UNE receives grant to continue training rural anesthesia providers

The University of New England's Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia program has been awarded a $22,464 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as part of the Nurse Anesthesia Traineeship Program. This grant is awarded to accredited institutions that educate registered nurses to become nurse anesthetists. The grant money is distributed directly to the M.S.N.A. graduate students during the clinical phase of the program to assist with tuition, books, and related expenses.

Since 2010, under the direction of program director Maribeth Massie, C.R.N.A., M.S., Ph.D.c, and the Nurse Anesthesia Trainee program, UNE students have received more than $200,000 from this grant program. The grant gives funding preference and special considerations to programs whose graduates work in rural and underserved areas after graduation. UNE M.S.N.A. students have clinical rotations at critical access hospitals and rural hospitals throughout Maine and the United States. Because of the exposure and first-class training they received during the program, many of UNE’s graduates are now the sole anesthesia providers to rural citizens of Maine and beyond.