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Donna S. Nyght, DNP, CRNA

Donna Nyght portrait
Department Chair, Nurse Anesthesia Education

Clinical Assistant Professor, Nurse Anesthesia Education

dnyght@kumc.edu

Professional Background

Donna S. Nyght, DNP, CRNA, is clinical assistant professor, department chair, and director of clinical education. She has more than twenty years of CRNA experience, working ten years as a staff nurse anesthetist in the Kansas City area for Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City and Northland Anesthesiology, Inc. In addition, she has worked as a locum CRNA in both rural and urban facilities her entire career.

Nyght served six years as a reservist in the Army Nurse Corps, joining the Army STRAP program while in nurse anesthesia training. In 2004, she returned to her alma mater as a clinical instructor and transitioned through the roles of director of clinical education, assistant program director, interim department chair, and became department chair in January, 2008.

Academic Background
Nyght received a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Kansas in 1977. While working as an instructor in the LPN program at NEKA Vo-Tech School in Atchison, Kansas, she pursued a master's degree in adult education from Pittsburg State University and graduated in 1991.

In 1993, she graduated from the University of Kansas with a master's degree in nurse anesthesia. Her master’s thesis, “Measurement of Physiologic Stress Responses in Nurse Anesthesia Students During Induction of General Anesthesia” was summarized in the AANA Journal, Vol. 62, page 350. Nyght presented her thesis findings at the 1994 AANA National Meeting in Washington, D.C. In December 2010, she earned a doctorate in nursing practice from the KU School of Nursing.

Nyght is a member of Sigma Theta Tau and Phi Kappa Phi honorary societies.

Clinical and Academic Focus
Nyght currently teaches professional aspects of anesthesia and is a guest lecturer in several nurse anesthesia courses. She serves as director of clinical education and is in charge of student clinical scheduling at the main hospital of The University of Kansas Health System.

She also oversees the affiliate sites and coordinates the student affiliate scheduling. She teaches in all areas of clinical education and most enjoys pediatrics, outpatient surgery at KU MedWest, and specialty areas such as gastroenterology and interventional radiology.

Project Focus
Primary areas of interest for clinical or student capstone projects include substance abuse in anesthesia, alumni outreach, support of student mission trips, and nurse anesthesia professionalism. Her doctorate capstone project consisted of developing an educational module on substance abuse for student nurse anesthetists.