Nurse Anesthesia - DNP-NA

Critical care experience must be obtained in a critical care area within the United States, its territories or a US military hospital outside of the United States. During this experience, the registered professional nurse has developed critical decision making and psychomotor skills, competency in patient assessment, and the ability to use and interpret advanced monitoring techniques. A critical care area is defined as one where, on a routine basis, the registered professional nurse manages one or more of the following: invasive hemodynamic monitors (e.g., pulmonary artery, central venous pressure, and arterial catheters), cardiac assist devices, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive infusions. Examples of critical care units may include but are not limited to: surgical intensive care, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary intensive care, medical intensive care, pediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care. Those who have experience in other areas may be considered provided they can demonstrate competence with managing unstable patients, invasive monitoring, ventilators, and critical care pharmacology.

Emergency room, recovery room and step-down units typically do not satisfy the ICU requirement.

Tuition for the program: $11,139 per semester *
SEE exam (x 2): $250 each
AANA Membership: $200
Books: $1000**
Conferences, Clinical sites travel and lodging: Variable***

*New tuition rates are set by the Oakland University Board of Trustees in mid to late summer. The Board reserves the right to change any and all tuition rates when circumstance make such a change necessary.

**Many required textbooks are available free to students online via the Oakland University Kresge Library

***Students are responsible for costs incurred for travel in the program associated with conferences and clinical site rotations including transportation, lodging and meals (approximately $8,500).

All students must carry health insurance and liability insurance for the duration of the program. Please make arrangements to have health insurance coverage by the start of the program.  Liability insurance must be purchased through the AANA once student membership has been established in the first semester.

Financial aid is available through http://tdu7.vaftizo.com/financialaid/.

The time commitment involved in graduate study is extremely rigorous.

• Students can expect to spend an average of 64 hours a week in class and/or clinical throughout the 36 months.
• Students are expected to attend various in-state meetings and seminars, at their own cost.
• Students spend an average of 1 day per month in the Simulation Lab.
• Off-shift (midnight, afternoon and weekend) and on-call hours are required.
• Students will rotate to rural and underserved clinical sites during the course of the program.
  • Most students spend 4 – 6 months away from home throughout the program
• Students are given vacation days and/or sick time to use throughout the program

Clinical rotations begin the second semester and advance throughout the program. The primary clinical site is Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, a 1,131-bed level-one trauma center in Royal Oak, Michigan. In 2004, the hospital completed a major expansion project, and became the first Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence in Michigan. In 2009, Beaumont, Royal Oak announced the formation of Beaumont Children's Hospital and most recently, in 2020, the hospital performed more 16, 484 inpatient and 32,308 outpatient surgeries.

The clinical education at Beaumont offers 14 surgical specialties including cardiovascular, pediatric, thoracic and vascular surgery. The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs requires a minimum of 650 cases for all students matriculating into an accredited program on or after January 1, 2022. Students from the Oakland University - Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia class of 2021 had an average of 1, 044 cases at graduation. In addition to the Royal Oak campus, the Program also has access to the Beaumont hospitals in Troy, Grosse Pointe, Farmington Hills and more than 30 affiliate sites. Students at distance campuses can connect to the classroom on Royal Oak, Beaumont’s campus via video conferencing equipment. Distance campuses are located in Kalamazoo, Marquette and Petoskey, MI. The program also enrolls a Toledo, Ohio cohort. These students attend class at the Royal Oak campus, but the majority of the clinical rotations are done in Toledo, Ohio.

Affiliate Site List

Ascension Borgess Allegan General Hospital
Allegan, Michigan

Ascension Borgess Medical Center
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Ascension Providence Hospital – Novi
Novi, Michigan

Ascension Providence Rochester
Rochester, Michigan

Ascension Providence Hospital - Southfield
Southfield, Michigan

Ascension St. John Hospital
Detroit, Michigan

Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital

Laurium, Michigan

Beaumont Hospital, Farmington Hills
Farmington Hills, Michigan

Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe, Michigan

Beaumont Royal Oak
Royal Oak, Michigan

Beaumont Hospital, Troy
Troy, Michigan

Bronson Methodist Hospital
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Children's Hospital of Michigan
Detroit, Michigan

Covenant Healthcare System
Saginaw, Michigan

Dickinson County Hospital
Iron Mountain, Michigan

Henry Ford Main Hospital
Detroit, Michigan

Henry Ford Allegiance Health
Jackson, Michigan

Henry Ford Macomb Hospital
Clinton Twp., Michigan

John D. Dingell VA Medical Center
Detroit, Michigan

Lakeland Corewell

St. Joseph, Michigan

Mackinac Straits Health System
St. Ignace, Michigan

Mercy Health St. Mary’s
Grand Rapids, Michigan

McLaren Flint
Flint, Michigan

McLaren Bay Region
Bay City, Michigan

McLaren - Macomb
Mt. Clemens, Michigan

McLaren – Northern Michigan
Petoskey, Michigan

McLaren Port Huron Hospital
Port Huron, Michigan

Munson Medical Center
Traverse City, Michigan

Munson Otsego Memorial Hospital
Gaylord, Michigan 

MyMichigan Alpena

Alpena, Michigan

Oaklawn Hospital
Marshall, Michigan

Promedica Toledo Hospital
Toledo, Ohio

Scheurer Health
Pigeon, Michigan

Spectrum Health Ludington
Ludington, Michigan

Spectrum Health Pennock
Hastings, Michigan

Trinity Health – Muskegon

Muskegon, Michigan

UP-Health System - Marquette
Marquette, Michigan

UP Health System - Bell Hospital
Ishpeming, Michigan

UP Health System - Portage Hospital
Hancock, Michigan

The increasing use of technology in classroom instruction has grown exponentially over the years. The Oakland University - Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia (OUBGPNA) is a leader in the use of distance technology. In 2001, the Program was the first in the nation to receive a $300,000 grant to begin a distance education program.

As of 2018, more than 55 distance students have graduated from the program. The Council on Accreditation requires that distance education programs and courses meet the same standards and achieve the same outcomes as traditional educational offerings. The OUBGPNA distance education program evidences high quality through the achievement of its graduates. Many have been recipients of awards for academic and clinical excellence such as the prestigious Agatha Hodgins Award, the Edward Petrovich Scholarship, and many academic honors from Oakland University. Graduates have also moved into high-level anesthesia department managerial and administration roles.

One of the goals of OUBGPNA's distance education program is to overcome barriers of place and time. Distance learning allows education to reach those who are located at distance primary sites. The program endeavors to connect students in the classroom at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak with those off campus in an atmosphere that promotes a feeling of belonging and camaraderie by the use of video, audio, and active learning.

There are various off campus classrooms for students enrolled in the program. These classrooms are located either in or near the hospitals where students are accepted and like Beaumont, they are called primary sites. All students in the program regardless of location will rotate outside of their primary site. In addition, distance students have the opportunity and expectation to participate in the Simulation Lab and obtain clinical experiences at Beaumont Hospital when assigned. A description of each distance site follows:

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Students who are accepted into the program at Kalamazoo will obtain the majority of their clinical education at Bronson Methodist and Ascension Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The classroom for students accepted into the Kalamazoo cohort is located at the Bronson Navigation Center.

Marquette, Michigan

Students who are accepted into the program in Marquette will obtain the majority of their clinical education at UP-Health System - Marquette. The classroom for students accepted into the Marquette cohort is located directly within the hospital itself.

Toledo, Ohio

Students who are accepted into the program in Toledo will obtain the majority of their clinical education through Promedica Toledo Hospital. The students accepted for the Toledo cohort attend class on the Beaumont, Royal Oak campus.

Petoskey, Michigan

Students who are accepted into the program for the McLaren Northern Michigan cohort, will obtain the majority of their clinical education there. The students accepted for this cohort attend class on the McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital campus.

The Marcia & Eugene Applebaum Simulation Learning Institute at Beaumont, Royal Oak has two mock operating rooms where anesthesia students can approximate the complexities of anesthesia in a simulated environment to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. This takes place under the educational guidance of Lori Shannon, DNAP, CRNA, and Stefanie Glasgow, DNP, CRNA Simulation Coordinators for the Oakland University - Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia.

The Oakland University-Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia offers the most advanced technology available including Human Patient Simulation Technology, online courses, and a well-established distance education program. The 5,500 square foot, $4.5 million Marcia & Eugene Applebaum Simulation Learning Institute is designed to educate surgical teams in advanced techniques through a combination of computer simulation and laboratory skills.

Here, students can rehearse everything from basic skills to management of difficult case scenarios including high frequency, low acuity cases. The simulation experience consists of a pre-briefing, establishing learning goals, technical introduction, a theory module, conduct of the clinical scenario and debriefing. The institute has everything from task trainers to high-tech classrooms with distance learning capabilities through two-way communication systems.