How long does one have to attend school to become a nurse anesthetist?
Nurse anesthetist is one of four commonly recognized advanced nursing specialties – and all 4 require at least a master’s degree. There are presently 106 accredited programs in the US that offer a master’s degree program to train nurse anesthetists. Basically, what you’re looking at is a 4-year BSN program, followed by an additional 2 years of full time study towards your MSN (it is not absolutely required that your undergraduate degree be in nursing in order to be accepted to an MSN program). Do note, however, that some MSN programs require 1-2 years experience as an RN as a pre-requisite for acceptance. Employment of RNs is expected to grow much faster than average over the next decade – the opportunity for employment is described as “excellent”. Interestingly, positions within hospital settings are expected to grow at the slowest rate, with much of the growth coming in outpatient care, home health care and physicians’ offices. The primary cause of this job shift is the increased emp
