Campus News

Westminster's Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia Program Receives Accreditation

February 26, 2007

MSNA Program is One of a Kind in Utah

Westminster College's Master's of Science in Nurse Anesthesia (MSNA) program has received accreditation from the Council on Accreditation for Nurse Anesthesia Programs. Westminster's MSNA program is the only program in Utah that prepares students for careers as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA).

Westminster College is now accepting applications for students to enroll in the Masters of Science in Nurse Anesthesia (MSNA) program for fall 2007; the college expects to enroll 15 new CRNA students into the program each year.

The MSNA program is a 30 month program that includes interactive classroom, human simulator, gross anatomy experiences along with service learning field work. The first 10 months of classroom experiences are offered on Westminster's campus. The following 20 months require students to rotate through a combination of urban and rural clinical facilities. Graduates of the Masters of Science in Nurse Anesthesia program are eligible to take the National Certifying Examination, passage of which enables the Certified Registered Anesthetist to practice in all 50 states.

Until Westminster launched its program, there was not a single institution of higher education in the Intermountain region which offered academic preparation for nurses who wished to become CRNAs, so nurses were forced to travel outside the area for the degree. In addition to being the first of its kind in Utah, Westminster's MSNA program is the only the fifth in the western United States. There are currently only 95 accredited CRNA programs in the country.

Westminster hired the President-Elect for the Utah Association of Nurse Anesthetists James Stimpson to serve as Director of the Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia Program. Stimpson was most recently the Chief Nurse Anesthetist at Ogden Regional Medical Center in Ogden, Utah and also has his own practice which he founded in 2004. He has experience in many different sub-specialties, including obstetrical and pediatric anesthesia, neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery.

Westminster Dean of Nursing, Dr. Jean Dyer remarked, "Westminster has a long tradition of providing nursing professionals to serve our community and with the addition of this nurse anesthetist program we will be able to expand the way we support patients, doctors and the entire medical community in Utah and throughout the region."

Dr. Dyer identified the need for a nurse anesthesia program shortly after arriving at the college in 2004. In her previous role as Director of Nursing at the University of New England, she had worked closely with administrators of the CRNA program there for 11 years. To develop the new

program at Westminster College, Dr. Dyer worked for nearly two years to develop a curriculum, identify clinical sites and to initiate the accreditation process.

For more information on nurse anesthetists, visit the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists website at www.aana.com .