Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice

Chairperson: Scot Pettey, DNAP, CRNA, ARNP
Program Director: Scot Pettey, DNAP, CRNA, ARNP
Assistant Program Director: Brad Hemingway, DNAP, CRNA, ARNP
Clinical Director: Amanda Affleck, DNAP, CRNA, ARNP

Introduction

The Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP) Program is designed for the registered nurse who wishes to assume a leadership role within the profession of nurse anesthesia. In addition to preparing students to be competent, skilled nurse anesthesia practitioners, it is the mission of the program to nurture and develop innovative, creative leaders for the advancement of the profession. The DNAP degree is a practice doctorate that provides DNAP students with robust clinical experiences gained through completing over 2800 clinical hours during the program. The Nurse Anesthesia Program is an integrated program; the first semester is primarily didactic, with clinical rotations beginning in the second semester.

Graduates of Gonzaga's DNAP program receive an evidence-based experience blending clinical anesthesia practice with leadership strategies. The curriculum of Gonzaga’s DNAP program builds on the extensive education of program participants. In addition to learning the practice of nurse anesthesia, candidates learn to engage in systems thinking to solve complex problems, translate evidence to improve health care practices and population health, lead quality improvement and change initiatives, and demonstrate effective intraprofessional collaboration in the nurse anesthesia field.

The DNAP Program is jointly owned and operated by Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center (dba Providence Health Care) and Gonzaga University.  The program has clinical rotations throughout Washington, Idaho and Montana.  Clinical rotations at assigned clinical sites are mandatory and will be scheduled by the program. 

Washington State Clinical Sites: Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Providence Holy Family Hospital, Providence Mount Carmel Hospital, Providence Regional Medical Center-Everett Colby Campus, Providence Regional Medical Center- Everett Pacific Campus, Mann-Grandstaff Veteran's Medical Center, Pullman Regional Hospital, Kadlec Regional Medical Center, and the Puget Sound Veteran's Medical Center.

Idaho Clinical Sites:  Pleasant View Surgery Center, Kootenai Health, Inland Northwest Anesthesia and Pain, St. Mary’s Hospital, Clearwater Valley Hospitals and clinics. 

Montana Clinical Site:  Anaconda Community Hospital

Admission Requirements:

1. A current unencumbered, unrestricted license as a registered professional nurse and/or an APRN/ARNP in the United States or its territories or protectorates and ability to obtain a Washington State and Idaho State RN license.

2. A baccalaureate or graduate degree in nursing or an appropriate major from an accredited university.

3. Seven (7) life science courses. Some examples include, but are not limited to: chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, physiology, pathophysiology, and anatomy.

4. Two years of RN experience with a minimum of one year full-time work experience, or its part-time equivalent, as a registered nurse in a critical care setting at the time of the application deadline. The best critical care experience is obtained in a busy ICU, CICU, MICU, or SICU.  The competencies desired are routine management of adult patients on ventilators, interpretation of advanced monitoring, and titration of vasoactive medications. Critical care experience must be within the past 3 years.

   The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Education Programs (COA) defines critical care experience as: 

    "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 has 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 routine basis, the registered professional nurse manages one or more of the following: invasive hemodynamic monitors (e.g., pulmonary artery, central venous pressure, and arterial catheters), cardiac assist devices, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive infusions. Examples of critical care units may include but are not limited to: surgical intensive care, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary intensive care, medical intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and neonatal intensive care."

5. A 3.0 minimum (3.4 preferred) overall grade point average with strong science grades.

6. CCRN certification is required and documentation is submitted as part of the application.

7. Recommended minimum 24 hours cumulative shadowing time with an anesthesia provider.  (Submission of a document listing contact information of anesthesia provider(s) with whom the applicant shadowed, including the date, location, and total number of hours will be included with the application.)

Personal interviews with members of the admissions committee by invitation only.

Application Requirements:

1. Documentation of an earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

2. One official transcript from every college, university and nursing school attended.

3. Three letters of recommendation are required
   a.    One recommendation must be from applicant’s immediate supervisor who is able to evaluate professional practice, leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, critical thinking and judgment.
   b.    The other two recommendations should be from professional colleagues who can evaluate the applicant’s professional practice, leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, critical thinking and judgment.

4. Evidence of current Registered Nurse license.

5. Current professional curriculum vitae/resume.

6. Evidence of CCRN Certification 

7. Typewritten statement:

   1. Identify and describe a selected issue related to patient care and safety
   2. Synthesize the research evidence related to the contemporary issue related to patient care and safety
   3. Based on the research evidence, describe practice change(s) that should be considered
   4. Summarize the impact the proposed practice change(s) would have on key stakeholders concerned with the selected contemporary issue related to patient care and safety
   5. Maximum 2 pages, double spaced with Times New Roman or Arial 12 point font size
8. $50 Application Fee

9. The last day to submit a complete application for the DNAP program is September 1st with classes beginning the following May.

Program Expectations:

• Attendance is required in all clinical and didactic courses.
• Hours of Duty: Didactic classes may be scheduled between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Evening classes or seminars are occasionally held.  After the first semester, clinical duty begins at 6:00 a.m. During the second and third years of the program, students rotate to 3p-11p, 7a-7p, 7p-7a, Weekends, 12-16 hour rotations. Clinical hours and expectations escalate in the program from an average of 16 hours of clinical to 44 hours.  The maximum number of clinical and didactic hours allowed per week by the COA is 64.
• Academic Performance
  The DNAP Program has program-specific grading policies. All courses must be completed with a 3.0 or higher grade.  If a student earns a grade below a 3.0 in any course, he/she will be placed on probation.  Subsequent or additional grades below a 3.0 are grounds for dismissal from the Nurse Anesthesia Program.  Appeals will be in accordance with the Nurse Anesthesia Program appeal policy located in the DNAP Student Handbook; grade remediation is in accordance with individual instructors' grading policies. 

Degree Requirements: 88 credits