Program Philosophy

The program is dedicated to helping its graduates achieve full professional competence. The practice of nurse anesthesia requires a strong nursing foundation. The nurse anesthetist must be able to interpret the multiple science disciplines that contribute to nurse anesthesia professional education.

The complexity of contemporary anesthesia practice requires this integration. The nurse anesthetist must be able to practice competently and apply intelligently the humanistic, scientific, and technical skills of the profession.

Offering the program in a graduate framework most effectively incorporates learning activities within the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains and helps students achieve professional competence as anesthesia care providers. The curriculum design and multiple clinical affiliation sites facilitate achievement of these goals by supporting the team philosophy of practice and offering reinforcement from a variety of directions.

Our responsibility to the community is to provide an educational program that will prepare the nurse anesthetist to meet the health care needs of the public.

Our obligation to the profession is to prepare a nurse anesthetist who will serve as an invaluable resource in support of the professional organization's stated goals.

Mission and Vision

The mission of the nurse anesthesia program is to produce an exemplary nurse anesthesia provider fully qualified to deliver safe, competent anesthesia services to the public. The University of Kansas Department of Nurse Anesthesia Education, in concert with the broad overall missions of the University, School of Health Professions, and Office of Graduate Studies provides quality graduate education, specific to the practice of nurse anesthesia, based on sound research in a scholarly academic and technologically superior clinical environment.

The vision of the program is to produce highly competent graduates, dedicated to serve the anesthesia health care needs of the public who will be recognized as national leaders and role models for nurse anesthesia education.

Goals of the Program

This doctorate program prepares the registered nurse to become a nurse anesthesia practitioner with the capability to deliver competent nurse anesthesia services, engage in research, and assume leadership roles in the profession. Strongly rooted in science, the program is designed for the most ambitious and brightest professionals. The basic science and clinical education opportunities help graduates succeed as advanced practice nurses with increased esteem, independence, and earning power.

• Academic
  Obtain an advanced body of specialized knowledge necessary to integrate didactic information and clinical data and formulate a comprehensive individualized care plan.
• Clinical
  Demonstrate ability to plan and administer a safe and physiologic anesthetic based on knowledge and synthesis of anesthetic principles and basic science study.
• Research
  Demonstrate an appreciation for the role, nature, and conduct of research modalities and their application to practice and professional growth.
• Professionalism
  Integrate ethical, legal, and cultural considerations with personal and professional value systems in nurse anesthesia.