Doctor of Nursing Practice - Nurse Anesthesia

California State University - Fullerton

The DNP Nurse Anesthesia program is offered in partnership with the Kaiser Permanente School of Anesthesia (KPSA). Founded in 1972, KPSA is a pioneer of graduate-level education for nurse anesthetists. Graduates have achieved academic excellence and have been recognized for significant contributions to clinical practice and research in the field of anesthesia. These alumni have also attained leadership roles in clinical settings as well as national professional organizations. The School of Nursing at CSUF and KPSA have developed a three year sequential academic and clinical graduate program for nurses with a baccalaureate degree. Upon completion of the program, a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a concentration in Nurse Anesthesia is awarded. The curriculum of the DNP Nurse Anesthesia concentration provides the student with scientific, clinical, and professional foundations upon which to build a sound and safe clinical practice. This three year (9 semester), full-time program offers concentrated courses in anatomy/physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, basic and advanced principles of anesthesia, and professional roles. Courses in anesthesia practice provide clinical practicum encompassing all anesthetic techniques to diverse patient populations. The supervised clinical practice provides students the opportunity to incorporate didactic anesthesia education into clinical practice. During the clinical experience, students are supervised by anesthesiologists/nurse anesthetists who provide instruction in the safe administration and monitoring of a variety of techniques including both general and regional anesthesia. This advanced practice nursing option includes client-oriented practice as well as foundation in core courses, which serve to develop clinical scholars. Courses include content in advanced evidence-based practice and proposal writing data management in healthcare theories in nursing and other health care disciplines with particular emphasis on utility in practice and, sound decision-making within legal and ethical frameworks in a complex health care and policy-making system. Additional skills addressed in the program include information competence, critical thinking, problem solving within an inter-professional framework, advocacy, clinical prevention and population health, and organizational and systems leadership for quality improvement and systems thinking. All nurse anesthesia concentration courses are held at Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, CA and affiliated clinical sites utilizing state-of-the-art facilities. This concentration requires 109 units of full-time study including a doctoral project. Clinical hours are based on competency guidelines from KPSA.

College of Health and Human Development