Anesthesia school begins classes
Program addresses nationwide shortage of professionals
Robyn Kriel
Staff Reporter

TCU’s School of Nurse Anesthesia began classes this semester in answer to a critical nationwide shortage of anesthetists.

According to the school’s Web site, the school will be training registered nurses to become Certified Registered Nurse Anethetists (CRNAs). This accredited program will be taking on RNs with a bachelor’s degree in nursing science and a minimum of one year’s experience in critical care.

“There was a call by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists asking the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to consider opening up an anesthesiology school,” said Kay Sanders, program director and CRNA.

Rhonda Keen-Payne, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, was at the AACN meeting and believed that TCU was capable of facilitating a program like that. She has been pushing for the program ever since, Sanders said.

“There are only three schools like this one in the state,” Sanders said. “They are at Texas Wesleyan University, Baylor University and the University of Texas in Houston.”

Tim Gollaher, CRNA and associate director of the school, said there are about 60 students enrolled but the school does not want enrollment to surpass 80.

Gollaher said that 65 percent of anesthetics are administered by CRNAs, and in rural areas the number increases to 80 percent.

“There would certainly be no shortage of jobs for someone trained in this field,” he said.

A starting salary for a CRNA in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is around $96 thousand per year, Sanders said. It can get up to $250 thousand per year the more experienced the CRNA becomes, she said.

“So far in our program we have several TCU alumni, but we are guessing that will increase with time,” Sanders said. “Already we have our younger nursing majors expressing interest in attending the school.”

Melissa Darling, a senior nursing major at TCU, said that her fellow nursing students were very excited about the school opening up.

“Being a CRNA is a big thing now and this is an incredible opportunity,” Darling said. “Lots of nursing majors are looking forward to staying at TCU to complete their post- graduate degree.”

The school offers a 28-month course, Gollaher said. Students will be spending 12 months in classes on campus and then 16 months doing their clinicals around the country, he said.

Sanders said that clinical sites are all over the country, from Texas to California and Arkansas.

Gollaher said that the faculty consists of three CRNAs including Sanders and himself, three basic science faculty and Keen-Payne, who is involved in research.

The Harris School of Nursing is separate from this school, he said.

“Although we are not a part of the Harris School of Nursing we do share some of the facilities with them, such as the Human Patient Simulator (HPS),” Gollaher said.

“This machine is a computer-model-driven, full-sized mannequin that gives students a hands-on, real-life experience with working with real people,” Sanders said.

The HPS breathes out carbon dioxide and responds to procedures like human patients, she said.

“There are only a few hundred of these machines being used in medical schools in the country and we hope to fully prepare our students for real-life anesthesiology activities in the future,” Sanders said.