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Project Name: Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships (A22)
Applicant Title: COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Abstract Text: The Geisinger/Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania - Bloomsburg Nurse Anesthesia Program is seeking advanced nursing education traineeships to provide financial support to our nurse anesthesia graduate students who meet the eligibility requirements. This financial support will help defer costs to the students by covering tuition costs during their education while they cannot work. The collaborative program between Commonwealth University - Bloomsburg of Pennsylvania and Geisinger is an agreement between two reputable institutions to provide an opportunity for nurses to advance their career while serving the needs of the community. This program received accreditation from the Council on Accreditation for Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs on May 15, 2009 and was successful in obtaining 10-year reaccreditation effective May 29, 2015. More recently, the COA DNP application was resubmitted and approved in June 2020 for our transition from the MSN to the DNP. Consequently, Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship grant awards are essential in recruiting and supporting our nurse anesthesia graduate students. Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania-Bloomsburg is located in the Susquehanna Valley region of central Pa. and provides access to affordable, quality advanced education for nurses to become nurse anesthetists, adult and family nurse practitioners, community/public health clinicians, adult health and illness clinical nurse specialists, administrators. All programs were recognized for excellence by receiving unconditional accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education in 2011 and has been revisited for their DNP accreditation February 27, 28 and March 1, 2019. In October 2019, the university received full accreditation on the Post-Master’s DNP program. Geisinger Health System is the leader in the delivery of health care to a major portion of Pennsylvania, especially serving the needs of rural Pennsylvania. The nurse anesthesia program has now graduated our eleventh class in May 2022 and welcomed the start of our first DNP class in May 2021. By design, our programs have an impact on goals set forth by the Bureau of Health Professions. First, we have increased the number of advanced practice nurses who provide direct care and, therefore, are making an impact on eliminating barriers to health care specifically in rural areas. Second, quality of care is better assured with nurses having improved knowledge, skills and competencies serving in leadership positions. Finally, Bloomsburg University Department of Nursing faculty, students and graduates work closely with Geisinger to evaluate and improve local public health and health care systems. Nurse anesthesia students are closely connected to the community and provide anesthesia services to those in need.