Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing's Nurse Anesthesia Program, in affiliation with the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University in St. Louis, received continued International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA) Accreditation in May 2019, valid until May 2024, allowing for the program to transition from a MSN degree program to a DNP degree program. It’s official. The Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing Nurse Anesthesia Program, in affiliation with the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University in St. Louis, received continued IFNA Accreditation in May 2019, having competed all requirements of the Anesthesia Program approval process established by the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA). The accreditation is valid until May 2024, when Goldfarb will once again seek renewal.
What does this mean for our students—and their patients? Because the IFNA only accredits those programs grounded in rigorous education standards and a commitment to continuous improvement, Goldfarb students have access to some of the most advanced evidenced-based practices in the field. One of the strengths of our program, as cited by the IFNA, is our partnership with Barnes-Jewish Hospital. With guidance from Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and anesthesiologists, our students spend considerable time in operating rooms acquiring experience from a wide variety of cases, many of them involving a complex patient population with multiple comorbidities.
The IFNA’s renewed accreditation comes as the Nurse Anesthesia Program is poised for change. In 2020, after the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) approval, the Nurse Anesthesia Concentration of our Masters of Nursing Program will transition to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. The new 36-month program’s enrollment deadline was June 1; students will begin both online and classroom instruction in the spring of 2020. The first student cohort is scheduled to graduate in 2023.
Goldfarb’s DNP program stands apart from others in several important ways. Its small class sizes offer in-depth and personalized instruction, in addition to opportunities to explore a variety of course work, including advanced pharmacology, principles of anesthesia and additional graduate-level subjects. The option of online course work makes the program adaptable to student needs and schedules. And the significant amount of time dedicated to hands-on learning in the operating room means all students benefit from the opportunity to accrue essential patient-facing experience.
All students seeking a DNP degree will complete over 2,000 clinical hours, as well as an evidence-based DNP project that meets the criteria of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice.
With a post-graduation employment rate of 100% since 2006, the Nurse Anesthesia Program has a history of preparing students for success.
“We have good reason to be proud of our Nurse Anesthesia Program,” said Bernadette Henrichs, PhD, CRNA, CCRN, CHSE a professor at Goldfarb and the Director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program. “Our faculty are dedicated to excellence in the classroom and the simulation lab, and to hands-on learning in surgery. Our renewed IFNA accreditation means we can continue to recruit the very best students—those who are similarly committed to excellence and to lifelong learning.”
Learn more about the Nurse Anesthesia Program at Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing.
