Villanova University DNP Program

This page was last updated in 2022.

Villanova University is partnered with The Crozer Chester Medical Center and is one of twelve CRNA schools in Pennsylvania.

Villanova University DNP Program
Crozer Chester Medical Center
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

Contact Information
Jodie Szlachta, PhD, RN, CRNA
Director, Nurse Anesthesia Program
ph: (610) 619-6764
fax: (610) 619-7322
email: jszlac01@villanova.edu or jodie.szlachta@crozer.org

Matthew McCoy, DNP, CRNA
Associate Director, Nurse Anesthesia Program
email: mmccoy01@villanova.edu or matt.mccoy@crozer.org
ph: (610) 619-6764

Quick Facts

CRNA Degree offered
DNP

Program Length
36 months, full time

Credit Hours
73 credit hours

Starting Month
January

Application Deadline
September 30th

CRNA Program Summary

Are you concerned that Crozer Chester Medical Center’s Nurse Anesthesia Program won’t give you the specific experiences or training you need to be a successful CRNA? Learn what standards CRNA Programs must meet in order to be accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia (COA).

This CRNA program (as well as all others that are accredited by the COA) prepares you to take the CCNA certification exam at the conclusion of the program, allowing you to become a CRNA.

The first 6 months in this Nurse Anesthesia Program
From a student’s perspective, expect the first 6 months to be quite busy. You will have frequent classes on many topics during the day and).

Some weeks you might have 3-5 anesthesia exams, papers, presentations, and other projects. Because this is an integrated program, you’ll begin clinical rotations in your third month (November). In this early stage, clinicals are only one day a week.

First, you begin with basic cases, focusing on learning and developing an anesthetic plan of care.

You’ll also have the opportunity to work with “Sim Man”, the interactive patient simulator with an anesthesia machine. Sim Man is on the Villanova campus.

The coursework load will subside in the mid-spring term 1st year, however, you will be in clinical 3-4 days a week at that time. Different students may have different workloads.

You will eventually master the art of time management and personal life.

Your first clinical rotation is for 7 months, while all others are between 1 to 6 months at a time.

Fortunately, most of their clinical sites are within an hour drive from CCMC. The sites in Hershey, Lancaster, and Lehigh areas are for the students from those areas.

Program Requirements

Looking for something specific? Find CRNA schools categorized by their unique requirements.

Some CRNA schools require much more out of their applicants than others. See how the requirements at Crozer Chester Medical Center compare to most CRNA school’s requirements.

CRNA Program Requirements

Required Bachelor Degree
Must be a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) from an ACEN or CCNE accredited program or its equivalent

RN:
Current RN license

Critical Care:
The school prefers that applicants have at least 1 year of ICU
Acceptable critical care experience includes:

• Cardiothoracic ICU
• Surgical ICU
• Pediatric ICU in a large Children’s Hospital is acceptable
• ER must be in a large trauma center to be considered
• Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) would only be considered if the critically ill patients (Open heart, neuro, AAA’s etc) do not go directly to ICU after surgery
• Try to gain experience with the sickest patients in your facility and with invasive hemodynamic monitoring.

GPA:
3.0 or above

GRE or MAT:
The GRE is only required if the applicant has a GPA below a 3.4 on a 4.0 scale.

TOEFL: 
An applicant, whose first language is not English, must attain a minimum score of 540 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 83 (internet-based) on the TOEFL.  A score of at least 6.5 (7 speaking band) on the IELTS.

Certifications

• ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support)
• CCRN preferred

Program Prerequisites

• Statistics – satisfactory completion of a statistics course, which includes both descriptive and inferential statistics.

Villanova University DNP Program

CRNA School Performance

Accredited CRNA Programs are reviewed regularly.
Crozer Chester Medical Center Nurse Anesthetist Program was last reviewed 10/2010. It was given the maximum of 10 years accreditation standards.

Pass Rate for CRNA Boards at Crozer Chester Medical Center & Villanova University Please note: It is extremely rare for a student at any CRNA school to not eventually pass the exam. Most students who don’t pass the first time pass the second. Very rarely does a person ever take it a third time. This statistic only measures how well the program prepares students to pass the test the first time around.

First – time test takers: 79% (2019), 92% (2020)

National average (2020): 85.2%

CRNA Employment Rate of program graduates: 96% (2019)

Attrition Rate: 0% (2020)

Visit Villanova University CRNA program website

Visit Crozer Chester Medical Center’s CRNA program website

CRNA Salaries

An average nurse anesthetist salary in Villanova University DNP Program, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania CRNA salaries are below the national average with an annual mean wage of $185,090.

An average annual nurse anesthetist salary in the US is $189,190 (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2020 study)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I work as an RN while I’m in the program?
They STRONGLY discourage students from working for the first two semesters. However, some students work as an RN on a limited basis with their local hospital or with local staffing agencies later in the program.

Salaries pulled from Bureau of Labor Statistics

All information given on this site about Villanova University DNP Program was taken directly from their website.
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