Developing a Perioperative Nurse Residency Program to Address Planned Nurse Retirements

Many perioperative nurses are nearing retirement age, which requires hospital and other surgical facility leaders either to compete for experienced perioperative nurses or to find educational solutions to prepare qualified nurses for the perioperative nurse role. Facing the upcoming retirement of several perioperative nurses, leaders at the Sacramento Veterans Affairs Medical Center needed to be proactive. This article describes the leaders' exploration of possible solutions to the shortage, the development of attainable goals, and the steps to provide a successful perioperative nurse residency program. It discusses the required human and material resources, the candidate screening process, and information related to classroom and clinical experiences. The first nine-month perioperative nurse residency program concluded with three graduates who are now working full-time as RN circulators and scrub persons. This facility's administrative leaders immediately approved a second cohort that ran from February 2019 to November 2019.