The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Nurse Anesthesia is offered as a traditional face-to-face program as a post Registered Nurse nursing degree. The practice-focused doctoral program will prepare registered nurses for the nurse anesthesia role at the highest level of clinical nursing practice. The DNP in Nurse Anesthesia program reflects the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs’ Practice Doctoral Standards, American Association of the Colleges of Nursing (AACN) DNP Essentials, and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements include an unencumbered professional registered nurse license, a BSN, a minimum GPA of 3.0 and 1 year of critical experience as a professional RN. Additional admission criteria can be found online at: http://www.astate.edu/college/conhp/departments/nursing

Application Deadlines

Application deadline is October 1st each year to begin study in the summer semester. Students may acquire detailed information about the application process and pre-requisite courses by contacting the School of Nursing at 870-680-8187 or visiting the website at http://www.astate.edu/college/conhp/departments/nursing

Course Requirements

The DNP in Nurse Anesthesia requires full-time study and completion of the degree prior to being eligible to sit for the National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetist’s National Certifying Examination. Students must be registered nurses (RN) who hold an unrestricted RN license and a minimum of a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) degree for admission. The curriculum is 36 months in duration, 114 credit hours with 2,880 clinical clock hours over 9 semesters.

Admission Criteria

In order to be considered for admission, applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. Successful admission to the Arkansas State University Graduate School

1. 1. Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an ACEN or CCNE accredited program of nursing from a regionally accredited college or university. 
   2. Current unrestricted/unencumbered (clear/active) license as a registered nurse in one of the states/compact states or one of the protectorates of the United States, with eligibility for Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Missouri R. N. license.
   3. Proof of Liability Insurance and Health Insurance
   4. An application demonstrating a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on undergraduate course work or 3.0 on the last 60 hours of undergraduate work on a 4.0 scale will be reviewed, but not guaranteed for an interview.  No transfer credits will be accepted.
   5. All official transcripts
   6. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) on application within 5 years of application demonstrating:
      1. A combined verbal and quantitative score of 300 preferred.
      2. An analytical writing section score.
   7. A minimum of one (1) year full-time work experience, or its part-time equivalent, as a registered nurse in a critical care setting at the time of admission. Critical care experience must be within two (2) years of application. Critical care setting examples include but are not limited to: Surgical Intensive Care, Medical Intensive Care, Neuro Intensive Care, Cardiothoracic or Cardiovascular Intensive Care, Burn/Trauma Intensive Care, Neonatal or Pediatric Intensive Care. A-State Nurse Anesthesia Option does not accept Emergency Room, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Operating Room or Obstetrical - Labor & Delivery Unit experience.
   8. Completion of an approved 3-credit hour graduate level descriptive and inferential statistics course with a grade of “B” or higher.  ELFN 6773 is an A-State online course that is accepted but students may call for a list of other approved courses.
   9. Three references, which should be written by current and/or former supervisors and/or faculty and completed on the program’s recommendation forms.
   10. Current BLS, ACLS and PALS certifications on application.
   11. Current TB Test, Flu Vaccine, Tetanus, MMR, and Hepatitis B Vaccine
   12. A satisfactory Physical Exam report (See: Important Files on website for form)
   13. CCRN or Cardiac Surgery Certification on application
   14. Successful completion of a Background Check, Drug Test, and Interview Process. 
   15. Interview is by invitation only and is not guaranteed on application.

*Admission decisions are not grievable.*

English Proficiency Requirements

The School of Nursing requires a high level of proficiency in English so that all students will be able to fully meet academic and clinical objectives as well as meet criteria for professional licensure. All foreign born students and nurses must take one of the following tests: 

1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 83 on the preferred internet- based test (iBT), 570 on the paper-based test, or 213 on the computer-based test. 
2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a score of at least 6.5 and a spoken band score of 7. 
3. Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE) with a score of 56.

The TOEFL is available at the ASU Testing Center.  When taking the exam off campus, the report code for ASU is 6011.   

Who does this apply to?

The term foreign born refers to people residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent immigrants, refugees and asylees, legal non-immigrants (including those on student, work, or other temporary visas), and persons residing in the country without authorization. In contrast, the term native born refers to people residing in the United States who were U.S. citizens in one of three categories: 1) born in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia; 2) born in United States Insular areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam; 3) born abroad to at least one U. S. citizen parent. 

Exemption

You may be exempt for the English proficiency testing if you are foreign born but attended school in the United States since kindergarten.  For the exemption you must provide official school records showing continuous enrollment in U. S. schools since kindergarten.  

English as a Second Language

Students who do not meet the required English language proficiency may enroll in ASU’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the International Center for English. Potential nursing students enrolled in the ESL program must maintain an average of 85 or higher in levels 0 through 4. In the final or 5th level of the ESL program an average of 90 or higher must be maintained. On completion of the ESL program, the potential nursing student must take the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Upon successfully meeting the proficiency requirement, potential students are eligible to apply to the School of Nursing. 

For questions or equivalencies with other tests of English language proficiency please contact the School of Nursing at 870-972-3074.

Retention/Progression

Failure of the student to achieve a minimum overall course average of 80% at the end of the semester will result in a course failure and dismissal from the Nurse Anesthesia Program.

A course failure results in the inability of the student to progress further in the program and cannot take any DNP courses.

The student may reapply for admission into the Nurse Anesthesia Program. Guidelines for the process are found in the Graduate Information Guidelines and Graduate Bulletin. Readmission to the Nurse Anesthesia Program is decided by the DNP Nurse Anesthesia Faculty Committee and is a non-grievable decision.

Dismissal

Any student receiving a grade lower than a “B” in any course will be dismissed from the program.

Other reasons for dismissal can be found in the GIG.