The MUSC College of Health Professions Anesthesia for Nurses (AFN) Program is dedicated to producing competent, compassionate, and knowledgeable Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists who will meet the health care needs of society through clinical practice, education, and research.

Students are educated in all facets of nurse anesthesia practice throughout the perioperative period. The first twelve months are primarily classroom instruction that supports the students’ acquisition of basic and advanced anesthesia skills necessary for the safe administration of anesthesia. Students practice clinical skills using high-fidelity simulation. Students are expected to demonstrate professional advocacy through attendance at state and national meetings. During the next sixteen months, students are immersed in the clinical area where they administer anesthesia to all types of patients and in all types of practice settings. Students are evaluated on their ability to integrate didactic knowledge to clinical practice, demonstrate critical thinking skills, and appropriate interventions in patient management.

Through our variety of clinical sites, AFN students have opportunities to administer anesthesia to complicated pediatric and adult patients in a large teaching hospital and to patients of all ages in a community hospitals and rural independent CRNA practices. Students obtain extensive hands-on clinical experiences in administering many types of regional anesthesia.

Accreditation  |  The MUSC Anesthesia for Nurses program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) through Spring of 2019 and the Southeastern Association of Colleges and Universities.