Scholarly Work for Practice Doctorate Nurse Anesthesia Programs: Current State and Guidance.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Anesthesia Practice
• Scholarly Work

Background:

• The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) adopted the Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs: Practice Doctorate in 2015.
• Nurse anesthesia programs face challenges integrating academic, clinical, and scholarly work for doctoral students.
• Most programs have transitioned to the practice doctorate, necessitating updated guidance on scholarly requirements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the current state of scholarly work in nurse anesthesia programs.
• To produce a white paper providing guidance for developing scholarly work criteria.
• To aid nurse anesthesia programs in managing scholarly project curricula.

Main Methods:

• A survey of nurse anesthesia educators.
• A focus group at the 2019 Assembly of Didactic and Clinical Educators.
• Stakeholder review and comment on a draft white paper.

Main Results:

• Input from educators and stakeholders informed the white paper's guidance.
• The guidance aims to assist programs in managing scholarly project requirements.
• The white paper provides a framework for scholarly work criteria.

Conclusions:

• The guidance supports nurse anesthesia programs in navigating scholarly project curriculum development.
• This initiative addresses the need for clear criteria in doctoral-level nurse anesthesia education.
• The white paper serves as a resource for programs adapting to practice doctorate standards.