The University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Nurse Anesthesia Concentration is a Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA)-accredited Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) pathway that prepares registered nurses for anesthesia practice through a structured 38-month curriculum combining advanced didactic coursework with extensive supervised clinical experiences. The program recently earned 10-year continued accreditation — the maximum period granted by the COA — and readies graduates for eligibility to sit for the National Certification Examination for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, with most alumni securing employment within six months of graduation.

Degree Type

DNP

Program Length

38 months, full time

Credit Hours

95 semester hours

Starting Month

January

Application Deadline

February

Program Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Nursing is required.

Current RN license. Tennessee license required prior to matriculation.

Minimum of 1 year (by the time of the program start date), current, full-time, adult ICU experience as an RN. Acceptable critical care experience includes: working in a unit where invasive hemodynamic monitoring and utilization of vasoactive intravenous medications were a routine occurrence. Examples of such units would be: ICU (Intensive Care Unit), Coronary Care Unit, Surgical ICU, Trauma ICU, Medical ICU, or Cardiovascular ICU. Not acceptable: ER (Emergency Room), ICN (Intensive Care Nursery/ Neonatal ICU), or PARR (Post Anesthesia Recovery Room).

A minimum GPA of 3.0.

A minimum combined score of 297 or greater on the qualitative and verbal sections suggested. No other examinations, such as the MAT, GMAT, LSAT, or MCAT, are accepted. You only need to take GRE if you have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or less.

Required Certifications: ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support). Although the CCRN certification is not required, it is highly recommended and applicants who possess specialty certification will be given priority consideration.

A graduate-level course in statistics from a regionally accredited college/university with a grade of B, or better.

Undergraduate courses in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, physics, pharmacology, and biochemistry are strongly recommended.

Contact

ph: (865) 305-7762
email: dbell@utmck.edu
web: www.utmck.edu