The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of nursing jobs in the United States will increase by 22 percent by 2018. More than 60 percent of all nurses work in hospitals, where there are numerous opportunities to specialize in one particular area of nursing care. Nursing anesthesia is emerging as a popular field of specialization. As of 2010, three schools in the state of California offer nurse anesthetist programs.
Identification
Each of the three nurse anesthetist schools in California has received national recognition as ranking among the best nurse anesthesia programs in the nation. In U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the top nurse anesthesia schools in the United States in 2007, the Kaiser Permanente School of Anesthesia at California State University, Fullerton, ranked highest of the California schools at No. 6 in the nation. The program at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland ranked 16th overall, and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California was No. 32 nationwide.
Types of Programs
Each California nurse anesthesia program offers a master's degree leading to the designation of certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). The programs vary in emphasis and requirements. The program at USC requires the completion of 45 credit hours and can be completed in two years. An additional optional two-credit term is available at the end of the program; this option allows students to complete a specialty fellowship. Samuel Merritt University requires 58 credit hours for its program, and CSUF, the most extensive training program, requires 71 credit hours along with directed research in the field.
Admission
Each school has its own admission standards, but they are all relatively similar in terms of what they look for in nursing candidates. All of the schools require a bachelor's degree from an accredited nursing school and a current California nursing license. You must submit transcripts and GRE scores to each of the schools, with the exception of the CSUF program which does not require the GRE. All three schools prefer that you have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher as well.
Research
One of the primary differences that sometimes separates schools in terms of the ways they are perceived is the amount of ongoing research they contribute to the field. While some research may be ongoing among individual faculty members at CSUF and Samuel Merritt, these schools seem to be more practice-oriented than research oriented. The Keck School at USC has ongoing departmental research initiatives and hosted the Western Anesthesia Residents Conference in 2010.
Cost
Cost does not seem to be an indicator of quality among these three programs. The highly rated program at CSUF is the least expensive among the three at $16,794 in tuition costs for two years (as of the 2010-2011 academic school year). Tuition costs at Samuel Merritt climb to $58,638 at $1,011 per credit hour and $62,450 at USC, both as of the 2010-2011 school year.
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