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There are two nurse anesthetist schools in Louisiana and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University (FranU) is one of them. This university is formerly known as Our Lady of the Lake College.
Address: 5414 Brittany Dr, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, Louisiana
Phone: +1 225-526-1700
Contact: Program Director – Ross Castille, DNP, CRNA, APRN
Ross.castille@franu.edu
225-526-1624
Assistant Director: Callie Dorn, DNP-A, CRNA, APRN
Callie.Dorn@franu.edu
225-526-1991
A couple of points to note about FranU:
This is a 36 month (100 credit) program where you will receive a DNP in Nurse Anesthesia upon successful completion. It is a blended program where you’ll complete part of your studies online and part in person. The first 8 months are online which would allow you to continue working as a RN for this period if you so desire.
Admissions are open on a yearly basis between the 1st of February to the 1st of July. If you are invited for an interview, this would typically be done between the 22nd to 26th of July and the 29th of July to the 2nd of August.
FranU is connected with 19 clinical sites and students will receive approximately 2,500 hours of clinical experience at the end of this program.
This school receives on average, 267 applications and approximately 154 interviews are done. Out of this number, only approximately 40 students are accepted into the DNP-NA program.
The average class size is about 35 students which is a large class size in comparison to most other CRNA schools.
The tuition cost for the entire program is $105,807.20. You can see the full breakdown here.
This school was ranked #31 in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report. It is currently ranked #93 in the 2024 report.
The FranU CRNA program is fully accredited by the COA. It was granted 10 years of continued accreditation (the maximum allowed) on October, 2018 which will be up for review again in October, 2028.
In order to qualify for admission into this program, you will need to have at least a 3.0 out of 4.0 GPA. GRE is not necessary for entrance into this program but you can submit your results if you wish.
You will need to have at least 1 year recent full time experience as a RN in an adult critical care unit. Even though 1 year is the requirement, it is recommended that you have at least 2 years of recent experience.
An unencumbered RN license that is eligible for licensure in Louisiana is also necessary.
You will also need to submit three letters of recommendation with your application. Two out of these three applications need to be from a current supervisor and a peer.
Additionally, you will need to comply with the DNP-NA Core Performance Standards for admission.
If you are accepted for an interview, you will need to complete the Casper open-response situational judgement test which will cost $70 to do.
Some forms of acceptable critical care experience are as follows (note that it is not limited to these areas):
It is necessary that you have experience managing the following: vasoactive infusions, hemodynamic monitors, mechanical ventilation and cardiac assist devices. If you have critical care experience in other areas, they may be considered on a case by case basis.
If you are invited to an interview, you will need to complete the Casper open-response situational judgement test first. Some past applicants have expressed they weren’t given a link to do this test, so make sure and follow up with the admin team if you have been invited for an interview and were not given a link to complete this test before your interview.
According to past applicants, the Casper test is more emotional/judgemental based and the interview itself has more pharmacology and pathophysiology based questions around your patient population. So, make sure that you’re prepared to answer specific questions around the patient population you put on your application/resume.The interviewers will likely keep asking questions based on your answers, so make sure you’re well prepared.
You’ll likely be interviewed by a panel of 3 to 4 people. Fortunately, according to past interviewees, they’re very welcoming and friendly. Other questions that you can expect include, your personal story, why you’d like to become a CRNA, why you chose FranU. Then, they’ll go on to ask about your ICU experiences, specific conditions, medications etc.
Curious about the salary of a CRNA in Louisiana? The numbers differ across different sites:
Indeed.com – $211,145 (average salary per year)
Salary.com – $209,952
ZipRecruiter.com – $233,034
Incrediblehealth.com – $166,810
There are many other programs to choose from if you’re unsure about Fran U, so be sure to check them all out!