Call for Comments on 2004 Standards for Accreditation

The COA systematically reviews its educational Standards and criteria to ensure they are valid and reliable indicators of the quality of education or training provided by institutions or programs that the Council accredits and to determine whether they are relevant to the education or training needs of affected students. The Standards and Policies Committee of the COA will request a call for comments of the COA’s community of interest every five years and request that the community of interest examine the Standards and indicate whether it believes the Standards are valid, reliable, and relevant indicators for measuring the quality of a nurse anesthesia program. While the use of the 2004 Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (i.e., the master's Standards) will decrease as programs transition to the doctoral level for entry into practice, the master's Standards must be current and relevant while they are still in use. To that end, the COA requests that you review the 2004 Standards listed below and provide feedback as necessary. A link to the current version of the 2004 Standards is provided below. Please review the document, including the Glossary definitions in the Appendix, when completing the survey. Please note that responses are not required - you may leave the comment boxes blank as necessary. The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete.

LINKS TO RELATED INFORMATION

Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs

Standard I: Governance:

INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE RESULTS IN THE EFFICIENT OPERATION OF THE NURSE ANESTHESIA PROGRAM, PROMOTES EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND SUPPORTS NEEDED CHANGE THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ITS MISSION AND PHILOSOPHY. THE INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITATES ATTAINMENT OF PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND INVOLVES ITS COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST.

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CRITERIA

Criterion A1: The mission and/or philosophy of the conducting institution's governing body promotes educational excellence and supports the nurse anesthesia program within a graduate framework.

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Criterion A2: The organizational relationships of the institution, academic unit, and program are clear, support the objectives of the program, and facilitate needed change.

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Criterion A3: The governance structures in which the program functions facilitate appropriate involvement and communication among and between faculty, students, administrators, the public, and its communities of interest.

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Criterion A4: The governing body appoints a CRNA as program administrator with leadership responsibilities and authority for the administration of the program. The CRNA administrator must be qualified by experience and have an earned graduate degree from an institution of higher education accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.**

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Criterion A5: The governing body appoints a CRNA, qualified by graduate degree, education, and experiences to assist the CRNA program administrator and, if required, assume leadership responsibilities. This individual must have an earned graduate degree from an institution of higher education accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.**

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Criterion A6: The program appoints a CRNA, master’s degree preferred, or anesthesiologist coordinator for each clinical site with defined responsibilities for students. ***

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Criterion A7: The conducting organization completes a legally binding written agreement that outlines the expectations and responsibilities of all parties when an academic or clinical affiliation is established or two or more entities with unshared governance enter into a joint arrangement to conduct a program.

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Criterion A8: The academic institution identifies an appropriate liaison at the academic site when it enters into an affiliation with a nurse anesthesia program.

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Criterion A9: A program of nurse anesthesia has current written policies and procedures that facilitate its efficient and effective operation.

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Criterion A10: The institution’s and/or program’s committee structure is appropriate to meet program objectives, and includes public, student, and faculty participation.

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Criterion A11: An accredited program is required to act in accordance with the Council’s policies and procedures for accreditation.

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*       Failure to fully comply with one or more of these criteria is considered to be of critical concern
        in decisions regarding nurse anesthesia program accreditation.

**     Doctoral degrees will be required for the CRNA program administrators (program administrator
       and assistant program administrator) in all doctoral programs by January 1, 2018. All degrees
        must be awarded by a college or university that is accredited by a nationally recognized
        institutional accreditor.

***   Master's degrees are required for CRNA clinical coordinators by 2015 unless an exception for
       this requirement has been approved by the COA. All programs must meet this requirement by
      January 1, 2015. An exception, if granted, will be effective for 5 years from the date of final
      Council approval.

Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs