An Open Letter to HBCUs Schools of Nursing Considering to Start a Nurse Anesthesia Program/Lena Gould, CRNA, MSN
Dear Dean of Students
A sense of urgency is upon us...now, certainly not later, is the time to seriously consider starting
a Nurse Anesthesia Program at your respective institution. This is a fact, out of the 106 Nurse
AnesthesiaPrograms in the United States and Puerto Rico, not one of the master degree programs
are from HBCUs. This is a fact, any BSN graduate from your fine institutions who are seriously considering Nurse Anesthesia as profession, will have to apply to those that are already established by the Council of Accreditation (COA). This is a starlting fact, the COA has drafted a position that it will not consider new master degree programs beyond 2015.
Please note that all Nurse Anesthesia Programs will be converted into doctoral programs in 2025.
It is worth noting this fact...there are 37,000 CRNAs in the United States. There are less than 6% minority representation in the Nurse Anesthesia profession. How are we going to properly introduce and prepare diverse nursing students to enter the Nurse Anesthesia profession? When will we have a serious dialogue on this very important issue to make our "smart rooms" and "state of the art buildings" into a premier Nurse Anesthesia Program? When will we seriously embark on adding Nurse Anesthesia as a viable option to your BSN graduates and to others across the country? Which HBCU School of Nursing will emerge as one of the Nurse Anesthesia Programs with innovative leaders, scholars and practitioners in this growing field? The time is now...
Wallena Gould, CRNA, MSN
Founder, Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program
www.diversitycrna.org
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I have been thinking for
Sat, 05/30/2009 - 9:49pm — AdonaiI have been thinking for some time that a Nurse Anesthesia program at an HBCU would be wonderful. It would increase visibility of Nurse Anesthesia as a profession among minorities, encourage more minority nurses to consider Nurse Anesthesia as a profession, and could help increase the number of doctorally, prepared, minority CRNAs available to choose to pursue a career in academia (further encouraging more minority nurses to become Nurse Anesthetists).
I wanted to add to your comment, Ms. Gould, by encouraging interested schools to remember that Schools other than the School of Nursing within HBCUs may develop a Nurse Anesthesia program. Only about half of all Nurse Anesthesia programs are housed within Schools of Nursing. Some are housed within Schools of Medicine (i.e. Mercer University, University of South Carolina), Schools of Allied Health Professions (i.e. Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Alabama), and still others within stand-alone Nurse Anesthesia Departments or Schools.
The program I am in is taught within a School of Allied Health Professions even though there is a School of Nursing on my campus. I am wondering if Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and other departments within HBCUs may also consider developing a Nurse Anesthesia program. I hope so!
Adonai, Jr SRNA