Frequently Asked Questions
Here you'll find answers to commonly asked questions about our program, application process and admission requirements. If you can't find what you're looking for below, please email your questions to crna@tcu.edu.
Critical care experience must be obtained in a critical care area managing patients with a critical illness* within the United States, its territories or a U.S. 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 (such as pulmonary artery catheter, CVP, arterial), cardiac assist devices, mechanical ventilation and vasoactive infusions. Examples of critical care units may include but are not limited to surgical intensive care units (SICU), cardiovascular intensive care units (CVICU), coronary intensive care units (CICU), medical intensive care units (MICU), pediatric intensive care units (PICU) and neonatal intensive care units (NICU). This definition is in line with the Council on Accreditation for Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.
*TCU School of Nurse Anesthesia accepts the definition of “critical illness” as defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): “a condition that acutely impairs one or more vital organ systems such that there is a high probability of imminent or life-threatening deterioration in the patient’s condition (e.g., central nervous system failure; circulatory failure; shock; renal, hepatic, metabolic, and/or respiratory failure).”
Anesthesia practice most closely mirrors the types of skills and knowledge used as an ICU nurse. Preferable critical care background upon application includes: SICU, CVICU, MICU, general ICU, neurosurgical/neurological ICU, coronary ICU, trauma ICU and PICU. RNs entering the program with these clinical backgrounds show the highest correlation with a first-time pass on the national certification examination (NCE) upon graduation from nurse anesthesia educational programs. This data is published on an annual basis by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA).
Applicants with NICU experience only will be considered as long as other criteria meet or exceed the application criteria.
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. Therefore, consideration will be given to those with PACU, flight nursing, emergency department, step-down unit or heart catheterization lab experience as long as the applicant meets the practice hour requirement as defined below (875 hours caring for critically ill patients in a setting such as: SICU, CVICU, MICU, general ICU, neuro ICU, trauma ICU, coronary ICU or PICU) in the year preceding application.
- Practice hour requirement for consideration of admission to TCU School of Nurse Anesthesia: In alignment with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses’ (AACN’s) criteria to sit for the CCRN exam, applicants must meet the practice hour requirement caring for critically ill patients in one of the aforementioned settings for "preferable critical care background" in the previous year prior to application to the TCU School of Nurse Anesthesia. The practice hour requirement is: at least 875 hours accrued in the year preceding the application.
- Applicants who fall within this category outside of "preferable critical care background" will be required to submit a letter of recommendation from a supervisor that attests to the applicant’s competence in the following: managing unstable patients, utilization of invasive monitoring, knowledge and skill in the use of ventilators and knowledge and use of critical care pharmacology.
We highly recommend applicants be employed in an ICU at the time of application and interview. If an applicant remains in their respective ICU while being a member of a rapid response team, that would be acceptable. Applicants who have rapid response team experience only (without previous ICU experience) will not meet the criteria for admission.
We highly recommend applicants be employed in an ICU at the time of application and interview. If an applicant chooses to be a travel nurse prior to application, that is still acceptable as long as the travel nursing assignments remain in an ICU as defined in previous FAQ.
In line with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN): "Nurses serving as manager, educator (in-service or academic), APRN or preceptor may apply hours spent supervising nursing students or nurses at the bedside. Nurses in these roles must be actively involved in direct patient care; for example, demonstrating how to measure pulmonary artery pressures or supervising a new employee or student nurse performing a procedure." - AACN, CCRN Handbook
Therefore, applicants in these roles will be considered as long as the applicant has been actively involved in direct patient care as described above.
Please allow at least 30-45 days prior to the May 15 deadline for NursingCAS to receive the official GRE scores.
No. Documents can be uploaded to the appropriate fields in NursingCAS at any time prior to submission of your application. Once all materials are uploaded, pay the application fee and submit prior to the May 15 deadline. After you have paid the application fee and submitted, you will no longer be able to upload or make changes to any of the TCU-required documents.
TCU’s DNAP program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation. Graduating from this program meets the educational requirements to take the National Certifying Examination (NCE) administered by the National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). Practicing as a nurse anesthetist also requires additional professional licensure, or other recognition, by the state board of nursing where you intend to practice. In some states, for example, you must be licensed as an advanced practice registered nurse.
As of January 1, 2019, graduating from the program and passing the NCE meet the educational requirements for the additional licensure or recognition necessary to practice as a nurse anesthetist in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. State licensure requirements to practice as a nurse anesthetist may change and states may have conditions for licensure or recognition in addition to the educational requirements described above.
If you would like additional information about TCU’s program and/or the educational requirements for professional licensure to practice as a nurse anesthetist in another state, please contact the program director at r.ward@tcu.edu.
Before beginning the program, prospective students should consult the appropriate licensing agency in the state in which they intend to practice to request information and additional guidance to ensure the TCU nurse anesthesia program will satisfy all of the requirements to practice as a nurse anesthetist in that state.
TCU's School of Nurse Anesthesia offers the doctor of nurse anesthesia practice (DNAP), accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA)of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The DNAP degree is for post-baccalaureate registered nurses. This program is an innovative, solutions focused program designed to prepare nurse anesthesia students to lead efforts in solving complex health care issues and developing new health care opportunities, specifically in the context of nurse anesthesia practice.
The program builds on TCU’s mission: “Learning to Change the World,” and charges DNAP students with “making a difference in health care.” This solution-focused approach incorporates the essentials established by the American Academy of Colleges of Nurses (AACN) and the standards for specialty education in nurse anesthesia established by the COA. The DNAP for post-baccalaureate registered nurses provides the terminal academic preparation for nurse anesthesia practice with advanced, specialized knowledge and skills to meet the health needs of diverse populations. The purpose of this track is to prepare nurse anesthetists who are equipped to assume clinical leadership positions in a variety of health care, business, government and educational organizations.
Graduates are eligible to sit for the National Certifying Examination (NCE) administered by the National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). Prospective students should contact individual state boards of nursing (BON) regarding requirements to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) in their respective state.
A bachelor’s degree in a natural science may be accepted. Examples are chemistry, biology, microbiology, etc. If you have another degree, your past academic background is individually considered for admission to the School. Items considered include a strong science background and good performance history.
Undergraduate prerequisite courses that are required for admission to the School of Nurse Anesthesia include:
- Anatomy and Physiology I (or its equivalent)
- Anatomy and Physiology II (or its equivalent)
- Microbiology
- Chemistry, Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry (at least one course in a chemistry is required for admission)
These science courses are within the curriculum of most undergraduate bachelor's degrees. If any of these science courses have not been taken in the curriculum of an applicant’s undergraduate degree, the course(s) must be taken prior to consideration for admission.
There is no requirement for additional courses beyond the prerequisites; however, the nurse anesthesia curriculum is heavily science-based. Therefore, it is recommended that applicants take an additional undergraduate or graduate-level science-based course at a regionally accredited university or college within 5 years of starting the program.
If you are a registered nurse with the appropriate critical care experience and in the last semester of your Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, it is possible to be granted an interview and be provisionally accepted on completion of the degree.
We closely review grades in all science-based and mathematics courses. If an applicant has less than a grade of B in any science or mathematics course in their undergraduate bachelor’s program, it is highly recommended that the applicant retake a course that is comparable to the undergraduate course in which less than a B was received.
Alternatively, the applicant can choose to take a graduate level course in a comparable area. Retaken courses carry greater weight than courses taken in early college years that may have resulted in lower grades. Courses must be taken at a regionally accredited university or college.
The CCRN is a requirement and cannot be substituted by certified emergency nurse (CEN), registered nurse, certified (RN-C), etc. CCRN content scores (cardiovascular, pulmonary, etc.) should be submitted for verification of CCRN certification.
No, you must have obtained the CCRN certification prior to being granted an interview and that certification requires a minimum of 1,750 hours of critical care experience to become eligible. The admissions committee highly recommends two (2) years of critical care experience.
Yes, you are expected to continue to work in your critical care unit. The online classes are designed for registered nurses who work.
The minimum scores for the GRE are:
- Quantitative Reasoning 150
- Verbal reasoning 150
- Analytic writing 3.5
The GRE is one of many criteria that we use to evaluate eligibility for admission into the nurse anesthesia program. The personal interview, grades, recommendations and experience are all evaluated individually. GREs must be taken within the last five (5) years for all applicants. The analytical writing test of the GRE is required.
It is highly recommended that you contact a CRNA in your facility regarding observation. Some facilities are reticent to allow outside individuals to observe due to HIPAA regulations; however, it is typically easier to observe in the facility where you are an employee than another facility.
The number accepted each year depends upon the number of qualified applicants interviewed and the number of clinical opportunities available. This number varies from year to year. Typically, 65-75 students are accepted each year.
Visit the NursingCAS sign in page. Click on ‘reapplying to NursingCAS?’ for more information.
At the time of interview you will be asked to rank your preference for clinical sites. We attempt to place students in primary clinical facilities according to their ranking.
The primary clinical site is where the majority of your anesthetic cases are obtained and where you will spend a large portion of your 16-month clinical residency. Most clinical sites do not have all types of cases required for program completion; therefore, students may need to rotate to other clinical sites for specialty cases (obstetrics, pediatrics, etc.). Time at those sites varies from four (4) to eight (8) weeks in length.
Once you start the face-to-face part of the program, classes are typically taught on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with laboratory and simulation experiences Tuesday or Thursday. Face-to-face classes in the School of Nurse Anesthesia are frequently team-taught by full-time nurse anesthesia faculty. Laboratory experiences include small-group immersion in the human patient simulation lab and group activities in a human cadaver lab.