a component of the course, specific skills must be safely demonstrated.

This course will examine the professional role of the nurse anesthetist through discussions and writings/presentations. Current topics in health care delivery, reimbursement, politics, and policy as they relate to nurse anesthesia will be emphasized.