Twiss, a nurse at Sparrow Health System, is a member of the first class of 10 nurses enrolled in MSU’s nurse anesthesia program, which started this month.

The graduate-level, full-time, 28-month program admitted its first group of students after receiving accreditation from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.

Upon completion, students will earn 80 credits toward a masters degree for science in nurse anesthesia and will be eligible to take an exam to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, or CRNA.

MSU is the fifth school in the state with such a program, and organizers are hoping it will help alleviate a nationwide nurse anesthetist shortage, said Henry Talley, director of the program.

“This was an ongoing desire for the (MSU College of Nursing) prior to implementation,” Talley said.

Students will participate in online classes, interactive television formats and traditional classroom settings. As they obtain more training, students combine clinical work in the field with academia. By the last semester, they’ll work 40 hours a week in a clinical seminar, Talley said.

Students typically devote 60-70 hours a week to work involving the program, he said.

Nurse anesthetists are responsible for ensuring anesthesia care for surgery, pain management and other health-care services. They administer about 65 percent of all anesthetics given to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.

There are about 1,700 certified nurse anesthetists in Michigan, and there is a shortage of about 5,000 nurse anesthetists nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The program has already received five calls from recruiters interested in talking with the students, Talley said.

Basic requirements for the program include a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a minimum of one year working in intensive care and a grade-point average of at least 3.0, said Gayle Loniewski, assistant director of the program.

Before they are admitted, students also are subjected to a rigorous interview process, Talley said.

“We put you on the spot to see how you handle stressful situations,” he said.

Talley said for each of the 10 positions, about 15-20 applicants are expected. While the first program recently started, he has already received 293 inquiries about next year’s program, which will begin in January 2009.

“We decided to take our land-grant philosophy and put that forward to see if we can not only be the leaders in central and western Michigan, but leaders in the world vision we see for our future,” he said.