YSU's DNP in Nurse Anesthesia: a campus program with its clinical sites built in
Youngstown State University's only doctorate in nursing is a 36-month DNP in Nurse Anesthesia, run jointly with St. Elizabeth Health Center School for Nurse Anesthetists. Clinical time comes through the partnership, at hospitals and a surgery center that YSU names, so anesthesia students do not search for their own sites. The part you plan is admission: the anesthesia school decides first, and it looks for adult critical care experience and a CCRN.
Weighing anesthesia against acute care NP?
Tell us where you are in your ICU career and which YSU route you are leaning toward. A placement advisor will lay out what each one asks of you.
One program, two schools
The DNP Nurse Anesthesia Option is a cooperative program between YSU and St. Elizabeth Health Center School for Nurse Anesthetists, Inc. YSU's program page gives its length as 36 months and says YSU graduate faculty and faculty from the anesthesia school teach the courses between them.
It took the place of YSU's earlier master's in nurse anesthesia. The nursing school launched the doctorate in 2021, and YSU's outcome tables now describe the MSN as converted to the DNP.
Unlike every other graduate nursing program at YSU, this one is not online. Lectures are face to face, the practicums run in operating rooms at partner sites, and the Council on Accreditation's program list shows a May start. The catalog's course table adds up to 97 semester hours, though the catalog itself prints no total.
Admission starts at the anesthesia school
Order matters here. YSU's program page makes acceptance into the DNP contingent on acceptance by the St. Elizabeth anesthesia school, and the graduate handbook states the same sequence: the anesthesia school admits you first, the university second.
What the catalog asks of applicants
- At least one year as a registered nurse in adult critical care within the last three years, with two years preferred.
- A CCRN credential held by the application deadline.
- Acceptance into St. Elizabeth Health Center School for Nurse Anesthetists, the gate to YSU admission.
Which units count as adult critical care, and how the anesthesia school weighs experience beyond the minimum, are questions for the anesthesia school itself. If your ICU year is still under way, remember the three-year window: the experience has to be recent as well as long enough, so time the application with both in mind.
Nine clinical practicums, in the catalog's words
Clinical time is spread across nine courses graded satisfactory or unsatisfactory; after the first, each is opened by the one before it. The catalog states the hours as clocked minimums, most with a plus sign, and describes the early courses by days per week. Two courses, NURS 8918 and NURS 8929, may run alongside the course that precedes them.
| Course | Credits | Hours as the catalog words them |
|---|---|---|
NURS 8905 Clinical Practicum 1 | 1 | 120 clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8911 Clinical Practicum 2 | 1 | 150+ clocked clinical hours, one day per week |
NURS 8914 Clinical Practicum 3 | 3 | 300+ clocked hours, three full days per week in the operating room |
NURS 8918 Clinical Practicum 4 | 3 | 300+ clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8922 Clinical Practicum 5 | 3 | 300+ clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8925 Clinical Practicum 6 | 4 | 450 clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8929 Clinical Practicum 7 | 4 | 450+ clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8933 Clinical Practicum 8 | 4 | 450+ clocked clinical hours |
NURS 8935 Clinical Practicum 9 | 4 | 450+ clocked clinical hours |
Added together, the catalog's figures come to at least 2,970 clocked hours. That total is our sum, not a number YSU publishes; for any clinical requirements the anesthesia school sets on top of the catalog, ask the school directly.
Where clinical time happens, and who arranges it
The clinical sites come with the program. YSU's program page says Bon Secours Mercy Health supports the program by providing clinical and other resources at five locations:
- St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital
- St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital
- St. Joseph Warren Hospital
- The Surgery Center Howland
- Akron Children's of the Mahoning Valley
In those settings, the same page says, students gain experience with many anesthetic agents and techniques under the supervision of CRNAs and staff anesthesiologists from Bel-Park Anesthesia Associates, Inc.
Put plainly, anesthesia students do not search for their own clinical sites or preceptors. The program and its partners supply them, which is the largest practical difference between this doctorate and YSU's online nurse practitioner tracks. For how the whole Youngstown area fits together, see the Mahoning Valley guide.
Accreditation and the results YSU reports
The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) accredits the program under the St. Elizabeth school's name. COA's March 2026 list shows the last review in May 2017 and the next one due in May 2027, and COA's upcoming-reviews page places the program among those seeking continued accreditation, with an on-site visit in fall 2026 and a decision in spring 2027. CCNE's YSU listing covers the baccalaureate, master's and post-graduate APRN certificate programs, not the DNP; the accreditation page sorts out which body covers what.
On outcomes, YSU reports a national certification exam pass rate of 84% for 2024, which it labels a transition year, and 100% for 2025, with 2026 pending. It also reports every student completing in 2024 (19 of 19), 2025 (20 of 20) and 2026 (17 of 17).
After graduation, Ohio treats the certified registered nurse anesthetist as one of four APRN designations, each licensed separately by the Ohio Board of Nursing.
Anesthesia DNP or online AGACNP: how the clinical work differs
Critical care nurses often weigh this program against YSU's online AGACNP, since both build on ICU experience. On the clinical side the two could hardly be further apart.
| DNP Nurse Anesthesia | Online MSN AGACNP | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you study | Youngstown, with face-to-face courses | Online, from a state YSU accepts |
| Clinical sites | Supplied through the Mercy Health partnership | YSU encourages you to find your own; clinical faculty approve them |
| Clinical courses | Nine practicums, NURS 8905 to NURS 8935 | Five practicums, NURS 7071 to NURS 7075 |
| Hours | At least 2,970 by our sum of the catalog | 750 on YSU's program page; the catalog still says 540 |
| Experience asked | One year of adult critical care (two preferred) and a CCRN | One year of recent critical care, ACLS before clinicals |
| Length | 36 months | As few as 22 months, per YSU's online page |
The finding your own preceptor guide explains what the online route asks of you before each practicum.
Where we fit: planning, not placement
Because the anesthesia program supplies its clinical sites, our part here is planning. If you are an ICU nurse deciding between the anesthesia doctorate and the online AGACNP, a placement advisor can lay out, practicum by practicum, what the online route will ask of you and when each preceptor deadline falls.
If you choose the AGACNP, we start the acute care preceptor search at admission, check every site against YSU's acute care rule and hand you what the preceptor request needs two months before each practicum. If you choose anesthesia, your clinical path is already built, and this page doubles as your admission checklist. Either way, the request form is the place to start the conversation.
Questions YSU students ask
Is YSU's nurse anesthesia DNP online like its NP programs?
No. YSU's MSN and certificate programs run online in 7-week terms, but the anesthesia doctorate is a campus program in Youngstown. Courses are taught face to face by YSU graduate faculty and anesthesia school faculty, and clinical practicums take place at the partner hospitals and surgery center, so plan to live within reach of the Mahoning Valley for three years.
Can I apply to YSU first and the anesthesia school later?
No. YSU's graduate handbook says applicants must first be admitted to the St. Elizabeth anesthesia school before YSU admits them, and YSU's program page makes DNP acceptance contingent on that decision. Start with the anesthesia school's application, have your CCRN in hand by its deadline, and treat the YSU step as the second half of the same process.
What happened to YSU's master's program in nurse anesthesia?
It became the DNP. YSU began the doctorate for nurse anesthesia students in 2021, and its program outcome page lists the old MSN as converted to the DNP. The same page still shows the MSN's certification exam results for 2018 through 2022, alongside the newer DNP figures, so you can compare the two eras.
How are YSU anesthesia practicums graded?
Satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Every practicum after the first lists the one before it as a prerequisite, and the catalog requires a satisfactory grade in the prior course before most of them, so the sequence moves in order. Two courses, Clinical Practicum 4 and Clinical Practicum 7, may be taken as a corequisite with the course before.
Does the St. Elizabeth partnership mean training only at Mercy Health hospitals?
YSU's program page names five locations: St. Elizabeth Youngstown, St. Elizabeth Boardman, St. Joseph Warren, The Surgery Center Howland and Akron Children's of the Mahoning Valley, with Bon Secours Mercy Health providing the clinical resources. Whether rotations extend beyond those sites is a question for the anesthesia school, since YSU's pages list only these.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
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