The Effect of a Perioperative Clinical Immersion on Senior Nursing Students' Perception of Readiness to Practice: A...

Health care organizations have tasked nursing education leaders with increasing enrollment and graduating nursing students ready to practice. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effect of a perioperative clinical immersion on the perceptions of readiness for practice held by senior students working toward a bachelor of science in nursing. Seven senior nursing students participated in the perioperative clinical immersion at one midwestern university. At the end of the immersion, the students participated in an interview that was designed to capture their perceptions of the program. We performed data analysis and identified recurring key words that were evaluated further as attributes of critical thinking, skill competency, and role socialization. The data analysis revealed the students' perceptions of growth and readiness for practice. We found that a perioperative clinical immersion provides senior nursing students with an opportunity for professional growth and possible employment in the perioperative area.