UMSON and the University of Maryland Medical Center have partnered on a workforce initiative to increase the number of certified registered nurse anesthetists.
The University of Maryland School of Nursing and the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) have partnered on another workforce initiative, the UMMC Student Nurse Anesthesia Scholars Program. Within rural and underserved areas, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) provide 80% of all anesthesia needs. However, there is a shortage of CRNAs in Maryland, and this program aims to create a pipeline for increasing their numbers.
For the scholars program, UMSON identifies current UMMC intensive care unit nurses who have indicated interest in advancing their careers to become CRNAs by applying to UMSON’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Anesthesia specialty. If those nurses meet eligibility requirements for the specialty, UMSON passes their names along to UMMC; at that point, UMMC and UMSON interview them, and UMMC then determines for which applicants they will fund tuition.
The nurses enter UMSON’s Nurse Anesthesia specialty and commit to three years of full-time study and, upon graduation, an additional three years of employment at UMMC.
The UMMC Student Nurse Anesthesia Scholars Program is proud to present its inaugural cohort of students, who began the DNP Nurse Anesthesia specialty in summer 2021 and will begin their clinical experience at UMMC this August. On Monday, May 16, they had a formal lunch, shadowed in the operating room, and met their future colleagues.
Members of the first cohort are (l. to r.):
- Travis Tracy
- Hellen Abraham
- Beth Friedman
- Andrea Silvano
- Claire Maher