OR Manager - February 2019 - 24

Leadership
and the worth attributed to research
activity are among the factors limiting
perioperative nursing research in this
country.
Perceived value of academic
education
As a group, perioperative nurses in
the United States have never achieved
consensus on the value of additional
education beyond that required for entry
into practice. Despite the recommendations
presented in the Institute of Medicine's
2010 Report on the Future of
Nursing, the necessity of baccalaureatelevel
education is still being debated in
the perioperative nursing specialty.
This ongoing debate does not provide
fertile ground for support for and
completion of doctoral studies and research
work. In a specialty that has
historically valued hands-on skills and
technical acumen acquired on the job,
this is not surprising, but it may be time
for us to question this approach.
Closely related to this debate regarding
education level is the absence of
perioperative nursing faculty in pre-licensure
education programs. The scarcity
of perioperative nurse faculty in nursing
schools robs students of a perioperative
nurse role model and exposure to
the OR environment in graduate- and
doctoral-level coursework.
Unlike countries such as England,
Canada, and Australia, which have a
well-established post-licensure education
course, the United States does
not have a standardized path for entry
into perioperative nursing. This fact also
points out the values of the profession
regarding the necessity of post-licensure
academic preparation.
Demographics and future of the
profession
According to the 2018 OR Manager
Salary Survey, the average age of perioperative
nurse leaders is 52 years.
Although possible, it is doubtful that
nurses with many years in their profeswww.ormanager.com
Nurse
researchers
can help promote
the value of their
profession.
sion who are now contemplating retirement
options will begin doctoral studies
to fill the need for researchers. Although
40% of survey respondents had graduate-level
education, only six had doctoral
preparation. The good news is that
there will be an influx of nurses entering
the profession because the demand for
surgery will not abate soon.
In 2017, baccalaureate graduates
comprised the largest group in terms
of pre-licensure education to pass the
NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination)
to enter nursing practice.
This group, combined with the large
numbers of RN to BSN graduates already
in practice, is changing the
makeup of the profession in terms of
educational preparation.
Baccalaureate graduates are far
more likely to progress to doctoral work,
so we will have a larger pool of nurses
who may go on to doctoral work to
serve as nursing faculty and participate
in nursing research.
A research infrastructure
One key factor that limits perioperative
nursing research is the lack of basic
infrastructure to support research work.
The infrastructure needed to conduct
perioperative nursing research includes
a core group of researchers familiar
with the unique work of perioperative
nursing and surgical care as well as a
source of substantial and consistent
funding for researchers.
The lack of a core group of established
researchers makes success in a
competitive grant writing process even
less probable. In the larger field of nursing,
the small group of current perioperative
nurse researchers must compete
in a much larger pool of established,
successful researchers in the quest for
funding and resources.
A sustained source of funding dedicated
to perioperative nursing-which
until recently has been lacking-and a
system designed to develop perioperative
researchers would be a meaningful
step toward addressing these deficits.
Part of the solution
CCI has a proposal to address this key
shortfall in the basic infrastructure. In
the second quarter of 2018, CCI filed
Articles of Incorporation in the State of
Colorado for the CCI Research Foundation
(CCIRF). This 501(c)(3) nonprofit
corporation will be entirely funded by
CCI and governed by an independent
board of trustees consisting of four experienced
perioperative nurse researchers
and a public member.
The mission of this organization is:
To fund research that contributes to the
advancement of perioperative nursing
science and the enhancement of perioperative
patient care.
The foundational work structuring the
organization is progressing steadily, and
the 2019 budget has been funded. With
this startup, some of the key factors
limiting perioperative nursing research
have now been addressed in terms of
funding and a support structure for perioperative
nurse researchers.
The website for CCIRF debuted in
January, and research funding will be
available in the third quarter of 2019
(http://cc-researchfoundation.org/).
More details will be forthcoming as we
progress into the new year, and anyone
interested in this resource should keep
an eye on the website.
As CCIRF matures, nurses aspiring
to perioperative nursing research work
will have a stable source of support.
The priorities for funding from the CCIRF
are listed in the sidebar on p 22.
Continued on page 24
OR Manager | February 2019 23
http://www.cc-researchfoundation.org/ http://www.ormanager.com
OR Manager - February 2019

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