OR Manager - February 2020 - 21

Success Stories
A clinical immersion program that introduces nursing students to
perioperative services has been a cost-effective way to increase
the pool of OR nursing candidates in a large metropolitan healthcare
system. This article outlines the steps taken to create the
program, describes the curriculum, and discusses the lessons
learned that will lead to improvements.
OR Manager periodically publishes contributed articles like
these from nurse leaders or other healthcare providers. Do
you have something to share? Please visit https://www.
ormanager.com/contribute-to-or-manager/ or contact Elizabeth
Wood, Editor, OR Manager, at ewood@accessintel.com;
301-345-1786.
OR nurse pipeline expands through clinical immersion program
ost hospital leaders are well
aware of the coming wave
of nurse retirements. However,
few leaders understand that this
wave will likely hit the OR even earlier
than other departments. According to
research from NSI Nursing Solutions,
surgical services nurses are on average
older than other nursing professionals.
Because OR nurses as a group are
more experienced than others, retirements
from perioperative nursing represent
not just a reduction in headcount
but a loss of decades of valuable experience.
As the general population ages
and older patients increasingly become
eligible for complex procedures, a dramatic
drop in perioperative nursing skill
is particularly concerning.
establishment
At the same time, the education
is struggling to supply
enough replacements for retiring
nurses. For OR leaders, this problem is
not just a question of raw numbers. In
recent decades, nursing colleges have
reduced the amount of instruction devoted
to perioperative nursing. Where
OR nursing courses still exist, they are
almost always electives. As a result,
very few nursing students have any exposure
to perioperative career opportunities.
In
addition, some senior nursing
students report that their instructors
counsel them to avoid specializing too
early. There is some value to this advice,
especially for new graduates who
do not yet have a sense of their career
options. However, to the extent that this
attitude exists,
it is harder to recruit
new graduates into the OR.
Faced with all these challenges, NYU
www.ormanager.com
M
The program was
established by
partnering with a
nursing college.
Langone Orthopedic Hospital (one of
four campuses within the NYU Langone
Health system) implemented the AORN
Perioperative 101 training program to
increase the supply of OR nurses. A
major challenge, however, was attracting
new nurse graduates to the program.
To build a supply of future potential
candidates, it was critical to partner
with a nursing college to create a Perioperative
Immersion Program (PIP).
Building the program
As we set out to develop the PIP, our
thesis was simple: No one can fall in
love with perioperative nursing if they
don't know anything about it.
The first step was to bring together
a project leadership team consisting of
executive nurse leaders, nursing education,
nursing recruitment, and perioperative
nurse leaders. An informal
literature review underscored that OR
immersion programs had been implemented
in only a few hospitals nationwide.
However, results from institutions
in Ohio, Massachussetts, and other
states demonstrated that clinical
immersion
programs can effectively boost
OR recruiting efforts.
After developing some broad ideas,
we approached the leadership of NYU
Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYUCON),
the health system's affiliated
nursing college. A three-credit elective
on perioperative nursing was already
part of the college's senior year curriculum.
However, the course did not
include a clinical component. NYUCON
leaders were very open to the idea of
enhancing their existing elective with a
clinical immersion experience.
With conceptual agreement established,
the nursing leadership team collaborated
with the college's undergraduate
dean to hammer out the details.
We opened the program to senior BSN
students with a cumulative GPA of 3.5
or higher. Students can apply for the PIP
by submitting a one-page essay on why
they are interested in OR nursing. College
faculty members review the applications
and select up to 12 students per
program session. Clinical rotations take
place at two different campuses within
the healthcare system: NYU Langone
Medical Center (main campus) and the
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital.
How the PIP works
The PIP is an 8-day program, and each
day consists of 10 hours of clinical experience,
hands-on exercises, and/or
lecture. The program takes place over 2
weeks during the last semester before
graduation, near the end of NYUCON's
perioperative nursing course. Students
are required to keep a journal during the
program to document their experience,
reflect on what they have learned, and
solidify their educational gains.
Day 1: Introduction to perioperative
nursing
The focus is understanding basic prinContinued
on page 22
OR Manager | February 2020 21
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OR Manager - February 2020

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