NURSING PROGRAM REPORTS 100 PERCENT PASS RATE ON NATIONAL CERTIFICATION EXAM

One hundred percent of the students in Old Dominion University's Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) program in the School of Nursing passed their national certification exam during the period of January to June 2003. Two of the 11 students had perfect scores and another missed only one item.

"These results are very impressive, but I must admit, given our excellent faculty and students, I am not surprised," said Cheryl Samuels, dean of the College of Health Sciences. "I thank them all for their dedication and commitment to excellence."

Richardean Benjamin, associate professor and chair of the School of Nursing, added "We certainly want to commend the faculty for all the hard work in producing such outstanding graduates."

Today, more than 25,000 CRNAs administer 65 percent of the 26 million anesthetics given in the United States.

Old Dominion's nurse anesthesia program was established in 1995 when DePaul Medical Center's School of Nurse Anesthesia and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's School of Nurse Anesthesia merged to form a university-based program. In October of 1998 Old Dominion's CRNA program was accredited for six years, the highest level of approval from the national accrediting agency. The next accreditation review will occur in 2004.