The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia (COA) has reaccredited the School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Anesthetist Program for 10 years, the maximum accreditation status a program can achieve.

The COA also approved a 20% increase in the program’s class size.

“The max reaccreditation received confirms the program’s high level of standards to provide the community with exceptional graduates,” says Cheryl Spulecki, director of the nurse anesthetist program. “It also defines the School of Nursing’s dedication to the specialty of advanced practice nursing at the doctoral level.”

Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) have provided anesthesia care to patients in the United States for more than 150 years. Each year, CRNAs safely administer more than 50 million anesthetics to patients in the U.S., and represent more than 80% of anesthesia providers in rural and underserved counties.

At UB, CRNAs and physician anesthesia providers ensure nurse anesthesia students receive a high-quality education that prepare them for clinical, educational, research and leadership positions. Students also benefit from hands-on learning in the School of Nursing’s patient simulation center, which includes an operating room with advanced monitoring and gas-delivery systems, and employs advanced technology to support the surgical and resuscitative care of a full-body, computerized mannequin.