Attrition in nurse anesthesia educational programs as reported by program directors: the class of 2005

The attrition rate in nurse anesthesia educational programs is of interest to educators and the CRNA profession as an important outcome of the educational process. This study reports the beliefs of program directors about the rate of and reasons for attrition in the cohort graduating in 2005. A survey tool was distributed online to all 101 nurse anesthesia educational program directors. Eight programs were excluded because they had no graduates in 2005. Of the remaining 93 programs, 62 (67%) responded. Of 1,499 students enrolled with a projected graduation in 2005, 135 (9%) did not complete the program. The most common reason for attrition was withdrawal (n = 48), followed by academic dismissal (n = 41), and clinical dismissal (n = 21). The attrition rate for individual programs was 7% +/- 9.1 % (mean +/- 1 SD), ranging from 0% to 41.3%. The median value for program attrition rate was 5.41%. The rate for individual programs was not related to the size of the program or to the length of experience of the program director. Attrition rate was higher in programs of longer duration (r = .27). It was concluded that the attrition rate is low and comparable to that previously reported.