Accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia, Western Carolina University Nurse Anesthesia Program will provide students with academic and field-based experiences that lead to a Master of Science in Nursing degree.
Faculty are obligated, and in fact, dedicated to serving as role models, resources, and facilitators of learning while preparing graduate nurse anesthetists to assume positions as nurse anesthetist clinicians, educators, or administrators.
The twenty-eight month program is full-time, requires a minimum of 66 course credits, and emphasizes excellence in both didactic and clinical experiences. Students who graduate from the WCU program have a solid foundation for long-term nurse anesthesia practice and are prepared to sit for the National Certification Exam. New classes will be admitted in January of each year for the Spring Semester. Application deadline for the January, 2011 class is June 15, 2010.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Nurse Anesthesia Program is congruent with the mission of the School of Nursing and Western Carolina University.
The Nurse Anesthesia Program mission is to create an academic center of teaching and learning excellence for the advancement of nurse anesthesia practice. The program seeks to promote clinical scholarship and life-long learning and aims to support skilled and ethical service to our communities. Through nurse anesthesia research, education, and practice, students and faculty will seek to enhance the quality of life for people of all cultures, economic levels and geographic locations.
Program Purpose
Our purpose is to prepare outstanding nurse anesthetists by fostering an educational environment where scholarly thinking, dialogue, creativity and ideas flourish. The Western Carolina University Nurse Anesthesia Program will be concerned about excellence and high quality education in the development of nurse anesthesia leaders in research, education, and practice.