In collaboration with UofL Health, the School of Nursing is expanding its Doctor of Nursing Practice program offerings to include a nurse anesthesia track.

“The nurse anesthesia program will be the first in Louisville and will ensure a workforce of providers is available to safely administer anesthetics in the commonwealth,” said Sonya Hardin, dean of the School of Nursing.

The 36-month DNP program prepares nurses to provide safe, competent and ethical anesthesia and anesthesia-related care. It will encompass a fully integrated curriculum model with simulation experiences in the first year along with didactic coursework that will prepare students to begin clinical engagement as soon as their third semester in the program.

“This is an investment in our nursing team to enhance skills and offer new opportunities. It’s also another investment for our community,” said Shari Kretzschmer, UofL Health senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. “As UofL Health grows to meet our community needs, we know there is an increased need for more anesthesia practitioners.”

Graduates will be prepared to take the national certification examination offered by the National Boards of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists.

“The UofL Nurse Anesthesia DNP program will blend high quality simulation, strong academic curriculum, and over 2,800 hours of extensive clinical training in some of Louisville’s top ranked hospitals. We are committed to fostering expertise in the art and science of anesthesia and excellence in leadership to ensure the future of our profession,” said Cheryl Parker, director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program.

CRNAs have topped Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics list for multiple years and are among the top 10 in the 2021 and 2022 U.S. News & World Report’s .

Those interested in the program must have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, an unencumbered registered nursing license, CCRN certification, completed the GRE exam and a minimum of two-years, full-time experience in adult ICU, NICU or PICU.

The School of Nursing has received approval from the Kentucky Board of Nursing, is currently seeking accreditation from the Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia ����ֱ�� Programs, and expects to receive accreditation prior to enrolling students. The school will begin accepting applications on October 15 and the first cohort is expected to start in August 2023.

Sara Robertson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, UofL School of Nursing assistant professor, will receive the association’s Advocate State Award for Excellence, given annually to a person in each state who has made a significant contribution toward increasing the awareness and recognition of nurse practitioners. Robertson, a family nurse practitioner, will receive the award on June 21 during the association’s annual conference in Indianapolis.

Robertson was the first director appointed to the UofL Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, which prepares students for leadership roles in health care. The program launched in 2016.

“This title brought her the responsibility of developing the entire program, which included curriculum development, hybrid course development, staff recruitment and development, and student recruitment,” School of Nursing Assistant Professor Dedra Hayden wrote in her award nomination of Robertson. “Always serving as the advocate for DNP students and practice, Robertson spent countless hours on program implementation to ensure its success.”

With Robertson’s guidance and commitment, the DNP program recently received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing ����ֱ��.

As director of the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center, run by the School of Nursing, she managed care of more than 1,000 patients per year. The clinic serves low-income backside racetrack workers at Churchill Downs. For her work at the clinic, Robertson in 2017 received the Edge Runner Award from the American Academy of Nursing, which recognizes nurses who are transforming health care for the better.

He was officially commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Air Force Nurse Corps by his former instructor Maj. Angela Washington, a School of Nursing faculty member who also serves as a flight nurse in the Air Force Reserve.��

“Andrew offers the Air Force a tremendous package,” Washington said. “The Air Force lauds integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do. I believe, without a doubt, that Andrew will live those core values throughout his military career.”

Aschbacher is in his first year of the doctor of nursing practice program. He was drawn to the Air Force because of the opportunities to advance his career and the opportunity to see the world while providing medical care.��

Aschbacher will enter active duty once he graduates, and will work as a nurse practitioner at an Air Force active duty hospital where he will manage the primary care of service members, their families and veterans.��

“Nursing has endless opportunities and I would absolutely recommend this field to anyone interested in impacting the lives of others,” Aschbacher said. “What is not mentioned enough is the fact that as a nurse, you will feel that the lives of your patients have a huge impact on you, which I believe is one of the best rewards of the field.”

Porter is a student in the University of Louisville’s first (DNP) class, which will graduate in August 2019. On Aug. 16, DNP students participated in a white coat ceremony marking their advancement from didactic courses to patient-focused clinical care and the beginning of their yearlong graduate projects.

After graduation, the 36 students in the program will become nurse practitioners, an advanced practice credential and training for registered nurses who have gained expert knowledge, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice.

The doctoral program, designed for students with a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in nursing, focuses on creation and implementation of evidence-based care, management of care, leadership in health care organizations and development of health policy.

Porter’s degree concentration is psychiatric-mental health nursing. She works at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in La Grange, part of the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex, where she provides nursing care to those facing felony charges.

Her DNP project is a group-based self-esteem enhancement program for girls in an inpatient treatment facility, a group at high risk for engaging in unsafe sex, substance use and delinquency.

“I thought this would be a good population to focus on because they do not get a lot of attention,” Porter said. “Some have been suspended from school, in the juvenile court system or have gone through foster care. If we can intervene now, then hopefully we can give them skills to maintain self-esteem throughout their lives. Increased self-esteem has been found to decrease involvement in high-risk behaviors.” 

Eventually, she would like to work with children who have chronic or terminal health conditions that affect the mental health of them and their families.

“There’s a need for more mental health practitioners,” Porter said. “The UofL DNP program was a great fit for me because a lot of other programs don’t offer the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner specialty for those with only a bachelor’s degree in nursing. This is the best way for me to increase access to care and help others.”

Other advanced practice nursing specialties at UofL include adult-gerontology primary care, adult-gerontology acute care, family medicine and neonatal care.

����ֱ�� at the doctoral instead of master’s level for nurses pursuing advanced practice is increasingly becoming the norm.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has pushed for this change, pointing to several reasons, including the rapid expansion of knowledge underlying practice, increased complexity of patient care and national concerns about quality of care and patient safety. Also, there are shortages of nursing leaders who can assess, design and evaluate care and quality indicators.

UofL phased out its master’s degree nurse practitioner program and transitioned to the doctor of nursing practice in 2016.

“DNP students will graduate to become advanced practice nursing leaders who will help shape health care and health systems,” said Sara Robertson, director of the DNP program and assistant professor at the . “They are prepared to transform health care by applying the latest in evidence-based research into practice. This will improve population health and health care delivery.”

Heather Raley, a DNP student in the family nurse practitioner concentration, pursued the degree to challenge herself in advancing the nursing profession and provide evidenced-based health care to independently diagnose, treat and manage care for patients with acute and chronic illnesses.

Raley’s graduate project will focus on impacting clinical nursing research on excessive gestational weight gain in pregnant women. She will implement an expedited and individualized education counseling intervention to promote appropriate maternal gestational weight gain through the use of patient risk assessments.

“I hope to increase the discussion of patient-specific needs and addressing potential risk factors for inappropriate weight gain during pregnancy to improve immediate and long-term health outcomes for mother and infant,” said Raley, a critical care float nurse at Norton Children’s Hospital.

A native of Henderson, Kentucky, Raley wants to eventually return to a rural town in the western part of the state to practice in primary care with patients across the lifespan.

“My professional interests have taken shape primarily in caring for and empowering children and families,” Raley said. “I believe health care professionals are in a unique position to influence entire family units by promoting the development of lifelong healthy habits.”

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Cassedy, BSN, RN, is part of the inaugural cohort of the University of Louisville School of Nursing’s (DNP) program, composed of 54 students for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The program, which begins Aug. 25, prepares nurse leaders to meet changing health care demands by focusing on advanced practice knowledge to improve outcomes of diverse patient populations. The doctoral students will focus on development and use of evidence-based care, management of care, leadership in health care organizations, and development and implementation of health policy.

Having the authority to decide treatment plans for patients based on evidence is important to Cassedy, who will pursue the DNP program’s psychiatric/mental health concentration.

Her 31-year-old son Sean Cassedy killed himself in May 2013 after three deployments to Iraq. He had suffered a combat-related traumatic brain injury and had post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I see the problems with psychiatric care,” Cassedy said. “We lose too many veterans to suicide. I think all we’re doing is writing prescriptions and it doesn’t solve the problem. We’re just treating symptoms. What are we missing? What are we not seeing? At a doctoral level, I can do research and have a different view from a bedside nurse.”

The DNP program places nursing on par with other health professions that have practice doctorates – such as pharmacy and physical therapy – and aligns with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s call to increase the level of preparation necessary for advanced practice nursing roles from the master’s degree to the doctoral level.

With tracks for people with bachelor’s or master’s degrees in nursing, the program features a hybrid teaching model of in-person and online instruction. Classes will meet on campus five days a semester.

“The students will graduate to become nurse practitioners and advanced practice nursing leaders who will help shape health care and system arenas,” said School of Nursing Dean Marcia J. Hern, EdD, CNS, RN. “Using sophisticated nursing evidence, they will improve population health and organizational change.”