Perioperative Nurse Recruitment: An OR Placement Program for Fourth-Year Nursing Students in Ontario

Nursing associations have predicted a worldwide shortage of perioperative RNs as more nurses reach retirement age. Additionally, the lack of perioperative exposure during undergraduate nursing programs is contributing to the failure to attract recently graduated nurses to this field. In 2019, multiple hospital sites within the St. Lawrence College network in Ontario, Canada, expressed difficulty recruiting perioperative RNs and expressed an interest in collaborating with the college to increase exposure to the perioperative specialty and recruit students to their ORs after graduation. The college has run a successful preceptor-supported OR placement program for fourth-year baccalaureate nursing students since 2019. Eleven out of thirteen students were hired into the OR after their 2020-2021 placement program. This article outlines the steps taken to initiate this program as well as results of a formal program evaluation conducted in 2021, including detailed feedback from participating students, preceptors, and leaders at the involved hospitals.