Addressing issue of removal of perioperative component from today's nursing programs

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

see the summary report:

think tank on perioperative learning experiences in the nursing curriculum

co-sponsored by the association of perioperative registered nurses foundation and the national league for nursing

background

in october 2003, the aorn (association of perioperative registered nurses) contacted the nln (national league for nursing) to discuss ways to address what they perceived to be a critical problem: the removal of the perioperative component from most of today's nursing curricula. the lack of perioperative experiences in many curricula limits the number of new graduates who have exposure to and interest in perioperative nursing practice, and this, in turn, results in few new graduates choosing to pursue a career in this area of practice. this situation, combined with the reality that perioperative nurses are retiring in greater numbers, leads to serious concerns about the ability to staff perioperative arenas in the future....

purpose of the think tank

the nln and aorn had outlined three purposes of the think tank that were used to structure the session and guide the discussion. those purposes were as follows:

examine the knowledge, skills, and values associated with caring

for perioperative patients and their families that are appropriate to

generalist preparation for the

rn

role

explore how students can

most efficiently and effectively develop those knowledge, skills,

and values

propose strategies to help faculty with a specialty focus in perioperative nursing to provide leadership in curriculum development and innovative teaching/learning/ evaluation efforts that will help students attain the defined knowledge, skills, concepts and values

as think tank participants engaged in dialogue, there was agreement that our purpose also includes the following:

educate faculty about the full range of perioperative nursing opportunities available to students ... "perioperative" nursing practice takes place in many clinical settings and throughout the hospital, not only in the or

educate faculty about how many of the knowledge, skills, and values thought to be essential for 21

^st century nursing practice can be achieved through perioperative learning experiences

propose strategies on how more students can be exposed to perioperative nursing practice without advocating to faculty that they increase "content hours" in an already "overloaded" curriculum

educate faculty -- and the nursing community in general -- about what perioperative nurses actually do and how their role is different from others in pre-, intra-, and post-operative settings ...

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[SKM-NURSIEPOOH, BSN, RN]

cuz i've applied to a number of philly hospitals systems in the peri-operative dept as that area was my biggest interest....& all have said no to new graduate rns. i stated i've had experience in the icu as an lpn... most just simply either laugh or stare at me & state..."we don't consider lpn experience as "nursing" or rn experience (after given the dirty look from me). they've nerve enough to go on & state that if i was still interested after working at least a year (as an rn) in some sort of cc area to just re-apply. i was extremely confused & perplexed by one hospital in particular that allowed my class to rotate in a few of their "cc" depts...yet only hired a select few in the depts of ed, icu, or ccu. the cath lab & the pacu were off limits in terms of hiring gns. i'm confused in that they offer a six month program geared for the bsn gns in the "cc" areas of ed, icu, & ccu. i'm not understanding why it is that they won't include the pacu (my personal favorite) & the cath lab in that program. this program is on top of their regular "cc" course (16 wks) for any rn going into cc.

go figure ~cheers!

moe

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

We have an extensive unit on perioperative nursing and the surgical patient in our associate-degree program. Our students rotate (observation) and spend at least one clinical day in an OR and another clinical day (again observation only) in the PACU. Very few of our students opt/ or have the opportunity to go directly into perioperative nursing upon graduation. Cath labs and PACUs in our area do not hire new grads. They do allow rotations, because they want our students to apply there later once they get some experience under their belt. (BTW, most of our students fell in love with the cath lab this past semester--first time we had used this area for a clinical observation site.) After a year or two in the practice field, a fair percentage of our graduates do end up in some perioperative area.

My advice to you, Moe, is to be persistent. Get your foot in the door somehow and then keep knocking until you get an opening. Have you considered starting out on the surgical floor?--This is the entrance most nurses use to later become perioperative or PACU nurses. Best wishes to you.