The Impact of a Perioperative Elective on Practice Workforce Development: Content Analysis

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-28-2023

Journal

Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

DOI

10.1016/j.jopan.2023.10.009

Keywords

academic-practice partnerships; coping: students; perioperative; transition; vacancy rates; workforce

Abstract

PURPOSE: Developing strategies to educate, employ, and retain newly graduated nurses in perioperative (periop) settings is paramount to addressing a succession crisis with unprecedented vacancy rates. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a prelicensure periop elective on the decision of participants to seek and accept a periop position upon graduation and to describe their transition to practice experience. DESIGN: This study used qualitative descriptive methodology. METHODS: Virtual semistructured interviews were conducted in 2021 with 20 recent graduates of an accelerated prelicensure nursing program who completed a periop elective course. Questions focused on if they did or did not seek and accept a periop position upon graduation and, for those who accepted, explored their transition to practice experience. Data were coded using conventional and directed content analyses. FINDINGS: Three themes emerged via conventional content analysis: the impact of a prelicensure periop elective, the periop environment, and recommendations for faculty and hiring managers. Concerning directed content analyses, participants used the coping factors of situation, self, support, and strategies to navigate career transitions. CONCLUSIONS: A periop elective course delivered through academic-practice partnerships appears to be a successful strategy to address the succession crisis. Graduates were prepared to make informed decisions about entering the periop specialty.

Department

Nursing Faculty Publications

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