Simulation for Nurse Anesthesia Program Selection: Redesigned

Abstract

Purpose: This project is meant to answer the research question: What applicant character traits do Nurse Anesthesia Program Directors and Faculty identify as favorable predictors for successful completion of a nurse anesthesia program, and what evaluation methods are best to evaluate these traits in prospective students?

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional survey tool was developed and sent to all current nurse anesthesia program directors, assistant directors, and faculty within the United States. Participants were identified via the Council on Accreditation of nurse anesthesia programs (COA) website, a hard copy of the survey was provided to attendees of the Assembly of School Faculty meeting 2016.

Results: The essential evaluation methods included: 1) interviews (88.4%), 2) letters of recommendation (62.1%), 3) shadowing a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) (60.8%), and 4) high fidelity simulation (58.1%). The personal characteristics included; 1) ability to learn from mistakes (99.5%), 2) commitment (99.5%), 3) integrity (99.5%), 4) judgment (99.5%), 5) hardiness (99.5%), 6) clinical awareness (97.9%), and 7) leadership (94.2%) as high predictors of program success.

Conclusion: The assessment and evaluation methods survey tool demonstrated many findings congruent with previous research. High fidelity simulation as an evaluation method was ranked as being an essential or important predictor of successful program completion by 58.1% of respondents. It was the preferred evaluation method for two personal characteristics, clinical awareness (59.4%) and judgment (50%). Therefore, simulation was identified as a viable method to evaluate two personal characteristics. Information gained from this project was used to create a simulation scenario which may assist program directors and faculty in the prospective anesthesia student evaluation process.

Data Sources: The survey was recorded in Qualtrics® and analyzed by SPSS Statistics 24® software. Criteria were searched via PubMed and CINAHL.

Keywords: Program director, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, CRNA, Simulation, Admission criteria, Anesthesia Education, Kolb’s experiential learning theory, Assessment, Attrition