Leveraging Academic-Clinical Partnerships to Create an Operating Room Nurse Pipeline.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Workforce Development
• Academic-Clinical Partnerships
• Operating Room (OR) Nursing

Background:

• Addressing challenges in new graduate operating room (OR) nurse recruitment and retention.
• Establishing a collaborative framework between academic institutions and healthcare facilities.
• Leveraging nursing theory to guide practical workforce strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe an academic-clinical partnership program designed for optimal new graduate OR nurse recruitment.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the program in retaining newly graduated OR nurses.
• To highlight the use of clinical partner resources within the program.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multifaceted partnership program between a school of nursing and a Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Implementation of strategies based on nursing theory for OR nurse recruitment and retention.
• Longitudinal tracking of new graduate cohorts within the program over three years.

Main Results:

• The program has successfully operated for three years with a 100% retention rate among participating new graduate OR nurse cohorts.
• Demonstrated effective recruitment and sustained employment of new graduate OR nurses.
• Successful integration and utilization of clinical partner resources.

Conclusions:

• A multifaceted academic-clinical partnership program, grounded in nursing theory, is an effective strategy for workforce development.
• The program significantly increases the retention of new graduate OR nurses.
• This model provides a sustainable approach to addressing OR nursing shortages.