Invitational theory and perioperative nursing preceptorships

The role of perioperative nurses is unique in that they must be able to maintain clinical expertise in nursing practice and develop technical surgical skills. Even experienced perioperative nurses who transfer to the OR from other hospital settings or change employment to another facility require a certain amount of preceptor orientation. The current shortage of experienced perioperative nurses calls for the development of strategies to increase their number. "Inviting" OR preceptorship experiences may increase the recruitment, retention, and, subsequently, number of perioperative nurses. Nurse preceptors may be either personally or professionally "inviting" or "disinviting" when sharing knowledge and techniques with less experienced nurses. This article includes findings from a research study of perioperative nurse preceptees. The intent of the study was to identify whether the invitational operating room teaching survey could be used as a reliable tool in the OR. Survey items evaluate preceptees' attitudes toward preceptors and characteristics of effective preceptors. Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis revealed reliability of the tool.