The Impact of a Perioperative Elective on Practice Workforce Development: Content Analysis

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Surgical Nursing
• Workforce Development

Background:

• Addressing nursing succession crisis and high vacancy rates in perioperative settings is critical.
• Strategies are needed to effectively educate, employ, and retain newly graduated nurses in perioperative roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the influence of a prelicensure perioperative elective on graduates' decisions to pursue perioperative positions.
• To describe the transition to practice experiences of nurses who completed a perioperative elective.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive study utilizing virtual semistructured interviews with 20 recent nursing graduates.
• Interviews explored decisions regarding perioperative employment and transition experiences.
• Data analysis involved conventional and directed content analyses.

Main Results:

• Three themes emerged: impact of the elective, the perioperative environment, and recommendations for educators and employers.
• Participants utilized coping factors (situation, self, support, strategies) during career transitions.
• The perioperative elective positively influenced graduates' career decisions.

Conclusions:

• Perioperative elective courses, especially those with academic-practice partnerships, are effective in addressing nursing shortages.
• Graduates are better prepared to make informed choices about entering perioperative nursing.
• This educational approach supports the pipeline of qualified perioperative nurses.