Where, oh where, are the OR nurses?:

A Perioperative Specialty Elective to Address the Perioperative Nursing Shortage: Student Perspectives and Outcomes

To help solve the perioperative nursing shortage, it is imperative that health care leaders understand why students choose or do not choose to pursue a career in perioperative nursing. In May 2021, we published the results of a specialty elective course evaluation from a leadership and perioperative services personnel perspective; in the current article, we examine the same program from the students' perspective. We distributed survey links to undergraduate nursing students to evaluate their perioperative knowledge before and after completing the course. Students reported large gains in knowledge, critical thinking, teamwork, and confidence at course completion, but the posttest mean number of students with an interest in pursuing perioperative nursing was lower than the pretest mean. This realization is perceived as a positive outcome of the perioperative elective course because it may lead to a decrease in turnover among newly hired perioperative nurses.

Evaluation of a Redesigned Perioperative Specialty Elective to Address the Perioperative Nursing Shortage

A lack of targeted perioperative academic preparation may have led to not enough nursing graduates entering and staying in the perioperative field. This deficit and a large portion of the workforce approaching retirement age have contributed to a perioperative nursing shortage. In collaboration with an associated medical center, a college of nursing in the midwestern United States offered and evaluated a redesigned perioperative elective for student nurses. After implementation, interviews and focus groups were used to determine the effect on the student nurses' confidence, their progression through orientation after graduating and being hired into the perioperative department, and the perioperative department's retention rates. Recently graduated nurses with perioperative educational experience have a better understanding of the role of a perioperative nurse. Increasing prelicensure student exposure to the perioperative clinical environment is associated with positive outcomes for the department, organization, nurses, and patients. Similar results in other specialties may be possible.

Validating Factors That Influence Student Nurse Intention Regarding Perioperative Nursing

BACKGROUND

Failure to effectively recruit Newly Graduated Nurses (NGN) to perioperative nursing in the face of an anticipated nursing shortage will adversely impact patient outcomes. Development of interventions that address the recruitment problem is hampered by lack of a comprehensive understanding of factors that influence Student Nurse Intention (SNI) regarding perioperative nursing.

PURPOSE

This descriptive quantitative study aims to test a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) questionnaire and validate factors that influence SNI.

METHOD

Quantitative sequence of exploratory sequential design. Item analysis, and principal component analysis of data are completed.

RESULTS

The instrument demonstrated satisfactory psychometrics. Immediate exposure or immersion, affirmation by nurse managers, and availability of positions were the most influential attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs respectively. Generational values have some influence on intention to choose perioperative nursing.

CONCLUSION

A TPB questionnaire is useful for measuring factors that influence SNI.

A student nurse experience of an intervention that addresses the perioperative nursing shortage

Registered nurses are the largest group of professionals in the global healthcare system. The number of nurses is estimated to be 19.3 million throughout the world (Flinkman et al 2013). In the United States the need for registered nurses is growing. It has been predicted that 260,000 positions for registered nurses will remain unfilled by the year 2025 (Harris et al 2014) with a shortage of registered nurses projected to spread across the United States between 2009 and 2030 (Juraschek et al 2012). Compounding the projected nursing shortage is the increased attrition rate, which is as high as 61% within the first year (Pine & Tart 2007). There are several reasons for this shortage including supply and demand issues, projected changes to healthcare and the aging population. Additionally, the number of college graduates who have majored in nursing has not met the demand (Dunn 2014).