Closing the Gap: A Regional Partnership Model for Perioperative Nursing

New Jersey is projected to be one of the top three states to experience a nursing shortage. The current practice of health care organizations providing their own education and training in the perioperative setting leads to variability in the degree of staff readiness and competence to address the complexities encountered in this setting. This may result in increased perioperative nursing orientation costs. The Center for Professional Development at Rutgers School of Nursing partnered with members of the region's surgical facilities to design and implement an accelerated immersion perioperative training model. This academic-clinical practice partnership resulted in a model that equips nurses with the competencies to better fulfill workforce demands while reducing costs. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(8):363-366.].