The WellSpan Health/York College of Pennsylvania Nurse Anesthesia Program is a 36-month, full-time Doctor of Nursing Practice track delivered through a long-standing partnership between York College and WellSpan Health that prepares nurses for advanced practice and eligibility to sit for the National Certification Examination. Accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, this program blends classroom instruction in core anesthesia sciences with extensive clinical immersion supported by WellSpan’s integrated health system — including hands-on experience in invasive monitoring, advanced pharmacology, and perioperative care. The program is known for its competitive admission standards, meaningful faculty mentorship, and recent achievement of back-to-back 100 % first-time board pass rates among graduating cohorts.

Degree Type

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) — Nurse Anesthesia

Program Length

• 102 months (full-time)

Credit Hours

• 94 credit hours

Start Date

August

Application Deadline

July

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) required.
• Current, unencumbered RN licensure in Pennsylvania.
• Minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Submission of GRE scores for verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections.
• Minimum of one year of full-time acute care experience as a Registered Nurse; most accepted students have 2–4 years of ICU experience.
• Required certifications: BLS (Basic Life Support), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support).
• Minimum of 8 hours shadowing a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

Clinical Experience

Applicants must demonstrate hands-on acute care experience with:

• Invasive monitoring devices (arterial lines, central venous catheters, pulmonary artery catheters)
• Vasoactive medication administration and ECG interpretation
• Care of mechanically ventilated patients
• Common qualifying units include Surgical ICU, Cardiothoracic ICU, Trauma ICU, and Medical ICU
• Applicants with primarily neonatal or pediatric experience must show evidence of adult patient care exposure

Prerequisite Courses

• Required: Statistics (descriptive and inferential), Health Assessment, and Nursing Research
• Recommended: Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Physics, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry

Contact

WellSpan Health / York College of Pennsylvania
York, PA

Phone: (717) 815-6864
Email: rhaas@wellspan.org
Website: www.wellspan.org