The Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing has received initial accreditation from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational programs for a new graduate program in Nurse Anesthesia. And despite the current down market, there are jobs waiting for nurse anesthetists, according to BC CSON Dean Barbara Hazard Munro. They command a very good salary too, she added.
"There is a nationwide demand for nurse anesthetists," noted Munro. "Surgeries are being delayed and cancelled because there are not enough nurse anesthetists. There are estimates that we need to graduate 1500 to 1800 nurse anesthetists a year in this country to meet demand. We are only producing about a thousand," said Munro. "We have established this program because there is a societal need and it is important for us to do."
The new program is a partnership between CSON and Anaesthesia Associates of Massachusetts, the largest provider of anesthesia services in the state. Boston College is only the second institution of higher education in Massachusetts to offer such a program. Students will be enrolled in the 27-month, full-time master of science degree program beginning in January.
Nurse anesthetists are not a new concept. Nurses have been giving anesthesia since the 1800s. In this country, some two-thirds of anesthesia is delivered by nurse anesthetists, according to Munro. However, regulations changed a few years ago and nurse anesthetists are now required to have a master's degree.
Clinical placements for the program will be at a variety of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts facilities, including Boston Medical Center, Faulkner Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, New England Baptist Hospital, Saints Memorial Medical Center and Deaconess Glover Hospital, among others.
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