Advance Your Nursing Career

Join Our Doctorate in Nursing Practice program with a focus in Nurse Anesthesia

About Our Program

St. Joseph Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia (SJHSNA) is a privately run program, located in southern New England, under the auspices of Narragansett Bay Anesthesia. The school was founded and initially accredited in 1962. To date, we have graduated over 400 students. SJHSNA remains a small program focusing on the individual's progress and success. Through a partnership with Rhode Island College (RIC) Zvart Onanian School of Nursing located in Providence, RI, we offer a primarily front-loaded academic curriculum where students focus on their DNP requirements for the first year followed by clinical rotations and advanced anesthesia courses.

SJHSNA focuses on enhancing and expanding the knowledge and skills of the professional registered nurse in a doctoral framework so that they, as a nurse anesthetist, can function safely and effectively in numerous settings with patients across the lifespan. This is accomplished through application of educational principles, methodology, theory, research, and practice in a range of activities related to anesthesia through optimum utilization of clinical, simulation lab and didactic learning resources. The missions of SJHSNA and RIC Zvart Onanian School of Nursing synergize to promote accessible higher education including professional majors while respecting diversity and valuing academic excellence. SJHSNA is guided by the values of respect, compassion, responsibility, and teamwork.

St. Joseph Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia evolves from the following statements of philosophy:

Demands of a more health-oriented citizenry for expanding health care requires continuing assessment, evaluation, and updating of all aspects of health, including education of health care providers.
Administration of anesthesia is an advanced nursing specialty and an essential component of the health care team.
The knowledge base, clinical experience, and attitude of select registered nurses can serve as the foundation for the preparation of competent, effective nurse anesthetists.
Qualified instructors and preceptors operating within a graduate framework and accredited comprehensive health agencies contribute to the milieu for qualitative learning experiences for student registered nurse anesthetists as they become self-directed.
Learning is a life-long process, and the continued development of the nurse anesthetist, through scholarship and research is essential for individual, moral and professional responsibility to care for patients using best practices in nurse anesthesia.

The program believes that care, competence, and integrity are the heart of the vigilant profession of nurse anesthesia.

Care denotes values guiding practice, which includes respect, empathy, integrity, compassion, excellence and vigilance in the delivery of care.
Competence refers to the skill and knowledge of relevant scientific disciplines and to the vigilance that we exercise.
Integrity includes honesty such as admitting mistakes, forthrightness with patients, families and other team members and accountability with respect to medications and actions.

Mission & Philosophy

Program Information

36 Months, Full-Time, 91 Credit Hours
Degree Awarded: Doctorate in Nursing Practice
Location: Providence, RI

Facilities and Clinical Sites

Our students complete their didactic education at the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center (RINEC), located in downtown Providence, RI. This facility includes the use of smart classrooms and a state-of-the-art simulation center which includes a dedicated anesthesia suite. Additionally, students may use the facilities on the main campus of Rhode Island College, including the library, academic counseling, and other student services.

Our students start their clinical experience at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, RI. This facility administers anesthesia across the lifespan for various surgical specialties including general surgery, orthopedics, vascular, urology and ENT. Students work one-on-one with certified registered nurse anesthetists while they build their confidence in the operating room. As they advance in their clinical skills, students rotate to a number of specialty sites, all within reasonable driving distance. Our clinical partnerships are continuously growing and current affiliates include:

Rhode Island Hospital (Providence, RI) for experiences in neurosurgical, vascular and thoracic anesthesia.
Hasbro Children's Hospital (Providence, RI) for experience in pediatric anesthesia.
St. Vincent Hospital (Worcester, MA) for experience in obstetrical anesthesia.
Kent County Hospital (Warwick, RI) for general surgeries, gynecologic surgeries, robotics, peripheral blocks & thoracic anesthesia.
Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center (West Roxbury, MA) for experience in general and cardiac anesthesia.
Roger Williams Medical Center (Providence, RI) for experience in major general, neurosurgical and bariatric anesthesia.
U-Mass Memorial and University Hospital (Worcester, MA) for experience in cardiac, neuro, pediatric, and obstetric anesthesia.

Courses

The 36-month curriculum is designed so that students are primarily on campus for the first year of didactic courses followed by a combination of didactic and clinical education, with an emphasis on advanced anesthesia education, clinical training, and research.

Admissions

This program represents a collaboration between the Rhode Island College Zvart Onanian School of Nursing and the St. Joseph Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia (SJHSNA).

The Doctor of Nursing practice provides doctoral-level education and training for nurses pursuing a career in nurse anesthesia. The program is designed to meet all the accreditation standards of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA).

Applications must be submitted electronically to RIC Zvart Onanian School of Nursing. Please refer to the Rhode Island College application site for most current information.

Please note, the RIC Zvart Onanian School of Nursing/SJHSNA application requirements for the BSN to DNP program with a specialty in Nurse Anesthesia may be subject to change without prior notice.

Click here for a list of application requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

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Performance Data

SJHSNA DNP Didactic and Clinical Nurse Anesthesia Handbook

Class of 2025

Class of 2026

Class of 2027

Accreditation

RIC Zvart Onanian SON/SJHSNA is fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the US Department of Education. The program maintains full accreditation thru May 2026. The COA may be contacted at:

Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA)

10275 W. Higgins Rd., Suite 906

Rosemont, IL. 600618-5603

Main Number: 224-275-9126

Fax Number: 847-728-8128

E-mail: accreditation@coacrna.org

https://www.coacrna.org