A look at a successful perioperative nurse extern-intern program

IN 2000, St Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo, Colo, launched a perioperative nurse extern-intern program to address the critical nursing shortage the facility's OR was experiencing. THE PROGRAM HAS THREE LEVELS, all of which focus on applying lessons learned in the classroom to the clinical setting. The final level of the program is designed to help participants' transition from being students to being clinical practitioners. ALL STUDENTS who participated in the program passed the National Council Licensure Examination on the first attempt. In addition, the program has improved employee recruitment and retention rates, reduced orientation and training costs, and resulted in positive feedback from participants.