Innovative Strategies to Promote Wellness in Nurse Anesthesia Education

Nurse anesthesia students face high rates of burnout, anxiety, and depression that can impair learning and clinical readiness. Between June and November 2024, a university nurse anesthesia program implemented trauma-informed wellness initiatives, including flexible scheduling (condensed on-campus days, excused absences, virtual attendance for distant sites), a pass/fail reflective wellness assignment, regular cohort town halls, weekly community emails, a final-year professional course with mindfulness/provider-wellness content, and a program-specific career fair. Following implementation, first-time national certification examination pass rates rose from 83 percent (2023) to 91 percent (2025). A trauma-informed, multilevel wellness approach was associated with improved program outcomes.