Factors that influenced six nurse anesthesia programs to close.

The well-being of the profession of nurse anesthesia requires sound education programs to educate the cadre of providers in the specialty practice of anesthesia nursing to meet societal needs. Many factors in the environment can have an impact on a program's ability to achieve this goal. Where factors are adverse, it can force a program to close. Closure of education programs should be a matter of concern to the entire nurse anesthesia community. However, complex factors can only be understood when information about their nature and characteristics is current. Making predictions about how a system may respond based on decade-old data is neither an efficient nor effective method to develop strategy-based solutions. This study identified factors that influenced decisions to close six nurse anesthesia education programs. Armed with this information, other programs can better prepare to counter the negative influences that could lead to their closing.